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The Return of the Oystercatcher

Saving Birds to Save the Planet
Brief Description
From the New York Times bestselling author Around the world, birds have been struggling to survive. But the tide is turning. This is a story about optimism. 'A master storyteller' - The Guardian 'Weidensaul is a superb guide to the winged marvels that share our planet'... Read More
Format: Hardback
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An urgent good-news story from America's finest nature writer about what’s being done to restore the billions of lost birds we’ve been thoughtless and selfish enough to lose.

An urgent good-news story about what's being done to restore the billions of lost birds we've been thoughtless and selfish enough to lose.

Book Hero Magic formatted this description to make it easier to read. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! Description

From the New York Times bestselling author

Around the world, birds have been struggling to survive. But the tide is turning. This is a story about optimism.

'A master storyteller' - The Guardian

'Weidensaul is a superb guide to the winged marvels that share our planet' - Diane Ackerman, author of The Zookeeper's Wife

Across the world, scientists, conservationists and ordinary people are involved in groundbreaking work to restore billions of lost birds. Together they're tackling the hollowing out of the springtime dawn chorus and the withering away of once-great migration multitudes.

From a tiny island off the coast of Maine to the middle of the Pacific Ocean, and from a hereditary estate in England to a watery wilderness in Romania where Ukrainian air-raid sirens scream at night, birds' fortunes are being reversed.

In The Return of the Oystercatcher, renowned natural history writer Scott Weidensaul tells the uplifting story of that success and what it means for us and for our planet, too. Because a world that works for birds, in all their complexity of movement and ecological need, will work for everything else. Including people.

Illustrated with 16 pages of colour photographs and maps


Praise for Scott Weidensaul's A World on the Wing:

'A gripping journey' - The New York Times

'Weidensaul offers the astonishment of birds' travels, deep concern for their populations and hope for their future' - Wall Street Journal

'Fascinating . . . The science of bird migration has reached a golden age, and we're lucky to have such a graceful guide' - Noah Strycker, author of Birding Without Borders

Book Details

INFORMATION

ISBN: 9781035016518

Publisher: Pan Macmillan

Format: Hardback

Date Published: 23 April 2026

Country: United Kingdom

Imprint: Picador

Illustration: 15 Maps

Audience: General / adult

DIMENSIONS

Width: 153.0mm

Height: 234.0mm

Weight: 250g

Pages: 400

About the Author

Scott Weidensaul is one of the most respected natural history writers in the US, and the author of nearly thirty books. He is an active field researcher specializing in bird migration, co-director of Project Owlnet and co-directs Project SNOWstorm, studying the migration of snowy owls. He has received numerous awards, including the Audubon Award for Environmental Writing, and has been honoured as a prestigious fellow of the American Ornithological Society. Weidensaul is a highly sought-after speaker at universities, museums and birding festivals. His book Living on the Wind: Across the Hemisphere with Migratory Birds was a Pulitzer Prize finalist. The Return of the Oystercatcher is his latest book.

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