MEL WHITE is a writer specializing in travel and natural history. He has worked for National Geographic publications since 1990 and has written more than 50 magazine articles for National Geographic magazine and National Geographic Traveler covering destinations such as Australia, Borneo, the Amazon River, the Swiss Alps, and Madagascar, as well as North American sites from Alaska to the Everglades. His books include the two-volume National Geographic Guide to Birdwatching Sites and National Geographic Guide to America's Outdoors- Southwest.