Cover Image: The Glitter in the Green

The Glitter in the Green

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Member Reviews

Wow, what a beautiful tour-de-force of the hummingbird. I think this book will appeal not only to birders but to many nature and travel lovers as well. At 352 pages, it is jam packed with info but I did find that the focus on the bird was somewhat lost in the larger mixture of travel writing, natural history, and history.

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This book is dense! Full of the hunt for hummingbirds along with history, science, and tales about these little birds. Jon Dunn travels around the Americas searching for specific types of hummingbirds, such as a Spatuletail or Coquette. Along the way we get stories: such as how this particular bird was discovered, or a societal association (often how the birds were being used by humans), or a little bit on his own travels. When reading the book you cannot help but to learn a little something about these tiny birds.

The book felt more geared towards birders than someone new to bird watching, but it isn’t just for them. The stories of how Dunn is successful, or not, in finding the right bird propels the narrative along. We meet some people along the way, not in any depth, but they are caretakers of the hummingbirds. I was surprised to find there are several places in South America that cater to the travelers searching for specific species of hummingbirds, so hummingbirds are feed and looked after.

The print book should contain some images, likely from the author himself and he is known for being a nature photographer.

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A truly excellent narrative! Dunn certainly has a gift for writing a vivid and engaging tale, while still informing the audience. It did feel at times more of a travel log than a book about hummingbirds, but if I had had the opportunity to go to such incredible places I would want to share all my travel details too! :)

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The author writes in such detail about his hummingbird adventures across the globe that I was engrossed in tidbits of natural history and cultural history he wove into the book along the way. It went beyond his own selfish reasons for seeing these animals up close and brought in the whole community.

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I like storytellers. This book was a bit storyteller, bit ornithology lesson and bit warning about what we are doing to our earth & all it's inhabitants.

I loved the stories about the author going different places to see many different types of hummingbirds. It was fun to learn about the places. I had to look up photos for each bird that was in the stories. And it wasn't just hummingbirds - though they are the feature! Great for anyone who enjoys hummers.

I didn't like what is happening to the birds and man's involvement in that. It was sad to read but perhaps more people should be aware & concerned about the hummingbirds plight.

I received an ARC from Netgalley & Perseus Books to prepare my honest review.

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Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read The Glitter in the Green. Hummingbirds are one of my favorite birds and this book immediately caught my eye. When I first saw it, I liked the title, the cover, the topic, everything. As far as I am aware, I have never read any of Jon Dunn's work previously, and I found his writing style to be engaging and informative. Dunn takes us into a detailed and sweeping story of hummingbirds, part travel and nature writing, part history, and part natural history. I enjoyed reading it, but I took two stars off for a few reasons. The focus often shifted from hummingbirds to just plain history and facts about different places, which was distracting when I was expecting to read about hummingbirds. Also, considering what was actually written about hummingbirds, the book could have been quite a bit shorter. Additionally, in a comprehensive book about hummingbirds, I thought there would be some illustrations or photographs of at least the hummingbirds discussed, but there wasn't anything, which was disappointing. A cozy read for birders, history buffs, and travel/nature readers.

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Although this is a book about hummingbirds and is advertised as such, this book actually mixes travel writing, natural history, and actual history. The author lives in the Shetland Islands in Scotland where there aren’t any hummingbirds - they live only in the Americas. But, at the beginning of the book he recalls his first time seeing a hummingbird as a boy. It wasn’t alive - it was a taxidermy specimen at the Museum of Natural History in London, but still, he immediately fell in love.

That love continued into his adulthood and he decided that he wanted to travel across the world - or to all the places the over 300 species of hummingbirds reside - in order to see as many types of hummingbirds as possible. This takes him as far north as Alaska and as far south as Argentina’s Tierra del Fuego.

Getting to see these birds was often very involved and sometimes required going into politically unstable, sometimes dangerous areas and he needed a lot of help to get to some of these places, but also then the expertise of locals who would be his only hope of finding some of the hummingbirds.

While he’s describing his travels and discussing the amazing science of the hummingbirds, he also brings up topics related to the places he’s traveling, the environment, and the past and present relationship between people and these tiny birds.

He talks about the history of the study of hummingbirds, but also things like the trade of feathers and the illegal trade of these birds for a variety of cultural or superstitious reasons. He also mentions artistic representations of these birds like a huge geoglyph of a hummingbird in Peru, Frida Kahlo wearing a hummingbird necklace in a self-portrait, among others.

