Peterson Reference Guide To Seawatching: Eastern Waterbirds in Flight - Hardcover

Behrens, Ken; Cox, Cameron

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0547237391 ISBN 13: 9780547237398

Publisher: Mariner Books, 2013

Synopsis

Seawatching is the challenging act of identifying waterbirds in flight. Since more than one hundred different species can fly past an observation point, often at great speed or in tightly packed, mixed-species flocks, identification of these distant shapes can be a mystery. The keys to the mystery—the subtle traits that unlock the identity of flying waterbirds, be it wingbeat cadence, individual structure, flock shape and behavior, or subtle flashes of color—are revealed in this guide.

Though commonly called seawatching, this on-the-fly observation and identification method is by no means restricted to the coast. There are impressive waterbird migrations on the Great Lakes, the Gulf of Mexico, and many inland lakes and rivers. Nor is it restricted to migrating waterfowl, as the principles of flight identification apply as effectively to ducks flushed off a pond as to distant migrating flocks. Like Hawks in Flight and The Shorebird Guide, the Peterson Reference Guide to Seawatching breaks new ground, provides cutting-edge techniques, and pushes the envelope in bird identification even further.

About this title

About the Authors

KEN BEHRENS has been a birder since the age of eleven. He was the ABA/Leica Young Birder of the Year in 1999. He spent three years counting birds in Cape May, New Jersey, where he developed his interest in seawatching. He has guided birding tours in Africa, based in Madagascar. He co-authored a site guide to Ethiopia called Birding Ethiopia.

CAMERON COX has been an avid birder for nineteen years. Now a product specialist for Leica Sport Optics, he spent his late teens and twenties traveling as a "bird bum" to all corners of North America, from southern Mexico to the Pribilof Islands in the Bering Sea. Birds led him repeatedly to Cape May, New Jersey, and it was while counting hawks and waterbirds at Cape May that he realized that identifying distant waterbirds on the wing was fun and challenging, leading to the inspriation for this book.

From the Back Cover

Sponsored by the National Wildlife Federation and the Roger Tory Peterson Institute

SEAWATCHING

This guide breaks new ground in identification, helping you to identify distant, fast-moving waterbirds by considering their structure, flight style, and general patterns in addition to traditional field marks. The more than 900 photographs are both instructive and evocative of the beauty and grandeur of waterbirds on the wing. Descriptions of 47 watch sites across eastern North America provide information on where to go and what birds to expect there.

PETERSON REFERENCE GUIDES offer authoritative, comprehensive information, including detailed text, maps, and superior illustrations. Written by expert authors, the guides are an unparalleled resource for understanding specific groups of animals.

Edition details

• Publisher: Mariner Books
• Publication date: 2013
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0547237391
• ISBN 13: 9780547237398
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 624