The Homing Instinct: Meaning and Mystery in Animal Migration -- Bernd Heinrich

<strong>A captivating exploration of the homing instinct in animals, and what it means for human happiness and survival, from the celebrated naturalist and author of <em>Mind of the Raven, Why We Run, </em> and <em>Life Everlasting.<br/><br/></em></strong>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?<br/><br/>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. <br/><br/>With his trademark "marvelous, mind-altering" prose (<em>Los Angeles</em> <em>Times</em>), he portrays the unmistakable signs of deep psychological emotion in the newly arrived birds--and reminds us that to discount our own emotions toward home is to ignore biology itself.<br><br><b>Author:</b> Bernd Heinrich<br><b>Publisher:</b> Mariner Books<br><b>Published:</b> 04/21/2015<br><b>Pages:</b> 368<br><b>Binding Type:</b> Paperback<br><b>Weight:</b> 0.60lbs<br><b>S