The Crossley ID Guide Raptors

We retired to San Diego and purchased a home high in the hills that looks down on a valley. It’s a bird watchers paradise. Raptors include turkey vultures, red shouldered hawks, red tailed hawks, peregrine falcons, as well as ravens and murders of crows. Our birdfeeders do attract Raptors and occasionally a little bird will serve as a raptor meal. We have a number of Petersen books on birds, but this particular book provides beautiful pictures of raptors in flight and gives excellent descriptions of the habits of these different birds. It’s not a field manual as it’s a bit too big to carry around , but if you live in an environment where you have birds around you, it’s a real delight.

I don’t do many reviews. But this book deserves one! Even an experienced birder will enjoy this book. It has lots of colored images of each hawk at every angle flying and perched. It compares them to other species of hawks. There are challenges to help you teach yourself how to tell them apart. It’s a guide and a teaching tool in one. It’s too large to carry around in the field. But you will want it in the car for reference! The front half of the book is images of the birds. The back half is dedicated to information about each bird and maps of its range. My only complaint is that for new birders an image in the back next to their info would be helpful. But it’s a small complaint. It’s an excellent book for any skill level.

First, it is a bigger book size so the photos are big enough to show features you want to learn to recognize.Second, as any specialty book like this MUST do, the book shows variations by age (including multi-year variations for eagles) and race, such as Harlan's Red-Tailed Hawk.Third, I like the creative approach of putting many photos of one species in a single photo (with the appropriate virtual background). I feel just plain more happy IDing groups of images. It's fun to learn this way. Although I might not get all of them, I will always get some. And that is how real bird ID challenges work. One key to enjoyment is getting comfortable with that. Of course, unlike birds you can't recognize in the field, if you can't ID something in the book, you can still review and learn. I have other hawk ID books that I bought at the same time, and each one has its proper place in my instruction. This is my go-to for quick and fun learning in the home.

Do you want to improve your ability to ID raptors both perched and in the air? Then this is the book for you. I am a volunteer raptor handler and educator. I have 12 bird ID books, of which 3 are specifically for raptors, and this is the only ID book that is also a teaching book. Be aware, however, that this is not a field guide that you can put in your pocket. It is a rather large book, more suited for home use, or for in your car when you see that raptor on a pole or in the air and wonder what it is. This is a book that you can study from over and over again. There are illustrations of eagles, vultures, hawks, and falcons at different angles, both in flight and perched. You will have photos of species both close up and at a distance, displayed against their natural habitat, and in their different color morphs and variations between adult and juvenile raptors. My favorite part is the quiz pages found after the descriptions and examples of a raptor in its different morphs, and age appropriate colors. These contain photos of the species with only numbers next to them. At the back are all the answers. Put a place marker in where your answers are, and quiz yourself. The format of the book is laid out with the front part dealing with each raptor individually using photos and descriptions on what to look for. After a section of birds there are the quiz pages. For an example after bald and golden eagles are covered individually, there is a page with photos of the two mixed together including adults and juveniles, each with a number to quiz yourself with. Some of the quiz pages even mix different types of raptors together. For further help, the quiz page answers also give a short description with each number of why the bird would be identified the way it is. In between these amazing photos and answer pages is a section that addresses important information about each species within the book, including their range map. I recently gave a copy of this book to the head of our raptor program and she said it was "Amazing." I agree, if you are really are serious about identifying raptors, this is the book for you.

The photography is outstanding as is the interesting text. Excellent value for money.

This book is ideal for bird watchers, carvers of birds and artists.It shows the raptors in many different posses.

Richard Crossley books Raptors is excellent

Tipo de Guía: Para confirmar especies en el estudio o en su lugar favorito. Una guía versátil tocando temas variados y representando las aves en varias posiciones. Sin duda una Guía para coleccionar.Nivel de Pajareo: Desde Básico hasta Avanzado.Estilo: Fotografías & Texto descriptivo.Encuadernación en rústica: Tapa blanda, cocido y forrado en una cubierta semirrigida de papel.Fotografías que logran explicar las características de cada especie en varios ángulos.Texto descriptivo: Estilo de vuelo, Distribución, Tamaños, Plumaje...

Useful enough with Crossley's characteristic montages affording many views of the raptors perched and in flight, from a range of angles and in different settings. Less a guide to take into the field than to refer to at home, though if at a dedicated hawkwatch it might be useful to have to hand.