There’s a lot of romanticization of hummingbirds in here because of the charisma these birds have, like I mentioned earlier, and because of how much the author loves them. It’s not all that surprising that the author speaks about them with such reverence because he thinks they’re glorious enough to go on an international birding expedition trying to see them. He uses some gorgeous language to describe the birds and you can feel how much he’s invested. It’s not just about checking each one off of a list, he really wants to see them.

I did overall think this was a decent book. Hearing about his travels was very entertaining and I liked the majority of the related information he brings up, but I did sometimes feel the author lost focus on the birds.

I’m not surprised he needed to bring in a lot of other information to fill out this book, because at its most basic level, this was a birding trip. He can give details about the difficulties of getting to these locations, but it’s a little anticlimactic after he actually sees the bird. There also didn’t seem to be much of an effort to make any kind of narrative through-line to the text. So while all the information is interesting, it didn’t always feel connected. It was like a series of fun facts about things relating to hummingbirds mixed in with a birding travel book. That’s the best way I can describe it. So, not a bad book, especially if you love hummingbirds, but not an entirely successful work.

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I was delighted to discover that Dunn's nonfiction book about hummingbirds read more like a novel than a dry textbook. His enthusiasm for hummers is contagious, and the book is part historical who's who, and part travelogue. He doesn't shy away from the harder questions, such as how to balance survival of threatened species with people’s desire for economic improvement. My only complaint is that my electronic copy contained no photos!

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There is something about hummingbirds that have always drawn me to them. I remember seeing them in my backyard when I was growing up: so tiny, yet so fast. Wings beating so fast they were a blur. I'm not religious, but every time I saw one it was like witnessing a little miracle.

Fast forward a few decades and I have moved from my Caribbean home to Florida where I learned about hummingbird migrations and have been designing a native pollinator garden to attract butterflies, bees, but also hummingbirds. My new home has also introduced me to birds that may be common in the mainland, but were exotic to me in the colony I grew up in. This has led me to field guides that help me identify them and books by birders.

I have to admit that I'm jealous of the latter. I wish I had the money to travel the globe in search of birds. I admit that I never thought of traversing the globe in search of hummingbirds. Luckily, Dunn did. He also recorded his observations and shared them in this book.

If you are a birder (even if its only the armchair kind) you will enjoy each and every place Dunn visited and the iridescent avian friends he sought.

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Though they are tiny, hummingbirds are among the most fascinating of birds thanks to their colorful plumage and their singular flying skills. Their ability to hover in front of flowers is unmatched in the skies and their wings can beat up to hundreds of times per second, creating the humming sound that gives them their name. Some species have ranges that span thousands of miles, while others exist within in small ecological niches on a single island or across a few mountains. They have been part of the cultures of the Americas for millennia and have faced threats from collectors and fashionistas across the centuries. But while these beautiful birds are beloved by ornithologists and bird enthusiasts around the world, they are threatened across the board thanks to wildlife trafficking, habit destruction, invasive species, and climate change. We may love these birds, but they are in grave danger of disappearing forever.

In his new book, The Glitter in the Green: In Search of Hummingbirds, photographer and wildlife enthusiast Jon Dunn sets out from his home in the Shetland Islands off the northern coast of Scotland on an epic journey that will take him from subarctic Alaska to the southern reaches of South America. His goal? To see as many hummingbird species as he can and learn about the birds, the cultural history that revolves around them, and what their future may entail. Along the way, he encounters other more dangerous animals such as bears and mountain lions, and has a run-in with the world’s most dangerous creature: angry humans. Dunn encounters wonderful people, too. Friendly people who give him good advice and who are willing to spend hours driving a random bird enthusiast into the wilderness so he can see a handful of hummingbirds, or who fell in love with hummingbirds themselves by sheer chance and then turned their homes into a refuge for these tiny, beautiful birds.

