A Wing and a Prayer: The Race to Save Our Vanishing Birds

by Anders Gyllenhaal, Beverly Gyllenhaal

Overview

A captivating drama from the frontlines of the race to save birds set against the devastating loss of one third of the avian population.

Three years ago, headlines delivered shocking news: nearly three billion birds in North America have vanished over the past fifty years. No species has been spared, from the most delicate jeweled hummingbirds to scrappy black crows, from a rainbow of warblers to common birds such as owls and sparrows.

In a desperate race against time, scientists, conservationists, birders, wildlife officers, and philanthropists are scrambling to halt the collapse of species with bold, experimental, and sometimes risky rescue missions. High in the mountains of Hawaii, biologists are about to release clouds of laboratory-bred mosquitos in a last-ditch attempt to save Hawaii’s remaining native forest birds. In Central Florida, researchers have found a way to hatch Florida Grasshopper Sparrows in captivity to rebuild a species down to its last two dozen birds. In the Sierra Nevada Mountains, a team is using artificial intelligence to save the California Spotted Owl. In North Carolina, a scientist is experimenting with genomics borrowed from human medicine to bring the long-extinct Passenger Pigeon back to life.

For the past year, veteran journalists Anders and Beverly Gyllenhaal traveled more than 25,000 miles across the Americas, chronicling costly experiments, contentious politics, and new technologies to save our beloved birds from the brink of extinction. Through this compelling drama, A Wing and a Prayer offers hope and an urgent call to action: Birds are dying at an unprecedented pace. But there are encouraging breakthroughs across the hemisphere and still time to change course, if we act quickly.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781982184551
Publisher:	Simon & Schuster
Publication date:	04/18/2023
Pages:	320
Sales rank:	28,436
Product dimensions:	6.10(w) x 9.10(h) x 1.20(d)

About the Author

Anders Gyllenhaal was an investigative reporter at The Miami Herald and executive editor at The News & Observer, The Star Tribune (Minneapolis), and The Herald. He also served as the editorial vice president for the McClatchy Company’s thirty newsrooms and 2,000 journalists. He served on the Pulitzer Prize board for nine years.

Beverly Gyllenhaal was a reporter, features writer, and food editor at The News & Observer and The Miami Herald. She coauthored a syndicated column that appeared in 100 newspapers around the US and produced three books with nearly half a million copies in print.

Editorial Reviews

02/27/2023

In this eye-opening account, married duo Anders and Beverly Gyllenhaal, retired journalists and avid birders, survey efforts to combat the decline in the North American bird population. In response to a 2019 study that found there are about three billion fewer birds today than 50 years ago because of climate change and habitat loss, the Gyllenhaals hit the road in an RV to visit “where the most severe problems are and witness the rescues, research, successes, and failures” of those trying to replenish the continent’s flocks. The colorful characters they met include the chief scientist at a nonprofit dedicated to bringing the passenger pigeon back from extinction, the masterminds behind Hawaii’s plan to sterilize malaria-carrying mosquitoes that kill the islands’ honeycreepers, and the biologists who track Florida scrub-jays by tagging them with transmitters “the size of a paper clip.” Readers looking for signs of hope will find some in the eclectic measures described, which showcase the remarkable ingenuity of those working to save the birds—one couple, for instance, developed a device that identifies the species of birds in the area by analyzing birdsongs and sends the data to Cornell’s Lab of Ornithology. Birders will be unsettled, and by the end, inspired. (Apr.)

