In a brilliant send-up, the ABA created this Crossley-style plate for the Common Nighthawk using JPGs from Robert Mortensen’s video.

For comparison purposes here’s a real Crossley plate for the same, ahem, species.

The resemblance is striking, truly!

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This is a two-page spread of Rough-legged Hawks from The Crossley ID Guide: Raptors.

Dark Rough-legged Hawks are dark brown below with slightly paler underwing coverts, and dark above. The upperside of adults is mottled compared with the unmarked uppersides of 1st-years. Some adult males are a beautiful, uniform black underneath with a slaty blue sheen on the back. Adults show a dark trailing edge to the wings and a defined dark tail tip from below. The tail pattern on adult dark birds is all-dark above, or dark with multiple white tail bands. Both sexes can have tail bands, but the white bands on males are typically neat and well-defined.

1st-years have an indistinct dark tail with faint grayish broken bands that appears whitish with a smudgy dark tip from below. 1st-year dark birds also have a paler face than dark adults. Rough-legged Hawks are high-Arctic breeders. Rough-legs winter on marshes, farmland, and other open countryside, often in the harshest environments. They can often be seen soaring with wings in a modified dihedral or hovering to spot unsuspecting rodents. Any raptor sitting on the very highest snag surveying the surrounding countryside is likely to be this species.

To see ALL the sample plates from The Crossley ID Guide, click here.

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One of the benefits of having so many plates devoted to one group of birds is that The Crossley ID Guide: Raptors can portray how raptors look in different types of light.

Have you ever noticed that birds look orangey at sunup or sundown? This can be confusing when trying to ID raptors based on their coloration. Be aware of this, and rely on plumage traits that are not color-related to make accurate IDs. The ability to see patterns as “shades of gray” helps. And of course, structure and manner of flight are always keys to raptor ID.

Challenge yourself to distinguish these early morning raptors.

To see ALL the sample plates from The Crossley ID Guide, click here.

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A straight-forward composite plate from The Crossley ID Guide: Raptors showing the Northern Goshawk up-close and at a distance against a backdrop of their favored habitat–coniferous forests.

Goshawks inhabit dense evergreen forest during the nesting season and are usually not found far from forest at any season. They usually stay well hidden, sitting quietly, and will often hunt from perches. They use healthy coniferous trees to support their nest, and are quite vocal and aggressive defending their territories. They may even swoop on and strike people who happen upon their nest—they are not to be messed with! Adults are blue on top and whitish gray below with fine, faint, black barring. Adult males are bluer on top and more finely barred underneath than females. Adult Goshawks have orange eyes that eventually turn dark red as they get older. The tail is indistinctly banded with a narrow, white tip, and the head is blackish with a bold white eyeline. 2ndyear birds are adult-like, but some retain a few old tattered and worn brown juvenile feathers. Goshawks are the scarcest of the accipiters.

To see ALL the sample plates from The Crossley ID Guide, click here.

A few days ago we posted the first glimpse of a mystery plate from The Crossley ID Guide: Raptors. Hopefully you had a chance to post your guesses.

Here’s the plate to refresh your memory:

And now here is the solution to the quiz:

