A Wing and a Prayer

The Race to Save Our Vanishing Birds

By: Anders Gyllenhaal, Beverly Gyllenhaal

Narrated by: Cassandra Campbell, Stephen Graybill

Length: 9 hrs and 3 mins

Publisher's summary

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 50 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.

PLEASE NOTE: When you purchase this title, the accompanying PDF will be available in your Audible Library along with the audio.

©2023 Anders Gyllenhaal and Beverly Gyllenhaal. All rights reserved. (P)2023 Simon & Schuster, Inc. All rights reserved.

Great Birder Book

I am, at best, a very amateur Birder. I am blessed to live in an area with a multitude of birds. And I have a multitude of birds that readily come to my birdfeeder and deck. Several years ago I was ecstatic to find out there was a bald eagle nest on my property. Two years ago I found out there was a golden eagle nest not far from the corner of my property.. This book was delightful, it was easy to tell that the authors share my love of wildlife and the outdoors and specifically birds. All of that came through.

What a wonderful book!!!

I got a suggested free phone app and can hardly wait for daylight to begin looking for birds in my area. What fun.

Very Surprising Information About BIRDS in the USA

I didn't know what to expect when I began this book, but I was very pleasantly surprised by the content.

The authors are obviously experts in knowledge of birds in America, and they have done a masterful job of compiling their knowledge into a book EVERYONE NEEDS TO HEAR/READ!

The content itself, while very well written, is at times uplifting, at times depressing, and at times inspiring in that it will get under your skin and make you want to shout, "What can I DO about this?"

I liked this book so much, I bought a hardback version of it as a gift for a family friend who is a "birder."

This book is not nearly as extensive (or as depressing) as Farley Mowat's "Sea of Slaughter" (which you should read if you have not yet done so), but it is in the same vein, comparing the population of birds today with decades ago, and giving us a very frightening look into the future if we don't do something.

Everyone should listen/read this book

Outstanding piece of non-fiction! Even tho I live in Raleigh (surrounded by birds) and backpack extensively, I probably would not have taken this up were it not for my book club. So very pleased it was suggested and I plan to gift and/or recommend it to others. 5 stars!

Outstanding

The sad but necessary truth about our impact on the environment. I wish more humans cared about the rest of the Earth's inhabitants.

Save the birds to save ourselves!

Birds are an important part of the wild. l learned how important they are in this book. Learn that by saving the birds we indirectly save other animals, insects, plants and ultimately the ecosystem.

Awesome

This is an entertaining and informative book on birds. If you want to become a birder, this is it.

A Silent Spring for this generation.

Just as Silent Spring awakened our consciousness to the dangers of insecticides and other biological pollutants, A Wing and A Prayer strives to open our minds to the loss of biodiversity through the lens of our lost birds. Through climate change, habitat loss, and polluted and degraded resources, we have been losing our birds at an astounding rate. Our avian companions are deeply interlinked with the rest of nature, and as we lose them, we lessen our own chances for survival.

Memoir disguised as nature

Very poor fit using marine creatures to illustrate authors emotional goulash. Personally I objected to have wonders of nature equated/degraded by comparison to human relationship issues.

Fascinating

I picked this book up on a whim because its premised surprised me. Apparently, birds are dying off at unprecedented rates and the continued existence of these beautiful animals is actually in doubt. This book explores a range of efforts to study and save them. In doing so, it gives fascinating insight into not only the birds themselves, but the people who study them. It's short, enjoyable, and informative.