Pictures of Scotland.org US Amazon.com Associate Store

Pictures of Scotland.org Amazon.com Store


Other Currencies UK Amazon Store, Canadian Amazon store from Pictures of Scotland

Search Advanced Search
 Location:  Home » Books » General » Hawks in Flight: The Flight Identification of North American Migrant Raptors  
Hawks in Flight: The Flight Identification of North American Migrant Raptors
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: $1.42
You Save: $12.58 (90%)



New (19) Used (28) Collectible (1) from $1.42

Avg. Customer Rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars 15 reviews
Sales Rank: 134967

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: Standard used condition.

Customer Reviews:
Showing reviews 6-10 of 15
 « PREV  
1 2 3
  NEXT »

5 out of 5 stars Hawks in Flight, great source   March 26, 2004
 9 out of 9 found this review helpful

This book is a must have for any raptor fanatic. I used to be so confused on how to tell all those buteos apart, except when it was an obvious red tail. It is definatly worth the money, it is not meant to be a "ooh look at the pretty pictures kind of bird book", it is a holistic approach to identification, you learn about flight traits of each raptor, overall impression, plumage, etc. Read the whole thing so you really get whats going on. I am much more confident and knowledgeable after having studied this book. Buy it, worth it.


5 out of 5 stars excellent book   November 23, 2003
 10 out of 10 found this review helpful

This is a really interesting book. It has some photographs (which have inspired me to get out to Cape May and other cool birding havens) but most of the pictures are black & white drawings. The detail I think is actually pretty good. The drawings do not give specific detail of color shading etc but instead provide the broader strokes of major markings or wing shape or how the bird might look looking down at you. There are head-on profiles (in different modes of flight), some top down drawings, but mostly looking up and side. The raptors are segmented into the different groups of Buteos, Accipters Falcons, Kites, Northern Harrier, Eagles & Vultures, and Osprey. Within each section each bird has a few pages with pictures and really neat info about their migration patterns as well as tips for id.

I'm still not very good at id of these birds but I love watching them and trying to id them. This book is a really good resource!


2 out of 5 stars Hawks in Flight   September 7, 2002
 7 out of 13 found this review helpful

Disappointing. Many pictures are dark and/or fuzzy. I find that hard to distinguish features of different hawks.


4 out of 5 stars Useful book...   July 30, 2002
 22 out of 25 found this review helpful

HAWKS IN FLIGHT by Peter Dunne is a useful book because it includes many photos and drawings of various species of Raptors in flight. When you see a Raptor, you generally have no way to identify it except by it's flight profile. Feather markings simply cannot be seen when a bird is sailing on a current of air or scuttling after prey. Once in a while I've surprised a hawk at rest, but generally it is well hidden in the leaves of a tree and takes off before I can get a good look. Even the Cooper's Hawk I see on my morning commute along the parkway is usually sitting back on a branch waiting for road kill (he is one fat lazy bird).

The photos in HAWKS IN FLIGHT show the birds as seen from the side flying close to the ground and as well as overhead. The book also includes drawings showing birds that resemble each other juxtaposed side by side as they would never appear in nature. Some of the photos are not very clear and the drawings are darker than I like, but no less a birder than Roger Tory Petersen recommended this book which nicely complements his own books.

Although the title includes the reference to hawks, the chapters cover Buteos, Accipiters, Falcons, Kites, Harriers, Eagles, Ospreys, and Vultures. The chapter on Accipiters covers the Cooper's Hawk, the hawk I see by the roadside in Washington DC. We also see Falcons chasing our song birds. A whole lot of back-stabbing goes on in this town.


5 out of 5 stars The best guide for serious hawk watchers   August 21, 2000
 23 out of 23 found this review helpful

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.

Visit our Pictures of Scotland