	1. Juv./1st-year Swainson’s Hawk. Dark brown on top with blackish flight feathers and tail, pale uppertail coverts, and obvious buffy fringes to upperwing coverts. Note long, tapered wings.
	2. Juv./1st-year Swainson’s Hawk. Dark brown on top with blackish flight feathers and tail, pale uppertail coverts, and obvious buffy fringes to upperwing coverts. Note long, tapered wings.
	3. First-spring Golden Eagle. Dark brown on top with a golden wash on head, and white-based tail. Note that 1st-years in spring have a broad fade to the upperwing coverts that resemble the narrow, pale mottled upperwing bar of older birds. Also note shorter inner primary still growing in.
	4. Adult Bald Eagle. Unmistakable, uniformly dark with a white head and tail, and large yellow bill!
	5. Adult Golden Eagle. Overall brown above with paler mottling along the upperwings, golden head, and grayish bands on tail. Note, in bright sunlight, grayish areas can look white.
	6. Juv./1st-year Red-shouldered Hawk. Brownish on top overall with translucent primary “commas.” Note squared-off wings and somewhat long tail with indistinct banding.
	7. Juv./1st-year Northern Goshawk. Pale underneath with heavy dark streaking throughout. Note somewhat short wings that are very broad but taper at the hands, a broad chest, and long tail.
	8. Osprey. Blackish on top with a white head and black eyeline. Note white underbody and long, narrow wings. An adult based on pure white chest, and lack of dark streaking on crown.
	9. Juv./1st-year Sharp-shinned Hawk. Dark brown on top with faintly banded tail. Note long, narrow tail, short, broad wings, and small head.
	10. Immature Bald Eagle. Dark brown overall with blackish flight feathers. Note significant whitish mottling in tail and uneven secondaries denotes sub-adult. Also, note browner back with darker upperwing coverts. 1st-year is even-toned throughout back and upperwings.
	11. Adult Red-shouldered Hawk. Plumage is a beautiful rusty underneath with a brown head, and blackish on top with clean, narrow white bands throughout the flight and tail feathers, and whitish comma-shaped primary windows.
	12. Adult Red-shouldered Hawk. Rusty underneath with a brown head, and blackish on top with clean, narrow white bands throughout the flight and tail feathers, and whitish comma-shaped primary windows. Note reddish “shoulders” of adult.
	13. Juv./1st-year Broad-winged Hawk. Brown on top with slightly paler primaries, faint pale mottling on upperwings, and indistinctly banded tail with darker band at tip. Note stocky, pointed wings and large head. Tail appears somewhat long on 1st-years.
	14. Adult Red-tailed Hawk. Dark brown on top with a bright rufous tail, and golden wash to head. Rufous uppertail coverts rather than whitish much more common on Western race than Eastern.
	15. Juv./1st-year Red-tailed Hawk. Indistinct plumage. Brown on top with pale uppertail coverts, and pale mottling on upperwings. Note long but broad, bulging wings that taper slightly at the tips.
	16. Juv./1st-year Cooper’s Hawk. Dark brown on top with faintly banded tail similar to Goshawk but lacks the pale mottling along the upperwings, and pale eyeline. Note long tail with obvious white tip, short, broad wings, and noticeable head projection. Wings and tail are slightly longer in relation to other accipiters.
	17. Osprey. Note blackish topside with white crown, and very long, narrow wings. Aged as adult based on lack of pale fringes on upperwing coverts.
	18. Juv./1st-year Northern Goshawk. Brown on top with tawny-streaked nape, pale mottling on upperwing coverts, whitish eyeline, and long banded tail. Note broad wings compared to other accipiters.
	19. Juv./1st-year Broad-winged Hawk. Brown overall on top with slightly paler primaries, and indistinctly banded tail with darker band on tip. Note stocky tapered wings and big-headed look.

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Most of the time, we’re looking up at raptors, but at a few sites, it is possible to see them from above. This mystery plate provides an opportunity for readers to test their ID skills while only viewing the topsides of birds. Topside views offer an interesting and exciting perspective, and can be an ID challenge if not familiar with this kind of viewing.  Shape and flight style traits still hold useful, but plumage traits may be necessary for some identifications of birds seen  from above.

See if you can nail these raptors down to age and species. Leave us your guesses in the comments below.

Here is the numbered image, but I recommend you refer back to the larger, high res version of the image above to complete the task.

To see ALL the sample plates from The Crossley ID Guide, click here.

Click on the photo above to view a larger image.

In The Crossley ID Guide, this plate of the Eastern Red-shouldered Hawk appears opposite an equally gorgeous and informative plate for the Florida variant of the Red-shouldered Hawk allowing for easy comparison of their identifying features and subtle differences.