But The Glitter in the Green is more than just one man listing the countries he traveled to and the birds he saw there. Dunn delves into the history of the lands he visits as it pertains to hummingbirds. Along the Mexican border he sees a wildlife market where dead hummingbirds are sold for folk remedies and love potions. In central America, he describes how the hummingbirds were seen as fierce little warriors by the Aztecs, who associated them with war gods in spite of their small size. Farther along in his expedition, Dunn details the exploits of English naturalists and collectors who raced to find the strangest, rarest, or most beautiful hummingbirds– and then kill them so they could ship them back to their museums. There are accounts of made-up hummingbirds that ornithologists believed were real, and real hummingbirds that were thought to be made-up until they were spotted in the wild. There is a vast array of hummingbird species, and scientists are still trying to figure out how many there are and how they are related to each other. And the sad truth is that we may never know how many different kinds of hummingbirds exist– or have existed– because some populations are so small and so dependent on a tiny ecological zone that, once that zone is destroyed, we will never know that a particular little bird existed.

There is some hope for some species of hummingbirds, however. As awareness of them as a precious and lovable creature grows, and as ecotourism expands in countries like Colombia and Brazil, pockets of protected areas will grow. But whether those pockets will allow hummingbirds to thrive or even survive at all is up for debate, and in some regions, such as the tiny Robinson Crusoe Island off the coast of Chile, it is unlikely that the local hummingbirds will exist in another twenty years, no matter what lengths the local people will go to to help protect them. Dunn may revel in the beauty of a place or wax rhapsodic about the shimmering colors of hummingbird wings, but such descriptions of lovely places and wonderful people can’t quite balance out the elegiac parts. When he began his journey, Alaska’s forests were on fire; wildlife trafficking in Mexico was unabated; political unrest was threatening to destabilize Bolivia; a right-wing president was abandoning policies designed to protect indigenous people and hundreds of thousands of square miles of untouched rain forest in Brazil.

The Glitter in the Green is more than just a book about hummingbirds, attractive as they are. It’s a compelling and elegantly written cultural history, a travelogue, and a stark reminder that humanity has a complex relationship with the natural world and that all too often, we end up destroying the things we say we love.

Thank you to NetGalley and Basic Books for providing me with a free ebook in exchange for an honest opinion. This did not affect my opinion.

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Jon Dunn, British birder, writer, naturalist, and photographer, grew up on the side of the world where there are no hummingbirds – except dead ones in the hummingbird cabinet in London’s Natural History Museum. “Dipped in rainbows,” they mesmerized him and he was well and truly hooked. His first sight of a live hummer, in Arizona’s Madera Canyon, was literally magnificent: big, bold, dark, glowing, its wings issuing a “sonorous buzz” – it was actually called a Magnificent (now called a Rivoli’s) Hummingbird. And so he plans a journey, from the northernmost tip to the southernmost extreme of hummingbird territory, from Alaska to Tierra del Fuego, to see as many hummers as he can, in all their haunts and habitats, from deserts to glaciers to jungles. And lucky us: we get to go with him.

Dunn is a genial, dedicated (obsessed?), and infinitely knowledgeable guide. He will tell you everything you ever wanted to know about these physiological miracles (a hummer can require 4000 calories an hour to nourish a heart that beats 1200 times a minute, and that climate change is affecting their ranges to the extent that an Anna’s hummingbird has been seen feeding in Alaska in January). He will tell you about the historical naturalists who studied, identified, named, and killed them in vast numbers. There are elaborate images in art museums like the portrait of Christ made entirely of hummingbird feathers; tiny desiccated chuparosas are sold in packets as love charms in a foul, stinking Mexican wildlife market as bad as anything in Wuhan, China. Darwin, Dickens, Edward Lear (The Owl and the Pussycat man, who was also a fine bird painter), Fidel Castro, Teddy Roosevelt, Gerald Durrell, David Attenborough – all make cameo appearances. If there’s a hummingbird connection, Dunn has found it. There’s even a flight in a rickety plane over the famous Peruvian Nazca glyph of a hummingbird, and speculation about what precise species it may be. The place of hummingbirds in history, folklore, poetry, fashion, art… it’s all here, enthusiastically described and you can’t help but be charmed.

And then, of course, the birds themselves. Dunn has to dig deep to find the words to describe them: emerald, sapphire, ruby, topaz; shimmer, sparkle, blaze, flame, glow. The names alone (largely thanks to John Gould, an otherwise thoroughly unpleasant man) are something out of fairy tales: Fiery Topaz, Velvet Purple Coronet, the particularly ferocious Black Jacobin, Green-Throated Mango, Tourmaline Sunangel, Festive Coquette, Sapphire-vented Puffleg… What this book desperately needs is pictures. Dunn is a fine photographer; I would have hoped some of these creatures would have shown their faces in the pages, but I had to settle for Googling. And I promise you, every image for every one of these wondrous names will make you gasp, smile, and say, “wow!”

