Synopses & Reviews
We usually think of cities as the domain of humansandmdash;but we are just one of thousands of species that call the urban landscape home. Chicago residents knowingly move among familiar creatures like squirrels, pigeons, and dogs, but might be surprised to learn about all the leafhoppers and water bears, black-crowned night herons and bison, beavers and massasauga rattlesnakes that are living alongside them.
City Creatures introduces readers to an astonishing diversity of urban wildlife with a unique and accessible mix of essays, poetry, paintings, and photographs.
The contributors bring a story-based approach to this urban safari, taking readers on birding expeditions to the Magic Hedge at Montrose Harbor on the North Side, canoe trips down the South Fork of the Chicago River (better known as Bubbly Creek), and insect-collecting forays or restoration work days in the suburban forest preserves.
The book is organized into six sections, each highlighting one type of place in which people might encounter animals in the city and suburbs. For example, schoolyard chickens and warrior wasps populate andldquo;Backyard Diversity,andrdquo; live giraffes loom at the zoo and taxidermy-in-progress pheasants fascinate museum-goers in andldquo;Animals on Display,andrdquo; and a chorus of deep-freeze frogs awaits in andldquo;Water Worlds.andrdquo; Although the book is rooted in Chicagoandrsquo;s landscape, nature lovers from cities around the globe will find a wealth of urban animal encounters that will open their senses to a new world that has been there all along. Its powerful combination of insightful narratives, numinous poetry, and full-color art throughout will help readers see the cityandmdash;and the creatures who share it with usandmdash;in an entirely new light.
Review
andldquo;Most insect and bird field guides require you to encounter a species first and then wade through pages, hoping to identify whatever you encountered. In The Art of Migration, you learn about the species and when you can expect to encounter them. With that information, you are inspired to step outside and locate that yellow-rumped warbler or dog-day cicada. It is refreshing reading something thatandrsquo;s science-based, beautiful, and fun.andrdquo;
Review
and#8220;Peggy Macnamara's wonderful talent as an artist and deep understanding of science enable her to deftly capture the natural world through her watercolors.and#160;This is an extraordinary volume capping Peggy's insight into migratory patterns, the Chicago natural area, and seasonal change. It should be required reading for everyone concerned about our natural habitat and about the miraculous combination of senses that enable bird migration.and#8221;
Review
"The Art of Migrationand#160;is no dry field guide or academic reference. Rather, it is a little treasure, beautiful to look at and enjoyable to read."and#160;
Review
andquot;Macnamara's paintings blend scenes of birds and insects in flight with more representational images. The transparent nature of watercolors allows her to offer context for bird migration; a map of South America or the Chicago skyline may appear layered in the background. This is not a field guide but a conversational collection of impressions.andquot;and#160;
Review
andquot;This is an exceptional book. Peggy Macnamaraandrsquo;s drawings are studies of the subject with the background often sketched in in an ethereal manner making the whole subject come aliveandmdash;birds, butterflies, and other insects. . . . This work is certainly one that you will use and admire.andquot;
Review
"In lovely, brightly colored watercolors in The Art of Migration, Macnamara reminds us that even in one of the most heavily developed areas of the United States, you can still find dog-day cicadas, banded woolly-bears, kinglets, nighthawks, Snowy Owls, and countless other beautiful and wild creatures. Thank goodness."