Eastern Red-shoulders are found in swampy woodland in summer but seen along field edges in winter. They take flight less frequently than most raptors, remaining perched for long periods waiting for prey. 1st-years are brown on top and pale below with dark streaks on the underbody. The tail is banded brown and blackish, but fairly indistinct, and usually the brown bands are narrower than the blackish ones, showing hint of the adult tail pattern. All ages and races have unique, pale, commashaped, translucent “windows” on the outer primaries that show up from below and above. The primary commas are white on adults and buffy on 1st-years. Adults are gorgeous, with striking black-and-white banded flight and tail feathers, rufous underparts, and rufous upperwing coverts or “shoulders”!

To see ALL the sample plates from The Crossley ID Guide, click here.

Did you know Benjamin Franklin wanted the Turkey as our national bird. They are pretty impressive and great characters!

Fact and plate supplied by Richard Crossley, author of The Crossley ID Guide: Eastern Birds and co-author of the forthcoming book The Crossley ID Guide: Raptors.

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This plate is designed to show the markings of adult and sub-adult bald eagles.Identifying an adult bald eagle isn’t too difficult–most people easily recognize their distinct coloring: the white head, yellow beak, and blackish body and wings — but immature bald eagles are another story. They take years to develop the signature “look” of a bald eagle with 1st-year birds being mostly dark brown with white wing pits and white underwing coverts. 2nd-year birds are still mostly dark overall, but are variable with white bellies and white upper backs. 3rdyear birds typically have a mix of white and dark on the belly and upper back and show some white on the mostly dark head. 4thyear birds are mostly dark on the belly and back with a whitish head and dark eyeline, and a whitish tail with a dark tip and faint dark streaks. The head and tail become whiter and the eyes and bill become yellow as Bald Eagles reach adulthood, but 5th and sometimes 6th-year birds often still have specks of dark around the eye or on the tail tip, or white on the axillaries or underwings.

Using a composite plate like the one above allows the authors to provide direct comparisons and to highlight the subtle changes that occur in immature bald eagles through the first 4-6 years of life.

To see ALL the sample plates from The Crossley ID Guide, click here.

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The sequence of photos in this plate from The Crossley ID Guide: Raptors brilliantly illustrates how Ospreys hunt.

They hover and soar over lakes and waterways in search of fish below the water’s surface. When they spot a fish close to the surface, they dive feet-first into the water, partially submerging to grab the fish with their sharply curved talons. After catching their prey, Ospreys use a great deal of force to propel themselves from the water. As soon as they take flight, they “shake off” any water so they are able to fly more easily with their weighty prey, which they hold aerodynamically head-first. Ospreys are uniquely adapted with acutely curved talons and rough spines, called spicules, on the bottom of their feet that help them to easily hang onto their slippery prey.

To see ALL the sample plates from The Crossley ID Guide, click here.

A few days ago we posted the first glimpse of a mystery plate from The Crossley ID Guide: Raptors. Hopefully you had a chance to post your guesses.

Here’s the plate to refresh your memory:

And now here is the solution to the quiz:

