Maati lives in the far North where it is very cold and very dark much of the year. But after the ice breaks in the late spring, everything changes: flowers cover the earth and creatures of all shapes and sizes arrive from the south. Of all her seasonal friends, Maati looks forward to seeing a pair of northern chickadees most of all. And then, one spring, only one of the two returns and she learns where the other has gone ... to Birdland.