This fantastic book now comes in two versions; the original,
large hardbacked version and the new, smaller paperback version.
Both versions cover all of the world's raptor species, with
the new paperback version containing 25 raptors which have
been elevated to species level since the publication of the
original book.
The original contains over 2000 illustrations of 313 species
with adult, juvenile and many immature plumages together with
the main geographical races. The illustrations also show both
perched and flying birds as is vital with this group and texts
are placed opposite plates giving details of length, wingspan,
proportions, shape and flight pattern. In some cases line
drawings outlining specific identification and behaviour points
are given within the texts.
The quality of the illustrations in this birding guide is
excellent, providing unrivalled assistance in identication
of this often tricky group of birds. The only criticism I
have is that the plates are often rather overcrowded, but
I guess this is the trade off of squeezing this amount of
information into a book small enough to travel with. I really
like the first three plates which are included as an identification
key to the various genera of raptors which also serves as
flight comparisons of a wide variety of species. The quality
of illustrations is high but the structure of the plates could
be improved upon if there was more consistency in the type
of illustrations provided. For example some for some species
flight views from below and above are included, for others
only a profile flight view is included.
Initial chapters on raptor migration, identification and
breeding patterns are included at the begining, providing
an excellent introduction to the main body of the book. Both
versions of this book are reasonably priced in comparison
to other similar publications and I consider my copy of the
older version to have been well worth the price over the last
few years.
The only problem with the original is that it is not practical
to take into the field, but with the new version this book
truly becomes a field guide providing the reference material
needed to make sense of the often fleeting flyover sightings
that are all too common when raptor watching. This new version
has in the region of 600 fewer pages than the original so
presumably some of the information has been lost, and having
only had a brief look at the older version, I am unable to
comment upon which sections have been ommitted or whether
the text size has been reduced.
Treat yourself and get both versions - one for the field
and one for home reference. I often use my copy in the field
to confirm the identification of a confusing or distant raptor.
This book will most certainly be extremely useful to all birders
when attempting to identify the many raptor species of Thailand
and worldwide.
Score: 7.5/10
More Top Books on Raptors
Flight
Identification of Europe, North Agrica & the Middle
East - Authored by Europe's leading raptor expert
this book deals with over sixty species. Full of extremely
detailed text and a wealth of beautiful photographs to cover
every plumage and age of raptors in flight. This is a great
guide to those who want to learn about these difficult to
identify birds.
Hawks
in Flight- This second edition of a popular book
covers all of the species of raptors that breed in North
America. Teaching readers to identify raptors in flight
based on shape, how they move and where they occur. This
is combined with superb illustrations and photographs
to bring the identification of North American hawks to
a new level.
Download
a full 
