We all know birds migrate. But how have we unraveled how it works? A new book looks at the little known intersection between scientists, and technology to unravel many of the mysteries behind migration.
Rebecca Heisman is the author of Flight Paths: How A Passionate and Quirky Group Of Pioneering Scientists Solved The Mystery Of Bird Migration. She’s speaking at a free Santa Barbara Audubon Society event this week.
Heisman talks about one of the little known ways of monitoring migration, dating back to the 1880’s It was called “moonwatching."
"At that point, they didn't have any of the high-tech things we have now like satellite tracking," said Heisman. "But, a lot of birds, especially songbirds, migrate at night. So, they came up with this idea that they could just point a telescope at the full moon at night during migration, and count the silhouettes of birds crossing across the moon, and with some math they could use this as a way to compare the amount of migration going on at one time and place."
The author says she never thought her efforts to learn more about migration research would take her so deeply into technology.
"It's this book which brings together ecology, and conservation, and birds, but it sort of turns into a history of major technological advancements," she said.
She says they used a tiny little tracking device to unravel a huge mystery, how a bird called the Bar-Tailed Godwit does a nonstop migration across the Pacific Ocean.
Heisman will appear in Santa Barbara Wednesday night to talk about her book, Flight Paths. The 7:30 p.m. event at the Santa Barbara Central Library’s Faulkner Gallery is free, and open to the public.
