Synopses & Reviews
Among the world's most popular birds, hawks can be some of the most difficult birds to identify. They're most often seen flying high above and at a distance.
In the first edition of Hawks in Flight, Pete Dunne, David Sibley, and Clay Sutton presented a holistic method of hawk identification, using general body shape, the way they move, and the places they are most likely to be seen.
The new edition of the book that Roger Tory Peterson called a andquot;landmarkandquot; integrates an array of carefully selected photographs, David Sibley's superb illustrations, and a clear, information-packed text and takes raptor identification to a higher level. This edition covers all of the raptors that breed in North America, including those with limited ranges in Florida, the Southwest, and Texas.
Picking up where its predecessor ended by including two decades of raptor identification refinement, Hawks in Flight summarizes and places in usersandrsquo; hands an identification skill set that used to take years to master. The unique alchemy of Dunne, Sibley, and Suttonandmdash;including their collective experience of more than one hundred years watching hawksandmdash;make this book a singular achievement and a must-have for anyone interested in hawks.
Review
"Everything you could ever want to know about diurnal raptors is included in this handy-to-carry guide." - Home New Tribune
Synopsis
An indispensable guide for hawk watchers, this is a completely new edition of the seminal book that introduced a holistic method for identifying distant birds in flight.
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Synopsis
This guide includes all 39 species of North American hawks and other diurnal raptors, including eagles, falcons, and vultures. Color paintings and photographs show each species in various color morphs and plumages, which are aso described in detail.
Synopsis
A guide to help birders use important, unchanging features of size, shape, body language, and behavior to create impressions of birds and identify them.
Synopsis
A highly visual guide to identifying birds in the field based on the important, unchanging features of size, shape, structure, and behavior Birding is an extremely rewarding and fun hobby, but some situations can be frustrating or unsuccessful because of a variety of challenging viewing conditions. This guide to identifying birds offers the holistic andldquo;birding by impressionandrdquo; method, which not only helps with these difficult conditions, but also develops an efficient mental identification process using left- and right-brain skills. It begins with a conscious assessment of a birdandrsquo;s unchanging physical characteristics, including general size, body shape, structural features (bill, legs, neck, and wings), and behavior. Using this approach, birders can quickly assess all birds and distinguish new and uncommon species from familiar ones. They can then examine more detailed field marks to fine-tune the identification. Rather than a traditional field guide, this book presents an interactive how-to approach to a more complete identification process.
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Synopsis
A guide that teaches birders how to effectively identify eastern waterbirds in flight using a method of identification that emphasizes birds' structure, behavior, and overall color.
Synopsis
Seawatching is the challenging act of identifying waterbirds in flight. Since more than one hundred different species can fly past an observation point, often at great speed or in tightly packed, mixed-species flocks, identification of these distant shapes can be a mystery. The keys to the mysteryandmdash;the subtle traits that unlock the identity of flying waterbirds, be it wingbeat cadence, individual structure, flock shape and behavior, or subtle flashes of colorandmdash;are revealed in this guide.
Though commonly called seawatching, this on-the-fly observation and identification method is by no means restricted to the coast. There are impressive waterbird migrations on the Great Lakes, the Gulf of Mexico, and many inland lakes and rivers. Nor is it restricted to migrating waterfowl, as the principles of flight identification apply as effectively to ducks flushed off a pond as to distant migrating flocks. Like Hawks in Flight and The Shorebird Guide, the Peterson Reference Guide to Seawatching breaks new ground, provides cutting-edge techniques, and pushes the envelope in bird identification even further.
Synopsis
In this book, bursting with more information than any field guide could hold, the well-known author and birder Pete Dunne introduces readers to the "Cape May School of Birding." It's an approach to identification that gives equal or more weight to a bird's structure and shape and the observer's overall impression (often called GISS, for General Impression of Size and Shape) than to specific field marks.
After determining the most likely possibilities by considering such factors as habitat and season, the birder uses characteristics such as size, shape, color, behavior, flight pattern, and vocalizations to identify a bird. The book provides an arsenal of additional hints and helpful clues to guide a birder when, even after a review of a field guide, the identification still hangs in the balance.
This supplement to field guides shares the knowledge and skills that expert birders bring to identification challenges. Birding should be an enjoyable pursuit for beginners and experts alike, and Pete Dunne combines a unique playfulness with the work of identification. Readers will delight in his nicknames for birds, from the Grinning Loon and Clearly the Bathtub Duck to Bronx Petrel and Chicken Garnished with a Slice of Mango and a Dollop of Raspberry Sherbet.
About the Author
KEN BEHRENSandnbsp;has been a birder since the age of eleven. He was the ABA/Leica Young Birder of the Year in 1999. He spent three years counting birds in Cape May, New Jersey, where he developed his interest in seawatching. He currently works as a birding tour guide in Africa, based in Madagascar. He recently co-authored a site guide to Ethiopia called
Birding Ethiopia.
CAMERON COXandnbsp;has been an avid birder forandnbsp;nineteen years. Now a product specialist for Leica Sport Optics, he spent his late teens and twentiesandnbsp;traveling as a "bird bum"andnbsp;to all corners of North America, from southern Mexico to the Pribilof Islands in the Bering Sea. Birds led him repeatedly to Cape May, New Jersey, and it was while counting hawks and waterbirds at Cape May that he realized that identifying distant waterbirds on the wing was fun and challenging, leading to the inspriation for this book.
Table of Contents
Contents
Acknowldgments ix Introduction 1 A Guide to the Guide: How to Make This Book Work for You 9
Species Accounts 20 WaterfowlGeese, Swans, and Ducks 20 Game BirdsChachalaca, Quail, Pheasant, and Grouse 67 Loons 86 Grebes 91 Albatrosses 97 Petrels and Shearwaters 98 Storm-Petrels 107 Tropicbirds 113 Sulids (Boobies) 115 Pelicans 118 Cormorants 119 Herons, Egrets, and Ibis 127 Storks,Vultures, and Flamingos 143 Diurnal RaptorsKites,Hawks, Eagles, and Falcons 147 Rails, Coots, Limpkin, and Cranes 181 ShorebirdsPlovers and Sandpipers 193 Skuas and Jaegers 247 Gulls 254 Terns and Skimmer 276 AlcidsAuks,Murres, and Puffins 292 Pigeons and Doves 309 Parrots and Parakeets 318 Cuckoos, Roadrunner, and Anis 321 Owls 326 Nighthawks and Nightjars 344 Swifts 350 Hummingbirds 353 Trogons 367 Kingfishers 368 Woodpeckers 371 Flycatchers 391 Shrikes 422 Vireos 424 Jays, Crows, and Ravens 436 Larks 451 Swallows 453 Chickadees, Titmice,Verdin, and Bushtit 462 Nuthatches 472 Creepers and Wrens 475 Dipper and Bulbul 485 Kinglets 486 Old World Warblers and Gnatcatchers 488 Thrushes and Wrentit 491 MimidsCatbirds,Mockingbirds, and Thrashers 506 Starlings and Mynas 515 Wagtails and Pipits 516 Waxwings and Phainopepla 521 Wood-Warblers 524 Tanagers 578 Seedeaters, Towhees, Sparrows, Juncos, and Longspurs 581 Cardinals, Grosbeaks, Buntings, and Dickcissel 631 IcteridsBlackbirds and Orioles 641 Finches 663 Old World Sparrows 679
Index 683