GGRO — Book Recommendations

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RECOMMENDED RAPTOR BOOKS
Below is an annotated list of raptor books compiled by GGRO director Allen Fish. The world of raptor books is particularly rich right now, and these are guides that emphasize North American diurnal raptors. As you read and learn more about birds of prey, try perusing the scientific literature. One way to do this is to simply go to Google Scholar and type in the name of your favorite species, say “Ferruginous Hawk” and see the reams of articles on Ferrugs that falls out. Another route to the scientific literature is through SORA, the searchable ornithological research archive: http://elibrary.unm.edu/sora/. SORA emphasizes only US journals, and allows the user to designate species, keywords, or dates, in conducting a search.

	The Peterson Guide to Hawks William S. Clark & Brian Wheeler The best single field guide for N. Amer. species, excellent natural history information, and the 2000 second edition made great improvements over the 1987 edition. This is the standard all-around field guide for GGRO use. ISBN: 9780395670682
	Hawks in Flight Pete Dunne, David Sibley, & Clay Sutton A hawkwatcher's view of the world, only covering identification of hawks in flight. Great reading, especially after you’ve had the experience of seeing that bird. Highly accurate B&W renderings by Sibley who has his own guide out later this year. HIF has a big Eastern bias, but is 90% applicable to GGRO. ISBN: 9780395510223
	A Photographic Guide to North American Raptors Brian K. Wheeler & William S. Clark A superb book of excellent color raptor photos with tight, informative descriptions of field ID techniques. My only frustration is the clunky graphics. An excellent complement to the Peterson Guide above. ISBN: 978-0127455303
	Hawks From Every Angle Jerry Liguori ANGLE is something of a hybrid between the previous two books. Liguori uses his own stunning flight photos to make points of subtle detail and gestalt about each species. I just don’t get why he didn’t give us White-tailed Kites. Then it’d be the perfect California hawkwatcher book. ISBN: 0691118256
	Raptors of North America: Natural History and Conservation Noel & Helen Snyder Written by two of the most diligent raptor biologists around, this book of personal essays looks like a coffee table book on the outside. The inside holds fascinating glimpses into the thought-processes of two conservation-driven raptor professionals. ISBN: 0760325820
	Flight Strategies of Migrating Hawks Paul Kerlinger Best scientific, current account about what is known and what isn't known in this young field. Excellent, though sometimes sleep-inducing reference by the former director of Cape May Bird Observatory. ISBN: 0226431673
	How Birds Migrate Paul Kerlinger A concise intro into the state of knowledge of bird migration by one of its long-time students. ISBN: 978-0811732307
	Season at the Point — the Birds & Birders of Cape May Jack Connor The ins and outs of a long-term hawk migration research project, not too different from the GGRO. Connor creates a fascinating circle of stories portraying the reality of how these weird observatories run. We biologists could all do a lot more to acknowledge how our subjective selves and circumstances drive the (ha!) objectivity of our research. Connor gets us started down that more truthful path. ISBN: 978-0871134752
	Hawks, Eagles, and Falcons of North America Paul Johnsgard Excellent, recent, and readable text on N. Amer. species and general raptor issues, like evolution and behavior. ISBN: 978-1560989462
	Population Ecology of Raptors Ian Newton Best account of raptor ecology available. A little dated (1979) but scientific as well as readable. ISBN: 978-0856610233
	Living on the Wind Scott Weidensaul This brand new book spins some fascinating essays around the world of bird migration research. Particularly informing are Chapter 5 on the spectacular raptor migration at Veracruz, Mexico, and Chapter 8 on the Swainson’s Hawks Die-Offs in Argentina. ISBN: 978-0865475915
	The Wind Masters: The Lives of North American Birds of Prey Pete Dunne A collection of great and imaginative stories from Pete Dunne’s great and imaginative brain. Wonderful David Sibley illustrations. ISBN: 978-0618340729
	The Birds of North America (species monographs) Various Authors The most current (published starting in 1990’s) series of notes describing the state-of-knowledge of the biology of each species. There are completed chapters now for most western diurnal raptors. Order at roughly $8 per chapter from Buteo Books (1-800-722-2460). ISBN: N/A
	Hawks, Owls, and Wildlife John & Frank Craighead Down-to-earth raptor ecology studies in Michigan and Wyoming. Thoughtful, broad-minded, respectful, and thorough, the Craigheads' book always makes my mind click. ISBN: B001BFKXK0
	The Falcons of the World Tom Cade An excellent summary of the nearly 40 falcon species by the founder of the Peregrine Fund. The writing is excellent, well-informed, and the color plates are outstanding by RD Digby. ISBN: 978-0801414541
	Birds of Prey Floyd Scholz Unusual but stunning book of close-up raptor photos, especially for use by sculptors and other artists. N.Amer. species only. A kind of intimate celebration of the patterns, textures, and shapes of hawks, including interesting notes on how to look at hawks. ISBN: 978-0811702423

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