Review
andquot;Despite the Chicago-centric presentation, the birds and insects depicted could be found anywhere east of the Mississippi at the same latitude; there is much here to appeal to non-Chicagoans. This is just a pleasing book that couples luminously alive scenes of birds and insects through the journey of the seasons.andquot;
Review
andldquo;The essays, stories, art, poetry, and photography in City Creatures convey one insight after another about modern life, and in particular offer ideas about ethics, the importance of place, displaced species, the diversity of life, religious practice and thinking, and the role of literature and other arts in helping us see our daily lives. Human city dwellers will see their world far better and recognize how to stop harming their local habitat and their fellow urban and#39;citizens,and#39; building toward coexistence with their nonhuman neighbors.andrdquo;
Review
andquot;A fascinating collection of thoughtful insights in the richly diverse and surprisingly pulsing urban nature of one of the worldandrsquo;s most busy cities. This vivid and passionate book opens our eyes to the wealth of animal life that regularly goes unnoticed in the hustling and bustling of the everyday. The animals we share our city with occupy different urban spaces, geographical areas, and institutional domains as their fleeting presences are captured in this book by essayists, poets, and artists. With its emphasis on local realities and histories, City Creatures sets the model for the eco-urban engagement this decade so urgently needs.andquot;
Review
andquot;City Creatures is a collection of essays, artwork, and poetry from over 50 contributors. It exuberantly spans subjects from the spiritual benefits and moral issues around keeping chickens in the backyard to the unsung contributions of soil mites. We learn about orchid sex and the resurrection of frozen frogs. A scientist gives us a glimpse into the secret lives of urban coyotes. Thereandrsquo;s a step-by-step description of taxidermy. We are treated to charming accounts of meetings with owls, parrots, skunks, snakes and other animal neighbors, and a haunting glimpse of herons on the concrete-lined banks of a polluted stream. The authors take us bird-watching, snake-hunting, dog-walking, and into Chicagoandrsquo;s museums and zoos. The book is about the wildlife of Chicago, but the subjects extend well beyond.
and#160;
After reading City Creatures I was left feeling the strong collective impact of all of those voices. The stories were informative or intimate or funny or sad or all of these things. What I found most unique and unexpected was the bookandrsquo;s emotional content. I was touched. I literally laughed and cried, diving forward into each new story, genuinely interested to hear about the next personandrsquo;s wildlife experiences.andquot;
Review
andquot;Chicago wilderness? Who knew what fabulous creatures you may encounter there! There has never been another book that celebrates so beautifully the ways wild creatures can be encountered in the midst of the asphalt grids and windy shores of this most American of cities.andquot;
Review
andquot;A fascinating and beautiful book linking ecology, anthropology, spirituality, prose, art and poetry that urges us to rediscover our relationship with urban animals. Chicago provides an ideal background for this elegant and engaging examination of how animals and nature can reconnect us back to our own humanity; addressing essential and universal questions for all city-dwellers in this modern age.andquot;
Review
andquot;Nature in Chicago is everywhere and for everyone. Read this book for its symphony of voices.andquot;
Synopsis
Tiny ruby-throated hummingbirds weighing less than a nickel fly from the upper Midwest to Costa Rica every fall, crossing the six-hundred-mile Gulf of Mexico without a single stop. One of the many creatures that commute on the Mississippi Flyway as part of an annual migration, they pass along Chicagoandrsquo;s lakefront and through midwestern backyards on a path used by their species for millennia. This magnificent migrational dance takes place every year in Chicagoland, yet it is often missed by the regionandrsquo;s two-legged residents.
The Art of Migration uncovers these extraordinary patterns that play out over the seasons. Readers are introduced to over two hundred of the birds and insects that traverse regions from the edge of Lake Superior to Lake Michigan and to the rivers that flow into the Mississippi.
As the only artist in residence at the Field Museum, Peggy Macnamara has a unique vantage point for studying these patterns and capturing their distinctive traits. Her magnificent watercolor illustrations capture flocks, movement, and species-specific details. The illustrations are accompanied by text from museum staff and include details such as natural histories, notable features for identification, behavior, and how species have adapted to environmental changes. The book follows a gentle seasonal sequence and includes chapters on studying migration, artistandrsquo;s notes on illustrating wildlife, and tips on the best ways to watch for birds and insects in the Chicago area.
A perfect balance of science and art, The Art of Migration will prompt us to marvel anew at the remarkable spectacle going on around us.
Synopsis
In any given year, in the spring and fall, some 7 million birds representing 300 different species migrate through the city of Chicago.and#160; They come for great architecture, cuisine, song, views, and flywaysandmdash;creating their own urban nature.and#160; They alight our forest preserves, our lakefront paths, and the minds and hearts of citizens and students through the urban region. Chicago has gone to extensive lengths as a city to aid its finned, feathered, scaled, and furry animals enjoy the city as much as its bipedal inhabitants. Chicago is andldquo;Natureandrsquo;s Metropolis. Nature lovers, amateur naturalists, community organizers, urban agriculturalists, social workers, and concerned citizens have always been part of the fabric of the city.
