The Return of the Oystercatcher: Saving Birds to Save the Planet – Wednesday, July 8

At a time when the news for birds (for the planet!) has rarely seemed more grim, there is reason for hope. Despite the odds today, all around the world people are actually reviving bird populations, providing a roadmap for wider recovery. In his newest book, The Return of the Oystercatcher, best-selling author and researcher Scott Weidensaul shows why creating a world that works for birds will work for everything, including us. He’ll trace this inspiring arc from a tiny island off the Maine coast to the bird-rich Danube Delta on the Ukrainian border, and vulture restoration in the mountains of Bulgaria to across the world’s largest and most intact forest in Canada where Indigenous communities are permanently protecting hundreds of millions of acres of some of the most important migratory bird habitat on Earth. This is a dose of optimism we all need.

Bio: Scott Weidensaul is the author of nearly 30 books on natural history, including the Pulitzer Prize finalist Living on the Wind and his New York Times bestseller A World on the Wing. His latest book, Return of the Oystercatcher coming in April 2026, showcases what’s working for bird conservation around the world. Weidensaul is a contributing editor for Audubon magazine, a columnist for Bird Watcher’s Digest, and writes for a variety of other publications including the Cornell Ornithology Laboratory’s Living Bird publication. He is a Fellow of the American Ornithological Society and an active field researcher, studying Saw-whet Owl migration for 30 years, as well as winter hummingbirds in the East, bird migration in Alaska, and the winter movements of Snowy Owls through Project SNOWstorm, which he co-founded.

Contact: Dan Hubbard, 603 978-0218, danielhubbard@peoplepc.com