Scott Weidensaul

There is such an amazing variety of beautiful little hummingbirds. I didn't realize there were so many I had not yet seen. I might have to visit South America someday just to see the violet-tailed slyph!

A great survey of some important migration research, enlivened by the authors first hand accounts of bear and bird and human encounters along the way. Couldn’t quite wrap my mind around how quantum entanglement works in bird migration

Really a survey of some extinct animals and a bit of a travelogue. Have an iPad handy so you can look up the creatures mentioned. Some people object to the cryptozoology he included, but honestly, I think the hunt for the thylacine is pretty much equivalent now to the hunt for Nessie or sasquatch

This book is all over the map, both literally and figuratively. The Appalachian mountains are an extensive chain, and Weidensaul wants to cover all of it, including those parts that are only technically (i.e., geologically) included in it. Consequently, the book strikes me as unfocused, and therefore only moderately satisfying.