| Hawks in Flight: The Flight Identification of North American Migrant Raptors | 
 enlarge | Authors: Clay Sutton, Peter Dunne
Creator: David Allen Sibley
Publisher: Houghton Mifflin
Category: Book
List Price: $14.00
Buy Used: $1.54
You Save: $12.46 (89%)
New (21) Used (38) Collectible (1) from $1.54
Avg. Customer Rating:  15 reviews
Sales Rank: 348035
Media: Paperback
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 272
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.8
Dimensions (in): 8.1 x 5.5 x 0.6
ISBN: 0395510228
Dewey Decimal Number: 598.91097
UPC: 046442510226
EAN: 9780395510223
ASIN: 0395510228
Publication Date: April 12, 1989
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Condition: The book is clean but may have highlights.
|
| Customer Reviews:
| Showing reviews 1-5 of 15 | | NEXT » |
 Still one of the best January 7, 2008
I bought this book when it first came out in 1989 and it was just about the only raptor-only book out there at the time, and I found it quite useful. The book contains a great deal of basic information on hawk identification for beginners, but also on the more advanced points that many times aren't discussed in the more general books. For example, I found the discussions of the differences between juveniles and immature hawks, and between males and females, and their differences, quite helpful. As one reviewer already pointed out here, one great feature of the book is to juxtapose similar birds next to each other for comparison purposes, a great help. Overall, this was, and still is, a fine book on the subject even though the topic has become much more competitive just in the last five years.
 Hawks in Flight Review January 11, 2007
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
Excellent book. Great black and white drawings of adults and immatures of many species as well as different "phases" of the same species. No colour drawings are provided as hawks in flight are often seen in conditions that render them in shades of gray. Excellent text with even some humour thrown in. Highly recommended for those looking for a specific hawk book beyond the standard "all birds" guide.
First class July 18, 2006
5 out of 5 found this review helpful
Of the dozen or so raptor identification books I own, I have learned the most from this book. The standard Peterson's guides work pretty well if you can get within 50 feet of a sitting bird, or if you use a gun as an accessory. However for most of us, you need to be able to work from a lot further away than that. Dunne takes you beyond plumage clues to descriptions of flight cadence, behaviour, posture, and relative body proportions. He discards the trivial details not visible from less than a hundred feet. He emphasizes what is still obvious in a backlit, soaring bird even miles away. On top of that he offers visual analogies that are cool 'sound bites' to help you remember features of the species. For example think of the flying 'stovepipe', the Northern Goshawk, or the 'arthritic' wingbeats of the Cooper's hawk. These clues offer the kind of practical wisdom that a seasoned birder will use.
The only minor point I would make is that I found a few of the sentences a little hard to understand. However, like most good teachers, he explains important details more than once in slightly different form, so that understanding of key points is clear. This book is definitely a winner.
Great companion book to other raptor field guides August 19, 2005
5 out of 5 found this review helpful
"Hawks in Flight" is a different kind of ID field guide. Most guides feature many colored plates and or photographs of the birds. That is very useful if you are within a reasonable distance from the bird and the light is decent.
However, with birds of prey, you frequently see them from a considerable distance and from below. Most of the time you only get a good idea of their shape and flight characteristics. That is where this book comes in handy. Featuring nothing but B&W drawings (David Sibley) and B&W photos, "Hawks in Flight" shows you the bird as you will likely see it - a shape consisting of just a few colors (white, grey, black, brown) featuring some defining marks.
The authors also do a great job of describing what are the defining marks of each species and also telling you how to make a determination between similar birds (featuring B&W photos next to each other).
Highly Recommended
Good, not perfect, but good December 28, 2004
6 out of 6 found this review helpful
Buteo identification has always been a challenge for me, but over the Christmas Day Birdcount I was able to get an identification I would have never gotten without the volume. The subtle parsing of the various colors, sizes, behaviors, etc. of raptors makes this more useful then a field guide for understanding on what you should be focusing when catching that 5 or 6 seconds of "flying away raptor".
Another reviewer mentioned the grainy photographs, which is dead-on. Unfortunately, I have to say that those photographs are (approximately) how I am seeing most of these birds. So, they are an odd bit of help, really.
|
|
|
