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The Crossley ID Guide: Raptors
Part of the revolutionary Crossley ID Guide series, this is the first raptor guide with lifelike scenes composed from multiple photographs--scenes that allow you to identify raptors just as the experts do. Experienced birders use the most easily observed and consistent characteristics--size, shape, behavior, probability, and general color patterns. The book's 101 scenes--including thirty-five double-page layouts--provide a complete picture of how these features are all related. Even the effects of lighting and other real-world conditions are illustrated and explained. Detailed and succinct accounts from two of North America's foremost raptor experts, Jerry Liguori and Brian Sullivan, stress the key identification features. This complete picture allows everyone from beginner to expert to understand and enjoy what he or she sees in the field. The mystique of bird identification is eliminated, allowing even novice birders to identify raptors quickly and simply.
Comprehensive and authoritative, the book covers all thirty-four of North America's diurnal raptor species (all species except owls). Each species is featured in stunning color plates that show males and females, in a full spectrum of ages and color variants, depicted near and far, in flight and at rest, and from multiple angles, all caught in their typical habitats. There are also comparative, multispecies scenes and mystery photographs that allow readers to test their identification skills, along with answers and full explanations in the back of the book. In addition, the book features an introduction, and thirty-four color maps accompany the plates.
Whether you are a novice or an expert, this one-of-a-kind guide will show you an entirely new way to look at these spectacular birds.
The most complete guide to North American raptors, written by some of the foremost experts
The first raptor guide using Richard Crossley's acclaimed, innovative composite images that show birds as they actually appear in the field
101 stunning color plates--including thirty-five double-page layouts--composed from thousands of photographs
Comparative, multispecies plates and photos of mystery species that allow readers to test their growing identification skills
Complete with introduction, 34 color maps, and detailed species accounts
Comprehensive and authoritative, the book covers all thirty-four of North America's diurnal raptor species (all species except owls). Each species is featured in stunning color plates that show males and females, in a full spectrum of ages and color variants, depicted near and far, in flight and at rest, and from multiple angles, all caught in their typical habitats. There are also comparative, multispecies scenes and mystery photographs that allow readers to test their identification skills, along with answers and full explanations in the back of the book. In addition, the book features an introduction, and thirty-four color maps accompany the plates.
Whether you are a novice or an expert, this one-of-a-kind guide will show you an entirely new way to look at these spectacular birds.
The most complete guide to North American raptors, written by some of the foremost experts
The first raptor guide using Richard Crossley's acclaimed, innovative composite images that show birds as they actually appear in the field
101 stunning color plates--including thirty-five double-page layouts--composed from thousands of photographs
Comparative, multispecies plates and photos of mystery species that allow readers to test their growing identification skills
Complete with introduction, 34 color maps, and detailed species accounts
304 pages, ebook
First published March 24, 2012
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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
April 9, 2013
Roger Tory Peterson revolutionized birding in the 1930s with his innovative way of presenting images of birds in field guides. His drawings showed the birds in stylized poses that emphasized their most noticeable markings which helped to identify them. Arrows pointed to those marks, and texts named them to help even the most novice birders find identifying field marks and "name that bird." Peterson was godfather to generations of birders and was one of the prime movers in popularizing the hobby.
Since that time, most bird guides have followed in Peterson's footsteps, using some variation of his methods. It was time for a new revolution. Enter Richard Crossley.
Crossley's ID guides, not field guides because they are not really meant to be taken into the field, utilize a radically different method of looking at and identifying birds. Crossley uses photographs of the birds, doing what birds do - perching, flying, eating, preening, catching prey, and, in the case of water birds, occasionally swimming. He takes multiple pictures of a bird species in differing poses and places those pictures against a background of a naturalistic setting for the bird. The effect is that we see the bird as it would appear in real life in its natural habitat. It is a brilliant innovation in the depiction of birds for identification.
His first guide using this method was The Crossley ID Guide: Eastern Birds. Now he and his two co-authors add this new book which specifically deals with North American raptors.
The raptors, from the lowly vultures to the majestic eagles, are presented in all their beauty and uniqueness. In most instances, there are multiple pages of beautiful photographs of each species. The Red-tailed Hawk, for example, which has a daunting number of color phases and variations, has ten pages of photographs devoted to it.
Many raptors are maddeningly difficult to differentiate. Looking at them from the ground as they fly overhead, they can all appear to be big brown birds, or, sometimes, big brown blurs. Among the most difficult can be the Accipiters. The Sharp-shinned Hawk, Cooper's Hawk, and Northern Goshawk, where they appear together, can mostly be told apart on the wing by their size or the shape of the tail. But all things are relative. And confusing. In the case of these hawks, the authors have included pages of photographs of the birds side by side, again in naturalistic settings, so that the eye can more easily discern the differences. The same method is used for other similar and confusing species. Some such pages have tests for the reader to compare the pictures and try his/her eye at identifying the birds. Answers to the tests are presented in the back of the book
Though the emphasis is on the visual effect of the beautiful photographs in the book, the text is also comprehensive and extremely helpful, containing a wealth of information about each individual species, much more than one would find in a typical field guide. The range maps, as well, are clear and beautifully depicted, and must have been somewhat of a challenge with many species expanding their ranges in response to climate change. The Swallow-tailed Kite, for example, until recent years was very rarely seen in my area of Southeast Texas. Now it is fairly common in summer and has already appeared over my yard this spring. The range map in the book shows it just to the east of my area. The same could be said of the Harris's Hawk which appears increasingly here in summer and seems to be expanding its range from the west. The range map shows it just west and south of me.
