Hawks in Flight: The Flight Identification of North American Migrant Raptors [Paperback]

Clay Sutton (Author), Pete Dunne (Author), David Allen Sibley (Author, Illustrator)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 12, 1989

This guide shows how to recognize hawks the way we recognize friends at a distance: by body shape, movements, and locale.

Editorial Reviews

From Library Journal

The standard field guides tend to assume that the observer will be close enough to the bird to pick out details of color and patterns for identification. Hawks, falcons, and their kin, however, are often seen in flight at distances far too great for color and pattern to be apparent: can they still be accurately identified? Yes, say the authors of this guide to the 23 most abundant and widespread raptors of the United States and Canada, who then show how with text and pictures. Serious birders can, and will want to, learn these techniques, so the book will be a worthwhile addition to all popular ornithology collections. (Photos not seen). Paul Cors, Univ. of Wyoming Lib., Laramie
Copyright 1988 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Review

"A landmark . . . a book I could learn a lot from." -- Roger Tory Peterson

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Product Details

• Paperback: 272 pages
• Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt; First edition. edition (April 12, 1989)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0395510228
• ISBN-13: 978-0395510223
• Product Dimensions: 8.3 x 5.5 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (17 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #147,094 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #60 in Books > Professional & Technical > Professional Science > Biological Sciences > Zoology > Ornithology

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

24 of 25 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The best guide for serious hawk watchers, August 20, 2000

By 

William E. Sanderson (Asheville, NC United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Hawks in Flight: The Flight Identification of North American Migrant Raptors (Paperback)

There is no other guide which even approaches Hawks in Flight for thoroughness, clarity, and utility. Anyone who seriously pursues the sport of hawk watching must have this book.

For those just starting out in hawk watching, and for general use by even the most serious hawk watchers, I strongly recommend another work by Dunne et al., Hawk Watch: A Guide for Beginners, which is a large-format condensed version of Hawks in Flight. this book does focus exclusively on eastern species, however. Having both books is ideal.

22 of 23 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Learn to see the whole bird, not just a few field marks., February 25, 1999

By 

[e-mail] (Cooperstown, PA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Hawks in Flight: The Flight Identification of North American Migrant Raptors (Paperback)

A really great, useable book. Identifying a raptor is rarely difficult if you see it well. This book will help you learn to do it when you don't see the bird well.

When you devote 250 pages to just 23 species, you get to include a lot of information. But this isn't a book that's crammed with facts, figures, and field marks. The descriptions, line drawings, and photographs are intended to teach you how to tell these birds apart in the real world, where profile and silhouette usually matter more than detailed markings. And they work.

Although the coverage is a little biased toward the eastern U.S., this book is invaluable for distinguishing all of the buteos, accipiters, eagles, falcons, and vultures regularly found in North America, except for a number of extreme-southern species. And even if where you live you have to deal with White-tailed Hawks and Hook-billed Kites, and hope someday to find a Crane Hawk, at least this book will help you to become expert with the more widespread species.

13 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A must for hawk identification tools, April 30, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Hawks in Flight: The Flight Identification of North American Migrant Raptors (Paperback)

This book gives excellent information on how to tell hawks apart with very little information. Peter Dunne's experience at hawk migration stations helped him to distill hawk identification keys and he presents the information in an interesting way. This is not your usual dry field guide.