Dunn must be an affable fellow, and I assume he must speak good Spanish, for he engages a cast of guides, drivers, lodgekeepers, and locals in his quest who are dedicated and generous. He discusses the protections afforded birds in areas threatened by development (Brazil is a horrifying example) or climate change, and asks (pre-Covid!): “Were the ecotourism to dry up, what would happen to the Marvelous Spatuletail?” What, indeed? Huembo Lodge’s Facebook page says they are open with all “biosecurity protocols” for Covid in place – let us hope for the best.

Not a field guide, not an ornithological treatise. History, adventure travel, quest, obsession, with effusive language to share the wonderment of these tiny, hovering, fierce, glorious birds. One evening, Dunn lingers in a clearing high in the Ecuadorean forest. His fellow birders have returned to the lodge. There is a “deep throbbing hum” in the shadows. A waft of air brushes his cheek, and a dark hummingbird is hovering inches from his face. The bird shifts to face him, and the inky plumage suddenly turns to an “overpowering imperial purple,” and the late light “exploded into myriad sparks… coruscating… glittering.” He and the bird “share some sort of communion,” the bird deliberately looking him in the eye. Dunn’s first Velvet-Purple Coronet, and his desire to share that moment with us makes this book a lovely and endearing pleasure.

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“The periodic appearance of a dragonfly in the garden airspace brought sharp perspective— considerably larger than the Bee Hummingbirds, its appearance caused alarm amongst them and, in a chorus of shrill squeaks, the tiny birds fled for cover.”

This brilliant book is both a celebration of hummingbirds and the author’s personal quest to see as many species as possible, beginning in Alaska, working south through central and southern America, and finishing up at the southernmost tip of Argentina. He does this over several trips and, rather than doing a “big year” style dash, he takes the time to go in search of endemic and rare species as well as looking for hummingbirds in their northernmost and southernmost ranges.

Each chapter focuses on a different place and includes a potted history of a rare or hard-to-find species, as well as stories about hummingbird collectors, other hummingbird enthusiasts, and hummingbirds in culture. We also hear about the author's own activities, his encounters with the hummingbirds and other wildlife, and often a humorous anecdote or two, usually at his own expense. His enthusiasm shines through at all times as he lovingly describes each bird, and he has some really heart-warming experiences with them. He does, understandably, value rarity, but his main focus is on the beauty of the birds and their amazing characteristics.

This was a really enjoyable and informative read, and made me wish hummingbirds were in my country! The writing style is very approachable and although it will especially appeal to bird lovers, I think a casual reader would enjoy it too.

I’d like to thank the publisher and Netgalley for kindly providing me with an advance review copy. All opinions are my own.

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For non-birders, this maybe be TMI (too much information), but if you are fascinated by these tiniest of birds, you’ll appreciated Dunn’s look at the hummingbird. Dunn, a natural-history writer, set off to see hummingbirds in the America’s. Starting off in Cordova, Alaska where he looked for the rufous hummingbird, he made his way south to tierra del Fuego in search of the green-backed firecrown. As he goes he tells how the “glitter in green” has been threatened because of their beauty. As far back as the Aztecs, their feathers were used in clothing and pictures. And as climate change impacts the birds, he worries about their future.

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The Glitter in the Green is a beguiling title to a book on author and naturalist Jon Dunn's obsession with hummingbirds. As a boy Dunn became entranced with these tiny colorful birds, which were not present in his native England. He has made it his passion and his quest to study the birds in their native habitat. His adventure starts in Alaska, and eventually leads them all over the world.

I admire people who have a passion, and hummingbirds are a beautiful obsession. The book is part travelogue and part nature and conservation tome. Following Dunn on his many adventures made me envy his life! He includes some interesting obscure facts, for example: he discusses a connection to hummingbirds and James Bond. Curious? You'll have to read the book to find out!

Thank you to NetGalley, the publisher and Jon Dunn for allowing me to read this ARC. I found it interesting and entertaining. I would rate it 4.5.

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I was planning to review this professionally, but that alas may not happen.