Publishers Weekly

"The Gyllenhaals are skillful storytellers" – The New York Times

"In this time of massive environmental crises, it is understandable to feel overwhelmed to the point of inertia. We should applaud those who do otherwise, those who do not retreat but fight back against the darkness, as well as those, like the Gyllenhaals, who tell their story." – The Washington Post

"In this five-star journey into our birding history, present and future, the authors make clear that ultimately, it's up to us — you and me — to care and to act. There are plenty of guidebooks for bird identification. This is the guidebook for bird conservation." – Star Tribune

"Written by a pair of gifted writer-photographers and veteran birders, A Wing and a Prayer is in parts a travel adventure, a detective story and a loving tribute to some of the avian world’s most colorful species. It’s a story not just for birders, but for anyone who cares about preserving the planet in all its natural splendor." – Joby Warrick, Washington Post national reporter and Pulitzer Prize winner

“A soaring achievement, beautiful and compelling. A Wing and a Prayer tells the story of birds of all sorts, many of them threatened by the humans in their world, and it describes what can be done, what must be done, to help.” – Susan Page, Washington Bureau chief, USA TODAY, and author of Madam Speaker

"Anders and Beverly Gyllenhaal translate their love of birds into an eloquent plea for conservation. A Wing and a Prayer is at once hopeful and realistic." – Elizabeth Kolbert, Pulitzer Prize winner and New York Times bestselling author of The Sixth Extinction

“A captivating and surprising account of what science is doing to save the winged life on earth, one elusive, eccentric species at a time. If Audubon were alive today, he’d be amazed to learn how once-foregone stories of extinction are being rewritten.” – Carl Hiaasen, New York Times bestselling author of Squeeze Me

"Written partially as a travelogue as the authors journeyed thousands of miles by road around the continent, the combination of personal story and scientific reportage is compelling... show[s] how new technologies of radar and radio tracking allow intimate looks at birds' lives, and otherwise delve into the commitment and love that is demonstrated by all the disparate groups working to save the continent's birds." – Booklist (starred review)

"Readers looking for signs of hope will find some in the eclectic measures described, which showcase the remarkable ingenuity of those working to save the birds...Birders will be unsettled, and by the end, inspired.” – Publishers Weekly

“This immersive, enthusiastic report, which reads like a seasoned ecologist’s travel journal, spotlights key locales on the authors’ expansive expedition...Passionate reportage from the world of birds and a cautionary tale for the future of Earth. A no-brainer for birders.” – Kirkus Reviews

From the Publisher

2023-02-08
Married bird-watchers join forces with scientists and ecologists to explore the correlation between birds and the planet’s future.

Anders and Beverly Gyllenhaal discovered their mutual love of ornithology as “an antidote to city life” after “long careers in journalism.” Reveling in the wonder of “chasing” and photographing regional bird species became their new passion. The authors admit that in the first decade of bird-watching, they took the feathered friends for granted. However, as their interest branched out to encompass scientific research and environmentalism, they discovered the catastrophic decline of North American bird populations in the past few decades. Their love of birds inspired the couple to embark on a 25,000-mile journey to commune with “birds of nearly every variety, from the most common to some of the rarest on the planet.” This immersive, enthusiastic report, which reads like a seasoned ecologist’s travel journal, spotlights key locales on the authors’ expansive expedition, from Central Florida and North Carolina to South America. The authors critically evaluate the “star power” of the bald eagle, assess the fate of the California spotted owl, admire the flamboyant cerulean warblers in Ecuador, and describe efforts to mitigate the damage to bird populations in Hawaii, “the extinction capital of the world.” The text encompasses studies by biologists, ecologists, wildlife officials, and philanthropists whose combined efforts are focused on halting the decline of bird populations. Most encouraging are modern scientific initiatives to uncover the source of bird decimation with ride-along migration banding trackers, bioacoustic engineering, community birdhouse building, and a wetlands habitat development program incentivized for California rice farmers. In the closing chapters, which feature conservationist case studies, the authors firmly reiterate that progress is possible. Throughout the book, they demonstrate that bird behavior and population levels serve as “real-time barometers of environmental stability.” The authors also include a selection of vivid, four-color photos.

Passionate reportage from the world of birds and a cautionary tale for the future of Earth. A no-brainer for birders.

Kirkus Reviews