Atlas of Amazing Migrations is an illustrated celebration of the mammals, birds, reptiles, fish, insects and even plants that battle through Earth’s toughest conditions to make extreme journeys. With wit and charm (and signature watercolours), follow flocks of arctic terns on their 40,000 km journey between the North and South Pole, join monarch butterflies on their pilgrimage from Canada to Mexico, and learn how wildebeest, humpback whales, salmon and dragonflies migrate. Using the sun (or earth’s) magnetic field.
If you’ve ever been told off for eating with your mouth open, you’re in good company with the basking shark. These massive sharks can be found all over the world in arctic and temperate waters, and migrate closer to the shore during summer where they ‘bask’ (swimming slowly with their large mouths open). Swimming along in what looks like a suspended yawn is filter feeding to capture plankton. Basking sharks may be the second largest fish in the world, but boy do they keep to themselves.
The swift parrot is a bit of a showstopper, with a loud personality and equally loud plumage of felt-tip pen shades. This parrot is a zippy flyer, and can cover as much as 2000km a year. They also do a fantastic job of spreading pollen, so it’s a true shame that an overlogging of blue gum has led to declines in this bird – there are now as few as 1000 swifties left in the wild.
about the author
Matt Sewell is a talented watercolour artist and ornithologist who writes some of England’s best-selling books about birds and other creatures. His designs are even on postage stamps on the Isle of Man.