But this is indeed the kind of book which might a reader a birder. Why would a non-birder
even read it in the first place, you ask? The book is informative, well-written and is
guaranteed to take you on a virtual trip to humming bird observation sites.
Not for nothing are these birds called flying jewels. And they are unexpectedly feisty
as well, you learn. These are New World birds, so some readers might actually need to
travel to the Americas to see the birds.
Nor is this book only about these tiny, bejeweled birds. You learn a whole lot about nature
and environmental issues and even cultural practices you may have never heard of before
as you learn more about these birders. And you might end up planning trips to go see these birds
in the post-pandemic world. I, for one, found the author's enthusiasm infectious.

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The Glitter in the Green is a layman accessible cautionary tale of conservation by Jon Dunn. Due out 20th April 2021 from Hachette on their Basic Books imprint, it's 352 pages and will be available in hardcover, audio, and ebook formats. It's worth noting that the ebook format has a handy interactive table of contents as well as interactive links and references throughout. I've really become enamored of ebooks with interactive formats lately.

This is a wonderfully descriptive book and will be especially relevant for birders. The author describes ten different destinations and their related hummingbird species and his descriptions of the terrain, the travels, the people he meets along the way, and the birds and other wildlife, are full of enthusiasm and beauty and very often pathos. The habitat is shrinking, the weather patterns are becoming more hostile, and introduced species are destroying indigenous species at a catastrophic rate.

Even though there's a pervasive sadness and quiet desperation written into the narrative, I found it a compelling and important read. I would recommend it for readers of nature and conservancy writing, fans of Rachel Carson, John Muir, David Attenborough, and related writers. In some ways it also reminded me of Douglas Adams and Mark Cawardine's Last Chance to See.

Five stars.

Disclosure: I received an ARC at no cost from the author/publisher for review purposes.

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The Glitter in the Green: In Search of Hummingbirds by Jon Dunn is a highly recommended nature guide and travelogue about hummingbirds.

Dunn, a natural history writer, fell in love with hummingbirds as a child. In The Glitter in the Green, he begins his journey in Alaska and ends it in Argentina in his quest to follow the full length of the range of the over three hundred wildly variable hummingbirds. As we follow his journey he expounds on all things hummingbirds and how these delicate birds are adapting as well as threatened by climate change, habitat loss, and hunting. As he describes his travels, he shares many remarkable facts about the migrations, coloring, physiology, adaptability, habitats, mechanics, about the various species of each hummingbird in each location. In each location he visits he is cognizant of considering the culture, history, folklore, and literature of the region and the place hummingbirds hold in these cultural touchstone areas. He also discusses the threats they face in each region.

Dunn presents his captivating narrative in wildly descriptive, poetic prose, and detailed facts. He is passionate about everything he presents, whether it is details about a specific species of hummingbird, a story, or the effects of climate change. This is an admirable study of hummingbirds that will enchant both dedicated birders and those with a casual interest in hummingbirds and natural history. While I reviewed a digital edition, I am sure the hard cover book is a wonder to behold.

Disclosure: My review copy was courtesy of Basic Books in exchange for my honest opinion.
The review will be submitted for publication on Amazon, Edelweiss, Google Books, and Barnes & Noble.

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The Glitter in the Green by Jon Dunn is an excellent nonfiction that was truly a journey of one man’s quest to immerse himself into the fascinating existence of the hummingbird that I will never forget.

I have always found hummingbirds so endearing, unique, fierce, and mighty despite their tiny size, and I honestly have wondered more about them. I stumbled upon this nonfiction, reference, and part memoir of the author’s quest to discover, learn, and experience the full scope (as much as safely possible) of the fascinating hummingbird.

We readers get to travel along in the author’s widespread journey while he discovers, unearths, and describes so much, not only in regards to the hummingbird, but also about nature, and so many locations themselves.

Never has learning so much been so enjoyable. This is a real gem and I highly recommend this book to anyone that is interested in not only hummingbirds, but nature, the world, and the journey of life.

5/5 stars

Thank you NG and Basic Books/Perseus Books for this wonderful arc and in return I am submitting my unbiased and voluntary review and opinion.

I am posting this review to my GR and Bookbub accounts immediately and will post it to my Amazon, Instagram, and B&N accounts upon publication.

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A powerhouse of a read about the mightiest powerhouse of birds: the hummingbird. An entrancing look at the world of these winged miracles, packed with information and intriguing tidbits of knowledge. Highly recommended!

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Fascinating look at hummingbirds the author takes us along as he follows the path of these birds.Beautifully written so informative I enjoyed following in his path and really learning so much about hummingbirds.I really enjoyed this book and will be recommending,#netgalley#persusbooks

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