Crossley ID Guide

Crossley Guides can and should be used as a study workbook before you go birding. It's like practicing birding in the comfort of your home by birding in the book itself, then you can take those skills into the field and 'recognize' birds rather than having to 'identify' them."--Robert Mortensen, Birding is Fun "What the book is especially good for is to study between field trips to improve your knowledge of field marks and plumages when you have time to really study the differences. I especially liked the quiz pages where multiple similar species are shown sitting and in-flight, from various aspects, with the opportunity to determine the identification on your own before looking at the key."--Penny Miller, A Charm of Finches blog "Richard Crossley takes the unique format introduced in his Eastern Birds guide and expands upon it. Every bird (except Aplomado Falcon) gets at least two pages devoted exclusively to it (Red-tailed gets ten!), plus inclusion in one or more of the mystery photos. These plates, where numbered images of different species are grouped together, are my favorite feature. With the answers in the back, they afford great practice at identification and provide the easiest way to compare species against each other. The Crossley raptor guide's insane number of photos and innovative design make it fun to study raptors."--Grant McCreary, Birder's Library "The whole book is based upon this pioneering approach to bird identification, a method employed in the first Crossley Guide and continued here to even better effect. The new guide is an ideal way for beginner or novice birders to learn about raptors and an opportunity for the more experienced to sharpen up their skills on the 'Mystery Image' pages."--Philip Slade, Another Bird Blog "A valuable addition to the numerous other North American Falconiform raptor identification guides, and one that hawk watchers, and birders generally, will want to include among their raptor identification aids."--Donald S. Heintzelman, Ornithologist and Author "This guide makes that process of identifying quite easy, by visualizing and comparing with the help of a number of superb plates, colorful and razor sharp images. The information about all the species is comprehensive and precise as much as clear and intelligent. This ID Guide is a must have as part of your library."--H.J. Ruiz, Avian 101 blog "Many volumes on raptors seem to assume that watching this group of species happens primarily at hawk watch sites during migration. For me, my greatest enjoyment of raptors comes from watching them at home in their breeding or wintering territories--perched in trees and on fence posts or cliffs. This will be a book I will turn to time and again to study those that are spending time in my area or to internalize information that will be helpful when I travel. I would heartily recommend this book to any birder or nature-lover who wants to get to know better the birds they encounter."--Judy Liddell, It's a Bird Thing "As soon as you open the cover of this newest Crossley ID Guide you know you've struck gold. The composite pictures are big, bold, and beautiful. Every habitat known to raptors is covered, different times of day are featured, maps and 'detailed species accounts' are included."--Karen Roy, KaHolly "Take the best of Jerry Liguori (author of Hawks from Every Angle and Hawks at a Distance), add the pioneering composite 'style' of Richard Crossley, the foremost birding knowledge of Brian L. Sullivan, and you have a Raptor ID Guide that should become the #1 reference guide for many years to come. This new Raptor guide is L.O.A.D.E.D!"--Jerry Jourdan, Jerry's Birding/Digiscoping Blog "You don't need to be a specialist to enjoy this book, despite the amount of information presented. Everyone from the backyard birder to those of us who plan expeditions to see certain species can benefit from the knowledge painstakingly compiled by the authors here."--James McCoy, JPM Photography blog "Birders and hawk watchers, you're going to love this book. The flood of photos provides enough images that you 'get it.' This is what the bird looks like in the field."--Kate St. John, Outside My Window blog "It wasn't until I opened this book that I truly realized how inadequate a traditional field guide method is for identifying hawks... With this book, you see the birds as you see them in the field. It's a book best perused while not birding. Spend some time immersed in the stunning double-page color plates. You'll begin to get a feel for what you need to look for. It's like training to be a pilot in a flight simulator. You're training to be a better raptor-watcher in the pages of a book... I can't decide if the magnificent natural history and technical identification tips of the text is my favorite part of the book, or if the jaw-dropping plates continue to take the prize. Thankfully, you need not decide, as you get it all in one book."--Kirby Adams, National Parks Traveler "[A] brilliant innovation in the depiction of birds for identification... 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."--Dorothy Borders, Backyard Birder "A flying away winner!"