In this episode, we are talking about how we know what we know about bird migration. Our guest, Rebecca Heisman describes herself on her website, as a “bird writer for hire.” Her first book, flight path has the following subtitle: How a Passionate and Quirky Group of Pioneering Scientists Solved the Mystery of Bird Migration. This episode is as much about people as it is about birds.
Questions:
- Can you outline your book for those who have not read it.
- An overview of the various ways people have tracked birds.
- What do flight call recordings tell us about bird migration.
- You explain for a non-engineer how radar track birds. Can you help us with that?
- You have this poignant section about a ruby-throated hummingbird hitting a high-rise in Texas. Tell us about Birdcast and what we can do to help during migration
- Talk about radio telemetry, GPS trackers and how they are used to track long distant migrants.
- The philosophy of trackers, blackpoll warblers and migration.
- What were your takeaways from writing the book.
- What are your favourite birds.
Photo by Barth Bailey on Unsplash
