Marvelous Wings: Reflections on Birds of the Pacific Northwest

"The song started with an upward-slurred note at a pitch in the eighth octave, the extreme right key on the piano. Then, two higher notes came down in pitch, and two more rolled up and down, as if going over a speed bump. The tune lasted a second and a half and came again after a five-second pause. These liquid notes sounded like a waterfall, and I smiled because the source of the notes--a Veery, a kind of thrush--was the bird I'd come to Northcentral Washington to find."

Tom Bancroft has an unusual wealth of scientific knowledge about birds and the Pacific Northwest. His education and professional career were entirely focused on birds, their ecology, and conservation--first as a research biologist and then at the science-policy interface. As a scientist, he focused on facts and left emotion and passion behind.

Now, connecting science with personal observations, Bancroft shares from a human as well as an ornithologist's perspective, conveying the delight, healing, and passion that birds can bring to people. His essays explore species and places across the Pacific Northwest, some of them little known to even the most avid outdoor person. Chapters range from exploring the thrill of finding a rare bird to comprehending the incredible migration of a Swainson's Thrush. He describes how wild birds often helped him cope with life's challenges and rekindled the joy and solace he lost following a significant loss. His greatest hope is that his readers will also be drawn into the wild--to feel the wonders of the Veery, which flies to the southern Amazon for the winter, and to marvel that the Song Sparrow singing in their backyard learned its tunes after deciding where it would spend its life--that knowing these details would create a desire to discover more.