The Homing Instinct: The Story and Science of Migration - Hardcover

Heinrich, Bernd

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0007594054 ISBN 13: 9780007594054

Publisher: William Collins, 2014

Synopsis

The story and science of how animals find their way home.

Home is the place we long for most, when we feel we have travelled too far, for too long. Since boyhood, acclaimed scientist and author Bernd Heinrich has returned every year to a beloved patch of woods in his native western Maine. But while it’s the pull of nostalgia that informs our desire to go back, what is it that drives the homing instinct in animals?

Heinrich explores the fascinating science behind the mysteries of animal migration: how geese imprint true visual landscape memory over impossible distances; how the subtlest of scent trails are used by many creatures, from fish to insects to amphibians, to pinpoint their home; and how the tiniest of songbirds are equipped for solar and magnetic orienteering over vast distances. Most movingly, Heinrich chronicles the spring return of a pair of sandhill cranes to their pond in the Alaska tundra. With his marvellously evocative prose, Heinrich portrays the psychological state of the newly arrived birds, articulating just what their yearly return truly means, to the birds and to those fortunate enough to witness this transcendently beautiful ritual.

‘The Homing Instinct’ is an enchanting study of this phenomenon of the natural world, reminding us that to discount our own feelings toward home is to ignore biology itself.

About this title

From the Inside Flap:

A captivating exploration of the homing instinct in animals, and what it means for human happiness and survival

Acclaimed scientist and author Bernd Heinrich has returned every year since boyhood to a beloved patch of western Maine woods. What is the biology in humans of this deep-in-the-bones pull toward a particular place, and how is it related to animal homing?

Heinrich explores the fascinating science chipping away at the mysteries of animal migration: how geese imprint true visual landscape memory; how scent trails are used by many creatures, from fish to insects to amphibians, to pinpoint their home if they are displaced from it; and how the tiniest of songbirds are equipped for solar and magnetic orienteering over vast distances. Most movingly, Heinrich chronicles the spring return of a pair of sandhill cranes to their home pond in the Alaska tundra. With his trademark “marvelous, mind-altering” prose (Los Angeles Times), he portrays the unmistakable signs of deep emotion in the newly arrived birds—and reminds us that to discount our own emotions toward home is to ignore biology itself.

From the Back Cover:

Praise for Life Everlasting

“Bernd Heinrich is one of the finest naturalists of our time. Life Everlasting shines with the authenticity and originality that are unique to a life dedicated to natural history in the field.” — Edward O. Wilson, author of The Future of Life and The Social Conquest of Earth

Praise for Bernd Heinrich

“Remarkable . . . rewarding . . . highly recommended.” — New York Times

“He richly deserves the comparison to Thoreau.” — Washington Post Book World

“Passionate observations [that] superbly mix memoir and science.” — New York Times Book Review

About this edition

• Publisher: William Collins
• Publication date: 2014
• ISBN 10: 0007594054
• ISBN 13: 9780007594054
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 368