Rare Birds: The Extraordinary Tale of the Bermuda Petrel and the Man Who Brought It Back from Extinction

Eliabeth Gehrman

56 ratings by Goodreads

Language: English

Published by Beacon Press, 2012

0807010766 / 9780807010761

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Seller: Buteo Books, San Rafael, CA, U.S.A.Buteo Books

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Hardcover

Condition: Used - Near fine

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Near fine hardcover. Light edge wear, may have minor bumped corners. The inspiring story of David Wingate, a living legend among birders, who brought the Bermuda petrel back from presumed extinction. Rare Birds is a tale of obsession, of hope, of fighting for redemption against incredible odds. It is the story of how Bermuda's David Wingate changed the world - or at least a little slice of it - despite the many voices telling him he was crazy to try. This tiny island in the middle of the North Atlantic was once the breeding ground for millions of Bermuda petrels. Also known as cahows, the graceful and acrobatic birds fly almost nonstop most of their lives, drinking seawater and sleeping on the wing. But shortly after humans arrived here, more than three centuries ago, the cahows had vanished, eaten into extinction by the country's first settlers. <P>Then, in the early 1900s, tantalizing hints of the cahows' continued existence began to emerge. In 1951, an American ornithologist and a Bermudian naturalist mounted a last-ditch effort to find the birds that had come to seem little more than a legend, bringing a teenage Wingate - already a noted birder - along for the ride. When the stunned scientists pulled a blinking, docile cahow from deep within a rocky cliffside, it made headlines around the world - and told Wingate what he was put on this earth to do. Starting with just seven nesting pairs of the birds, Wingate would devote his life to giving the cahows the chance they needed in their centuries-long struggle for survival - battling hurricanes, invasive species, DDT, the American military, and personal tragedy along the way. It took six decades of obsessive dedication, but the cahow, still among the rarest of seabirds, has reached the hundred-pair mark and continues its nail-biting climb to repopulation. And Wingate has seen his dream fulfilled as the birds returned to Nonsuch, an island habitat he hand-restored for them plant-by-plant in anticipation of this day. His passion for resuscitating this 'Lazarus species' has made him an icon among birders, and his story is an inspiring celebration of the resilience of nature, the power of persistence, and the value of going your own way.…

Seller Inventory # 13823

Title
Rare Birds: The Extraordinary Tale of the Bermuda Petrel and the Man Who Brought It Back from Extinction
Author
Eliabeth Gehrman
Publisher
Beacon Press
Publication year
2012
Condition
Near Fine
Binding
Hardcover
Language
English
ISBN 10
0807010766
ISBN 13
9780807010761
Item weight
19 ounces
Dimensions
101x13x148

Buteo Books

San Rafael, CA, U.S.A.

5-star seller

AbeBooks seller since April 12, 2001

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Buteo Books is an independent family-owned bookstore carrying one of the largest selections of birding books in the world! We stock a comprehensive selection of new, used, collectible, and out-of-print books on birds, birdwatching, and natural history; thousands of titles. Several catalogs are issued annually and may be found on our web site: www.buteobooks.com

Specialty

Ornithology, Birdwatching, Natural History, Birds, Birding

Seller's business information

String Letter Publishing, Inc.

330 Sir Francis Drake Boulevard, Suite C
San Anselmo, CA U.S.A. 94960