--Bob Epstein, American Press Travel News "To really develop confidence in identifying a bird species, you need to master five views: from above, from below, from head on, from tail on and from a lateral view (left or right). Crossley and colleagues make sure that views of all of all these perspectives are provided for each raptor."--Herb Wilson, Portland Press Herald "I have plenty of bird guide books as I do consider myself a bit of a bird nerd. The one thing all my guide books have in common is they show one picture of a single bird, usually perched in a tree. That's good if you're looking out the window at a bird feeder, not so good if you're trying to identify a bird on the wing. That's where The Crossley ID Guide: Raptors comes in handy... With this book you don't get just one image of a bird--there are so many different images for each one that the picture panels take up multiple pages."--Kecia Stewart, Fayetteville Observer "If you love raptors, you will love this book."--Terry Richard, Oregonian "A fun guide. There is an abundance of images of birds of prey in various poses, in the air seen from below and above, and in different light conditions... The book would be a nice addition to any location where people gather to watch hawks and to birders who want to hone their skills."--Rob Butler, Vancouver Sun "No raptor addict wants to be without this one."--Harry Fuller, Towhee Blog "The Crossley ID Guide: Raptors is the most complete guide to North American raptors. It covers all of North America's diurnal raptor species except owls. While The Crossley ID Guide: Raptors helps us learn the raptors as we see them, its greatest value is that we can study the raptors from the comfort of our own homes."--Gabriel Thoumi, Mongabay.com "An excellent resource to use in studying these often confusing birds... [W]hat I especially like about the book are the plates that show similar-looking birds together."--Steve Shultz, Carolina Bird Club Newsletter "Three books in one! Annotated ID plates similar to the original Crossley ID Guide to birds. Expert in-depth species accounts covering status, distribution, and detailed plumage and flight style ID. Photo quizzes and answers. I really like this book."--Greg Gillson, Pacific NW Birder blog "Eye candy! ... The Crossley Guide will appeal to the rank beginner, the casual observer and the dedicated enthusiast. It is a must have addition to everyone's library!"--Gail Garber, Hawk's Aloft "More useful, more natural, and more fun. It includes the condor and lets 34 raptor species spread their wings across 163 pages. Text descriptions fill another 96 pages, and 32 collages permit comparisons of different species."--Birdwatching Magazine "In a word, stunning... Birdcouple was hooked most of all by the quizzes at the back of the book. Raptors from above, below, perched, at sunrise. Amazing and informative. The only sad thing is how many birds we mis-ID'd."--Warren and Lisa Strobel, Birdcouple blog "[Q]uite simply brilliant ..."--Bo Beolens, Fatbirder "[The Crossley ID Guide: Raptors] carves out a unique niche amongst hawk identification books, that of an identification tool that teaches as you read, that creates opportunities for interactive learning as a part of the identification and reference process... Fills a niche surprisingly untouched by previous guides."--Donna Schulman, 10,000 Birds "Crossley ID guides are a breath of fresh air in the bird guide department."--Wildlife Extra "Any field guide that starts by recommending that you sit down to read it with a glass of wine is clearly taking an original approach. And that is certainly the case with this latest addition to the series of Crossley ID Guides. We're not suggesting that anyone should throw away their classic field guide, but the Crossley ID Guide complements it perfectly and makes a brilliant addition to any bookshelf. It challenges convention, it makes you want to learn more and it inspires you to get out and look at more birds. And in our book, that's a great achievement!"--Biggest Twitch "A highly enjoyable way of getting to know some of the world's most memorable birds."--Matt Merritt, Bird Watching "If you love diurnal raptors (vultures, eagles, hawks, kites, falcons), this is a must-have book."--Scott Shalaway, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette "[Richard Crossley's] previous bird guide, for ID'ing Eastern birds, is the most imaginative, original attempt to re-envision the birding guide and set his approach apart from that of Sibley, Kaufman, Peterson, Nat'l Geo, and the other bibles in the field."--James Wolcott, Vanity Fair "I must say that I thoroughly enjoyed the book and see it as a wonderful addition to the growing library of knowledge on North American birds of prey."--Geoff Carpentier, OFO News "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."--Northeastern and Southeastern Naturalist "Stuffed with wonderful photography this is a great ID guide if you are going to be looking at American Raptors, and one I would thoroughly recommend. I am very impressed by this book, and really looking forward to the Crossley ID Guide to Britain and Ireland now."--Ashley Beolens, Fat Photographer "This revolutionary guide to hawks, eagles, falcons, and their allies features 101 arresting, full-page color plates that are each composites of multiple individual photos against natural backgrounds of raptors in varying distances and attitudes. An expert, substantial text."--Library Journal