Birds of Prey:Hawks, Eagles, Falcons, and Vultures of North Americaby Pete DunneHoughton Mifflin Harcourt, 2017Pete Dunne, founding director of the Cape May Bird Observatory, has produced in his new book Birds of Prey something that's not quite a field-and-trail guidebook but likewise not quite a “coffee table” picture book. The thing is the size and weight of a standard hardcover book, which makes it impractical for saddlebag or rucksack, but its 300 pages have a distinctly taxonomical feel, with high-definition photographs by the great Kevin Karlson showing 33 species of “diurnal birds of prey” from every angle, in every stage of life, with a clarity that would gladden the heart of any birder out tramping the scrub land and hillsides.That “diurnal” stipulation excludes owls, but otherwise all the premium North American killers of the bird world are here, and Dunne doesn't quibble about that central attraction:

Prey is precisely the binding element that lies at the heart of predation and serves to define and unify the birds of prey. True, many bird species feed upon other living organisms, including American Robin. But the diurnal birds of prey are celebrated for their specialized capacity to capture and consume other animals, often in dramatic fashion.

The dry humor of that “often in dramatic fashion” is one of the unexpected treats of the book. The caption (written by Steve Sachs) to a photo of White Peregrine Falcon with a hapless goldfinch in its talons reads, “This American Goldfinch is about to move on to the next trophic level.” The book manages to be reverential without being somber, no small accomplishment in today's eco-conscious marketplace.And frequently throughout these pages, Dunne's extensive personal experiences in the birding world add texture to the descriptions of even the most exotic species, such as the enormous Golden Eagle:

I have personally seen a Golden Eagle knock a Great Blue Heron out of the air, then follow the stunned bird onto the marsh, where the eagle presumably fed. In Bosque del Apache National Wildlife Refuge, I watched a Golden Eagle stoop into a massed flock of Sandhill Cranes, securing none. And more, while watching migrating hawks in northwestern New Jersey, I observed an adult Golden Eagle stoop upon, bind to, and kill an adult Red-tailed Hawk, which it then carried into the trees on the windward side of the ridge and out of sight.

Birds of Prey is a bit prolix for a simple animal guide and a bit unwieldy for birding handbook. Instead, it's simply a detailed and beautifully-produced tribute to these birds Dunne calls “citizens of the sky and lofty places.” Anyone who's ever stopped in their tracks – whether in the Yellowstone wilderness or on their way to work – at the breathtaking sight of one of these birds in motion will want this book on their shelves, to fill the less fortunate indoor hours.