Out of Africa: The swifts of Beijing
Play episode:
Kaiser and Jeremy talk with Terry Townshend, creator of the “Birding Beijing” website, for an inside look at how the scientific community studies the hundreds of bird species in Beijing, including the swift – a species recently discovered to average an astonishing 124,000 miles of flight in its life.
Amazing research now suggests that Beijing’s swifts, the tiny creatures most residents pass by without noticing, are some of the most well-travelled birds on the planet, averaging an astonishing 124,000 miles of flight in their life, barely landing for years on end, and migrating as far as the southern tip of Africa. This week on Sinica, Kaiser Kuo and Jeremy Goldkorn spoke with Terry Townshend, founder of the environmental education and travel organization EcoAction China and creator of the “Birding Beijing” website, for an inside look at how the scientific community discovered these amazing facts. We also discuss how the changing urban landscape of Beijing is affecting the natural environment for these amazing creatures.
Recommendations:
Action for Swifts
http://actionforswifts.blogspot.com
British Trust for Ornithology
Purity: A Novel, by Jonathan Franzen
http://www.amazon.com/Purity-A-Novel-Jonathan-Franzen/dp/0374239215
Cement and Pig Consumption Reveal China’s Huge Changes