Chicago Creatures aims to animate this natural world of the Chicago region, using stories, poems, and art to show how the vibrancy of nature in Chicago runs like a rhizome throughout our collective experience as urban naturalists.and#160; Recognizing the stories have often the best means of reaching readers, the essays in this volume tell stories about urban nature, and so too do the poems, and paintings, and photos.and#160; We see in these various creative forms how nature inspires, and holds meaning, even in an urban wilderness, and perhaps because of the urbanity of it all in some cases.and#160; The pieces are organized thematically, around the types of places and encounters readers would have with urban nature.and#160; The ultimate hope is that in learning about the animals of the city readers will think more about their conservation and longevity.and#160; And while the experiences might be local, the messages in this book are born to fly.
About the Author
Gavin Van Horn is the director of Cultures of Conservation for the Center for Humans and Nature, a nonprofit organization that focuses on and promotes conservation ethics. He writes for, edits, and curates the City Creatures blog. Dave Aftandilian is associate professor of anthropology at Texas Christian University. He is the editor of What Are the Animals to Us? Approaches from Science, Religion, Folklore, Literature, and Art.
Table of Contents
Foreword by John W. Fitzpatrick
Introduction by Peggy Macnamara
Cover Plate The V-Formation: Sandhill Cranes
Migration and Other Strategies to Survive the Seasons
Plate 1 Routes of Some Migratory Birds and Insects
Plate 2 Types of Flight
Plate 3 February Gull Frolic
Plate 4 Flocking: Starlings
Plate 5 Dragonfly Flight
Plate 6 Butterfly and Moth Flight
Spring
Plate 7 Herald of Spring: Red-winged Blackbird
Plate 8 Early Arrivals of Summer Residents: Sparrows
Plate 9 Daveand#8217;s Big Four
Plate 10 Spring Migrant Warblers in the Chicago Area
Plate 11 Spring Storm Aftermath
Plate 12 Ducks in Flight: Northern Shoveler
Plate 13 Spring Field Insects
Plate 14 Warblers That Nest in the Chicago Area
Plate 15 Shorebirds
Plate 16 Spring Wetland and Woodland Insects
Summer
Plate 17 Summer Marsh
Plate 18 Dragonflies
Plate 19 Summer Waterbirds
Plate 20 Ruby-throated Hummingbird
Plate 21 Summer Evening Insects
Plate 22 Sphinx Moths
Plate 23 Red-tailed Hawk
Plate 24 Kathyand#8217;s Field
Plate 25 Field and Meadow Insects
Plate 26 Insects of Planted Fields
Plate 27 American Goldfinch and Eastern Bluebird
Fall
Plate 28 Common Silhouettes around Chicago
Plate 29 Fall Insects
Plate 30 City Raptors
Plate 31 Timed Travelers: Green Darner and American Kestrel
Plate 32 Vireos from the Field Museum Terrace
Plate 33 Monarch Butterfly Migration in Mexico
Plate 34 Fall Migrant Warblers in the Chicago Area
Plate 35 October Lakefront
Plate 36 Kinglets
Plate 37 Woodpeckers
Plate 38 Fall and Winter Residents
Plate 39 American Goldfinch in Fall
Plate 40 Fall Game Birds
Winter
Plate 41 Winter Flock
Plate 42 Sacks, Silk, and Galls: Overwintering Insects
Plate 43 Three Chicago Owls with Blue Jays
Plate 44 Snow Birds and Insects
Plate 45 Snowy Owl
Plate 46 Winter Lakeshore
Plate 47 Household Insects
Studying Migration
Plate 48 Nine Days in May
Plate 49 Scenes from the Division of Birds Prep Lab, Field Museum
Plate 50 Preparing a Bird Study Skin
Plate 51 Monitoring Butterflies on Northerly Island
Conclusion
Watching Birds and Insects in Chicago
Further Reading
Contributor Biographies