This is one of those that separates the maps from the text from the pictures, which I have always found extremely annoying. But it is detailed enough and thorough enough that I have often been able to make an ID with it that I never would have otherwise. Don't leave home without it. ( )

Peterson Field Guides are among the most-respected in the genre of field identification guides, and with good reason: pocket-sized, with wipable covers and smooth pages, rulers along the margins of the book's covers for measuring specimens, and thousands of illustrations of birds of prey, descriptions of their calls, their habitat, their habits, and their varied phases (from juvenile to adult), make these guides invaluable for the serious bird-watcher. They are also a good barometer of how quickly we are losing some species, sadly. An older edition I have, shows some species not shown in this 2001 edition. They've gone extinct. For instance the Snail Kite maybe extinct. They are so specialized, and their habitat so unique, that they cannot survive the development of the Everglades much longer. ( )