Hawks from Every Angle: How to Identify Raptors In Flight

by Jerry Liguori, David Sibley (Foreword)

Identifying hawks in flight is a tricky business. Across North America, tens of thousands of people gather every spring and fall at more than one thousand known hawk migration sites--from New Jersey's Cape May to California's Golden Gate. Yet, as many discover, a standard field guide, with its emphasis on plumage, is often of little help in identifying those raptors soaring, gliding, or flapping far, far away.

Hawks from Every Angle takes hawk identification to new heights. It offers a fresh approach that literally looks at the birds from every angle, compares and contrasts deceptively similar species, and provides the pictures (and words) needed for identification in the field. Jerry Liguori pinpoints innovative, field-tested identification traits for each species from the various angles that they are seen.

Featuring 339 striking color photos on 68 color plates and 32 black & white photos, Hawks from Every Angle is unique in presenting a host of meticulously crafted pictures for each of the 19 species it covers in detail--the species most common to migration sites throughout the United States and Canada. All aspects of raptor identification are discussed, including plumage, shape, and flight style traits.

For all birders who follow hawk migration and have found themselves wondering if the raptor in the sky matches the one in the guide, Hawks from Every Angle --distilling an expert's years of experience for the first time into a comprehensive array of truly useful photos and other pointers for each species--is quite simply a must.

Key Features?

Genres: Birds, Nonfiction, Nature, Field Guides, Science, Animals, Reference

129 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2005

Reviews

[Jessie (saxgrl1)]

Great reference for anyone interested in identifying Birds of Prey in flight. Pictures are beautiful and like the title says, from every angle. Similar species are shown side by side to aid in identification. Birds are divided into different families (Accipiters, Buteos, Falcons and Vultures, Osprey, Eagles). A must have for birders.

[Cheryl]

I'm a beginner at bird watching. This is a great reference book for identifying marks and terms for hawks. Truthfully, I couldn't follow it all. I'm too much of a beginner. But I will refer to it in the future as I try to figure out what the heck I'm watching.

[Jeremy H.]

Good reference book- but you need a lot of field experience to use it well.

[Vjera]

Densely packed with information on how to id hawks in flight. I picked up a few new tips, like that Sharp-shinned Hawks are short tailed. I appreciated the side by side black and white silhouettes comparing similar birds

[Jackie]

This book is very focused on identification of migrating birds in flight.
Extremely detailed about every angle, except perching birds.

[Louise Chambers]

A good book to identify Hawks with. Photos and descriptions of flight angles, wing shapes, species morphs, juvenile and adult plumages help the birdwatcher identify Hawks in all sorts of lights and positions and altitudes. I recommend this book to keep on hand as a field guide and shelf reference for any person interested in learning more about how to identify Hawks.

[Samantha Bruce]

Hawks from Every Angle: How to Identify Raptors in Flight

[Andrew Volpe]

Excellent reference. Don't go Hawk watching without it!

[Laura]

Love the bold sentences of important ID characteristics, Love that some pics are at HWI migration sites, and Love the pics!