Kolea: The Story of the Pacific Golden Plover
Middle Grades
by Marion Coste
Amazon.com/dp/B01K3MYIPW
The Kolea (Pacific Golden Plover) leads a double life. From May to August it nests and raises its young on Alaska's chilly subarctic tundra. Come winter, its plumage turns from black and white to gold and brown, and the Kolea makes its way to Hawaii's distant shores, where it will remain for the next eight months before returning to Alaska. It undertakes this incredible journey of nearly 3,000 miles without stopping once to rest or feed. Amazingly, young Kolea, left far behind on the Alaskan coast, find their way to Hawaii without any help from their parents, across thousands of miles of trackless ocean without losing their way. How do they do it? The ability of the Kolea to navigate such a tremendous distance remains a mystery. In the first part of this book you will journey with the Kolea from the treeless plains near the Arctic Circle, across the vast Pacific Ocean, to its warm and sunny winter home in Hawaii. The second part contains information on habitat, food, nesting and breeding, and the challenges facing scientists who study Kolea migration.