If you’ve ever gazed into the sky and watched a hawk or some other bird of prey circling and wondered what it was, an updated version of a useful bird-identification bird guide is the answer.

The second edition of  Hawks In Flight by Peter Dunne, David Sibley and Clay Sutton (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, Boston, 384 pages $26) is out.

The first edition, which was published in 1988, was a useful guide, but had some gaps, especially for Florida birders.

The newest edition fills those gaps.

The publication date is also a plus because hawks are migrating through Florida now–an active hawk watch is under way through most of the fall in the Florida Keys–and you never know what might appear in the sky now or during the winter.

In recent years, we have seen the first-ever Florida records for species such as rough-legged hawk and zone-tailed hawk, both of which are raptors from the western United States. There also are records for Eurasian kestrel, golden eagle, ferruginous hawk and Northern goshawk.


This book provides advice for sorting things out.


“Use a number of clues and  your chances of correctly identifying the bird increases,’’ the authors write.




For instance, in some lighting situations, ospreys and juvenile red-shouldered hawks appear to have red tails and other hawks such as rough-legged and Swainson’s have what appear to be the belly bands–a band of dark plumage across a white underside–that are distinctive for red-tailed hawks.

Other groups of hawks have different identification challenges.


There are three species–sharp-shinned, Coopers and Northern goshawks–that have similar plumage and wing shapes, but there are differences a careful observer can discern that the authors explain.


Kites are easier to tell apart, but the authors point out that some species aren’t always easy to tell from other types of birds of prey, such as deciding whether the bird you’re watching is a Mississippi kite or a peregrine falcon, especially in subadult plumages, since both birds are sleek and agile in the air.

Next the book tackles eagle identification problems. Adult bald eagles are pretty unmistakable, at least in this part of the world. But separating immature bald eagles from immature or mature golden eagles can sometimes be tricky. The account is worth reading because golden eagles do wander into Florida regularly–there are at least two Polk County sightings–and birders should be alert for their presence.

There is a chapter on the hawks of the Southwest, which is worth reading if you’re ever traveling to that part of the country, but I’m skipping ahead to the Florida specialties.




Unlike the other hawks mentioned in the book, the snail kite is pretty hard to confuse with any other bird of prey because of both its appearance, its habits and its habitat.

These birds fly low above lakes and wetlands looking for apple snails to grab and devour. Both male and female have a distinctive white patches at the base of their tails.

Along with the short-tailed hawk, they are among Florida’s most uncommon birds of prey.





There’s also a bibliography for those interested in additional information.

The updated “Hawks In Flight” is an indispensable reference for anyone who is serious about learning to identify birds of prey in North America.