This ID guide, like Crossley's earlier works, are ideal tools for the birder to use to familiarize him/herself with the shape and appearance of these fascinating raptors before going birding. Returning from a birding trip, they can be used again to review one's notes and confirm identifications. They are, in short, an essential addition to birding literature and may, in time, have the same kind of impact as the revered Peterson.
(A free advance copy of this soon-to-be published book was provided to me by the publisher for the purposes of this review. The opinions expressed are entirely my own.)
Cross-posted from Backyard Birder, http://backyardbirdinginsoutheasttexa....
Since that time, most bird guides have followed in Peterson's footsteps, using some variation of his methods. It was time for a new revolution. Enter Richard Crossley.
Crossley's ID guides, not field guides because they are not really meant to be taken into the field, utilize a radically different method of looking at and identifying birds. Crossley uses photographs of the birds, doing what birds do - perching, flying, eating, preening, catching prey, and, in the case of water birds, occasionally swimming. He takes multiple pictures of a bird species in differing poses and places those pictures against a background of a naturalistic setting for the bird. The effect is that we see the bird as it would appear in real life in its natural habitat. It is a brilliant innovation in the depiction of birds for identification.
His first guide using this method was The Crossley ID Guide: Eastern Birds. Now he and his two co-authors add this new book which specifically deals with North American raptors.
The raptors, from the lowly vultures to the majestic eagles, are presented in all their beauty and uniqueness. In most instances, there are multiple pages of beautiful photographs of each species. The Red-tailed Hawk, for example, which has a daunting number of color phases and variations, has ten pages of photographs devoted to it.
Many raptors are maddeningly difficult to differentiate. Looking at them from the ground as they fly overhead, they can all appear to be big brown birds, or, sometimes, big brown blurs. Among the most difficult can be the Accipiters. The Sharp-shinned Hawk, Cooper's Hawk, and Northern Goshawk, where they appear together, can mostly be told apart on the wing by their size or the shape of the tail. But all things are relative. And confusing. In the case of these hawks, the authors have included pages of photographs of the birds side by side, again in naturalistic settings, so that the eye can more easily discern the differences. The same method is used for other similar and confusing species. Some such pages have tests for the reader to compare the pictures and try his/her eye at identifying the birds. Answers to the tests are presented in the back of the book
Though the emphasis is on the visual effect of the beautiful photographs in the book, the text is also comprehensive and extremely helpful, containing a wealth of information about each individual species, much more than one would find in a typical field guide. The range maps, as well, are clear and beautifully depicted, and must have been somewhat of a challenge with many species expanding their ranges in response to climate change. The Swallow-tailed Kite, for example, until recent years was very rarely seen in my area of Southeast Texas. Now it is fairly common in summer and has already appeared over my yard this spring. The range map in the book shows it just to the east of my area. The same could be said of the Harris's Hawk which appears increasingly here in summer and seems to be expanding its range from the west. The range map shows it just west and south of me.
This ID guide, like Crossley's earlier works, are ideal tools for the birder to use to familiarize him/herself with the shape and appearance of these fascinating raptors before going birding. Returning from a birding trip, they can be used again to review one's notes and confirm identifications. They are, in short, an essential addition to birding literature and may, in time, have the same kind of impact as the revered Peterson.
(A free advance copy of this soon-to-be published book was provided to me by the publisher for the purposes of this review. The opinions expressed are entirely my own.)
Cross-posted from Backyard Birder, http://backyardbirdinginsoutheasttexa....
February 25, 2023
I enjoyed this book. Lots of pictures but I wish the written descriptions were interspersed with the images rather than relegated to the back of the book. The book is excellent for visual learning but it would be nice to not have to flip to the back for more advice on what exactly you're looking at and where to find them (and vice versa.) Too big a book to really go out in the field, but definitely a fun book to sit at home and peruse/study before you go out raptor watching.
May 1, 2016
I loved this and hated it. The format is really awesome. The author gives you a lot of information about raptors along with a lot of pictures that highlight differences between males, females, adults, juveniles, etc. I had no idea how much variation there was between the ages and sexes! Every few pages there is a full spread picture of various raptors in that all have numbers. You then put your recently learned identification skills to work and do your best to age and sex the birds (or just pick the correct species!). Answers are in the back. What I hated about the book is that I was really bad at the quizzes. I'm going to have to go through it a hundred more times before I can see all the minute details the author points out. ~sigh~
September 23, 2013
I was thrilled to win a copy of this book through Goodreads first-reads, even more so now that I have received my copy. The Crossly ID Guide for raptors holds a wealth of information presented in an easy to use manner. The pictures are wonderful especially as the provide many angles and ranges as you would see in nature. The mystery pages provide wonderful practice for time out in the field! Excellent guide and resource.
August 9, 2013
Great raptor guide to North America. Both informative and fun.
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May 5, 2014598.9097 C9517 2013
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews