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

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.

• Gulls Simplified: A Comparative Approach to Identification
• The Shorebird Guide
• Peterson Reference Guide to Owls of North America and the Caribbean (Peterson Reference Guides)
• The Warbler Guide
• Peterson Reference Guide to Sparrows of North America (Peterson Reference Guides)
• Peterson Reference Guide to Birding by Impression: A Different Approach to Knowing and Identifying Birds (Peterson Reference Guides)
• Hawks in Flight: Second Edition
• National Geographic Field Guide to the Birds of North America, 7th Edition
• The Sibley Field Guide to Birds of Eastern North America: Second Edition (Sibley Guides)
• A Season on the Wind: Inside the World of Spring Migration