Extreme Birdwatching: Measuring Change on a Galápagos Island

Gr 4-6–The intriguing situation of a long science career spent watching birds in an extremely unlikely location is this title’s ­basis for explaining the processes of ­natural selection and evolution. The Galápagos island of Daphne lies inside the top of a volcano rising in the Pacific Ocean near the equator, and it’s there that scientists ­Rosemary and Peter Grant and students arrive in a small boat to study the wildlife. Short chapters recount the bodies and lives of two species of finches found only on Daphne. Every bird, including newborn fledglings, is caught in a mist net, measured, weighed, and tagged with a leg band. A disastrous drought in 1977, which killed many finches, food plants, and other animals, shifted the focus to finch survival, and from there, the text turns to the larger realm of science to explain natural selection and the function of DNA as creators of evolution. Green’s sketches in inky blue tones and black give readers quick impressions of the volcano rising from the sea, scientists at work, and the finches. This broadly sketched story is a streamlined overview of the island research that began in 1972 and continued through 2012, and some readers may wish for more story about scientists living inside the volcano. An included science lesson urges readers to conduct careful study of birds in their own backyards. Generous end materials include a glossary, web resources, and four-part bibliography: birdwatching, backyard close observation, volcanoes, and ­Galápagos.