... fantastically informative ... [Dunn's] excitement is contagious ... braids the cultural history and daunting needs and feats of these wondrous birds with vivid accounts of the author’s sometimes hazardous, far-flung mountain, forest and island expeditions ... Exceedingly well-researched and packed with fascinating lore, it should appeal to avid birders and general readers alike. Two quibbles: More informative captions on the photographs would have been welcome, including where each shot was taken. A more troubling omission is the lack of source citations for the plethora of information gathered in this volume ... Mr. Dunn’s prose has the necessary sparkle to do his subject justice ... Mr. Dunn doesn’t overwhelm us with facts—there is little here about hummingbirds’ evolution or gestation—but those he includes go down as easily as sugar water.
... a book that is both an ode to hummingbirds and a remarkable piece of travel literature ... Dunn gives us the facts about hummingbirds, but he also explores the places where hummingbirds intersect with the world they inhabit and the people they affect ... From the narrative of Dunn’s excursion, we learn that a backyard hummingbird sighting is actually an exotic visit from the wide, strange world.
Full of natural history, quotes from early explorers, local history, and adventure, Dunn’s chronicle of his hummingbird quests will make readers just as obsessed with these small, quick birds dipped in rainbows.
