Peterson Reference Guide to Seawatching: Eastern Waterbirds in Flight (Peterson Reference Guides) - Tapa dura

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.

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.