	1. Adult Florida Red-shouldered Hawk. Note pale rufous wash to underside, pale head, reddish shoulders, and black-and-white banded flight feathers.
	2. Adult Florida Red-shouldered Hawk. Note the strikingly black-and-white banded flight feathers and tail, and reddish shoulders of all adult Red-shoulders. Florida adults are the palest of the races, with very pale heads and pale brown backs.
	3. Adult dark Short-tailed Hawk. Uniformly dark underbody, paler flight feathers with dark trailing edge, and pale tail with dark tip. Note stocky wings similar to Broad-winged Hawk, but slightly broader and less pointed at tips.
	4. Swallow-tailed Kite. Brilliant white underneath with highly contrasting blackish flight feathers, and extremely long, black forked tail. Note the long, pointed wings.
	5. White-tailed Kite. White underside with white head, grayish secondaries, darker primaries, black wrist spots, and white tail. Note gray upperside, long, slim, pointed wings, and slim, square-tipped tail.
	6. Black Vulture. Nearly all black with pale outer primaries. Note stocky proportions, especially the short tail.
	7. Swallow-tailed Kite. Note extremely long, narrow, pointed wings that are dark on top, and contrasting whitish head. Even in a head-on view, the tail seems to trail well beyond the body.
	8. Light Short-tailed Hawk. White underneath with dark flight feathers, and a short tail. Similar in plumage to Swainson’s Hawk but lacks the dark bib. Note stocky, pointed wings.
	9. Juv./1st-year light Broad-winged Hawk. 1st-year is pale underneath with unmarked to lightly marked underwing coverts, and dark streaks on the body. The tail is faintly banded with a dark tip. 1st-year lacks a prominent dark trailing edge to the wings, and shows pale primary windows. Note stocky wings and large head.
	10. Adult Peregrine Falcon. Adult has pale body with faintly (such as this) to heavily barred belly, checkered underwings, and a black head with pale cheek. Note long, pointed wings and stout body.
	11. Subadult Mississippi Kite. Overall grayish underside with whitish head of adult, but mottled underwing coverts and banded tail denote subadult. Very Peregrine-like in shape, but the wings and body are slimmer, and the tail is shorter with a square tip that flares out instead of tapers.
	12. Female American Kestrel. Plumage is pale underneath with rufous streaks on body and underwing coverts, checkered flight feathers, and 2 sideburns on side of head. Note long, slim, pointed wings that are blunt at the tips.
	13. Juv./1st-year Red-shouldered Hawk. Note somewhat stocky, squared-off wings with translucent “commas” along the primaries, and fairly long tail for a buteo. 1st-years such as this one are pale underneath with buffy underwing coverts, and dark, evenly spaced streaking on the body.
	14. Merlin. Juvenile and adult female are pale below with heavy, dark streaking, heavily “checkered” underwings, and distinct tail bands. Merlin has shorter wings and shorter, slimmer tail and body compared with Peregrine, but is slightly stockier overall than Kestrel.
	15. Osprey. Brilliant white body with darker flight feathers, black wrist patches, and white head with dark eyeline. Note extremely long, narrow wings that taper at the hands and create an M shape in a glide.
	16. Turkey Vultures. Dark overall at a distance with small head and somewhat long, broad tail, and flying with a dihedral. Silvery flight feathers are noticeable in good light.
	17. Juv./1st-year light Eastern Red-tailed Hawk. Pale underneath with dark patagial bars and streaked bellyband. Note translucent primaries, plain whitish coloration overall, and lack of reddish on the tail, denoting 1st-year. Note long but broad, bulging wings. Eastern birds tend to have a pale throat and lack significant marking on the underwing linings.
	18. Northern Harrier. Note brown upperside with bold white rump, banding on tail, and long wings. Slight grayish cast to upperside of wings denotes likely adult female instead of 1st-year.
	19. Adult female Snail Kite. Charcoal upperside with blackish flight feathers and white-based tail. Note lanky, squared-off wings.
	20. Subadult Bald Eagle. Note dark overall with white wing pits, and whitish head with dark streaking. Overall plumage combined with even trailing edge of wings denotes 3rd or 4th-year. Also note large head with yellow bill, and long wings.
	21. Osprey. Note very long, narrow, bowed wings that taper slightly but are not pointed, and white body with darker flight feathers.
	22. Black Vulture. Nearly all black with pale outer primaries. Note unfeathered blackish head, grayish bill, and stocky proportions, especially the short tail.
	23. Immature Snail Kite. Dark underbody and head with pale eyeline. Note lanky, squared-off wings.
	24. Adult Red-tailed Hawks. These are both of the local race umbrinus. At their darkest, they have noticeably darker heads and necks than other Eastern Red-tailed Hawks. Most birds are paler headed. Their tails are typically barred.
	25. Adult Crested Caracara. Very distinctive in plumage with blackish upperside, white outer primaries, white tail with broad, black tip, dark belly with pale chest, and blackish head with orange facial skin. Note very long wings and tail, and long-necked appearance.

I realize the title of this post might be gobbledygook to our non-birding readers, but this is cool stuff. Ever notice that there are more robins in your yard during the fall? While robins are pretty much a year-round sight in NJ, they are actually a migrating species and the robins we host in the fall may not be the same individuals we saw throughout the summer. In recent weeks, several distinct flocks have descended on our front yard to feed before moving on south. In this video, Richard discusses how he thinks robins make their way to Cape May.