Earth, Water, And Sky

"As I write this, I am sitting in a cabin at Cedar Point Biological Station in southwestern Nebraska. . . . The glorious elemental mixture of earth, water, and sky around me is the home of nearly three hundred species of birds, and comprises one of my favorite places in the world. Here no radio stations blare out the most recent results of meaningless sports events . . . no traffic noises confound the senses. Instead the wind is the unquestioned dominating summer influence. The prairie grasses bend willingly and gracefully before it, and the leaves of the cottonwood trees convert its breezes into soft music."
Paul Johnsgard is one of America's most prominent ornithologists and a world authority on waterfowl behavior. In these popularly written, often lyrical essays, he describes some of his most fascinating encounters with birds, from watching the annual mating displays of prairie-chickens on a hilltop in Pawnee County, Nebraska, to attempting to solve some of the mysteries surrounding Australia's nearly flightless musk duck.
Reflecting his worldwide interests and travels, the birds Johnsgard describes inhabit many parts of the globe. Grouping the birds by the element they frequent most--earth, water, or sky--he weaves a wealth of accurate natural history into personal stories drawn from a lifetime of avian observation. And, as a bonus, Johnsgard's lovely pen-and-ink drawings illustrate each species he describes.

Publishers Weekly

Not stories after all but brief, accessible essays, these instructive writings by ornithologist Johnsgard (a professor at the University of Nebraska) cover the lives, behaviors and habitats of many North American birds, from "The Tree Quail of Mexico" to "The Elusive Musk Duck." (Some first appeared in the magazine Natural History.) The intriguing lead essay describes the collective, synchronized mating dances of grouse, performed in arena-like spaces called "leks," which pose a Darwinian puzzle: why would sexual selection favor a system where males "perform the same displays in exactly the same ways?" Other essays cock an ear for quails' complex duets, distinguish and explain "the evolution of the train of the peacock" and "the even more wonderful ball-and-socket" tail designs of the Great Argus pheasant, and lay out facts about the bustard, the world's heaviest flying bird. Johnsgard's expert knowledge of waterfowl is apparent on every page; he neither talks down to his readers nor assumes technical knowledge. (The titular "sketches" are simply careful drawings of birds.) In the tradition of Konrad Lorenz, Johnsgard often ties neat facts about birds to current theories about the evolution of animal behavior. Sociobiological parallels between pheasants and human beings are, however, mercifully absent. Instead, Johnsgard injects personal asides, describing his rural upbringing in a quick preface and detailing the beautiful (and, often, endangered) habitats where his fascinating avians flourish. Literate bird-watchers will enjoy the details; readers of modern biological essays (Stephen Jay Gould's, say) will find Johnsgard's eminently worthwhile. 25 b&w drawings. (Aug.) Copyright 1999 Cahners Business Information.