Customer Reviews

Raptors of Western North America: The Wheeler Guides

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Brian Wheeler has created what are likely to be THE standard guides to these taxa for the foreseeable future. Excellent photos, tremendous detail--a heroic effort with incredibly helpful results.
But what is wrong at Princeton UP? First they mess up Olsen's _Gulls_ to the point that the entire edition is pulped; and now Wheeler's text in both books is marred by what you would think would be embarrassing editorial errors. Wheeler's prose, for the most part serviceable, was obviously never read by an editor, and there are entire passages that make no sense (fortunately, they only rarely include identification matters). The very first page of the author's introduction has a shameful printing error, an entire half-line left blank.
This is a great book, I own it, I use it, I recommend it every chance I get; but the editorial and production slips make me wonder if Princeton has given up on its birding program--or whether it maybe ought to.

Excelent could be the single word to describe this book. Brian K. Wheeler has put together the ultimate guide to raptors. The scores of color photographs are clear and precise, giving the reader great detail in showing the many variations of raptor plumage. The text that accompanies the photos is easy to read and follow, with details that give the reader confidence in improving their identification skills. Anyone that watches birds, and is especially interested in raptors, should put this book on the 'must have' list. This is a top quality guide at a great price.

This is the most comprehensive guide available. The species discussions include practically everything you need to know (molts, morphs, subspecies, habits, etc), and covers Western variants rarely covered in other works. The range maps by Economidy and Wheeler are the gold standard and will, it is to be hoped, encourage others to produce such extremely precise maps. It is a reference work, too large to fit in a pocket, but is indispensable. Keep this in your vehicle and Clark & Wheeler's Hawks of North America in your pocket, and you've got our western raptors covered.

This one of my most valuable guides on birds in my whole collection of animal books. Wheeler has illustrated a beautiful guide with hundreds of amazing photos that are close-up on the birds. This book is full of useful information such as anatomy of the raptor. There are 33 raptors that are mentioned in this single volume. Each species account goes over ages, molts, subspecies, color morphs, size, species traits, adult traits, basic (subadult) traits, juvenile traits, abnormal plumages, habitat, habits, feeding, flight, and many other useful contributing information on the bird. This book can be used in the field for hawk-watchers, naturalists, or people who love the beauty and gracefulness of raptors.

The text is technical and takes some work to understand but the effort pays off. The pictures are beautiful and flesh out the text. A wonderful aid to getting closer to some amazing creatures.

Wheeler has outdone himself with this book. Raptors are difficult to identify on the wing and this bbok gives one the tools with which to do so. As a novice birder interested in raptors, I find this book is a great resource and invaluable!

This guide is more like a textbook in its attention to detail, and I rate it the best raptor guide I have seen and read. The photos are great, showing various poses and the way the birds look as juveniles and as adults of both sexes, and the text covers all the traits, habitat, morphs, etc. to help I.D. and understand the birds.

This book is wonderfull. With dozens of photos for each bird, this REALLY helps an amateur identify a bird. The best in it's class!