Buteo Book Club: August 2026 Discussion Questions
Join the Buteo Book Club—all are welcome and you can participate from anywhere! This month, we're reading Flight Paths: How a Passionate and Quirky Group of Pioneering Scientists Solved the Mystery of Bird Migration by Rebecca Heisman.
"For someone who thought I knew plenty about bird migration, I found myself being surprised an awful lot," Rebecca Heisman writes. "Not just by what these scientists were learning—although that was fascinating, too—but by how they were learning it, the details in the sometimes-overlooked 'methods' section of a scientific paper, where researchers spell out exactly how they produced their data. Despite my own background in ornithology, it was news to me that birds' migration patterns could be studied with weather radar. Or by analyzing the hydrogen isotopes in their feathers... How, I wondered, did we even figure out how to do any of this?"
Please submit your responses to the discussion questions by September 10th to be included in the conversation that is shared with book club members.
Discussion Questions:
- What’s something you learned about bird migration that you didn't know before reading this book? Were you surprised by how scientists figured it out?
- One of the first scientific breakthroughs that Rebecca Heisman recounts is the capturing and banding of birds. Have you observed a banded bird? Tell us about your experience reporting that sighting (or with banding more generally!)
- The author presents an ethical question: How do we decide when the benefits of the knowledge we gain from tracking devices outweigh the potential harm to individual birds? Tell us what you think the answer is.
- Many fascinating migration stories are told in this book. Does one particular bird, species, or scientist's story stand out for you?
- In addition to profiling the scientists who have contributed to our current understanding of bird migration, Heisman writes about community science. Tell us about your involvement with data projects like Christmas Bird Count, Project Feeder Watch, or eBird.
Please submit your responses to the discussion questions by September 10th to be included in the conversation that is shared with book club members. You can also share your thoughts in the comments section below. And make sure you've officially joined the Buteo Book Club (it's free!) to receive the conversation summary.