Birds of Mexico and Central America: Author: Visit Amazon's Ber van Perlo Page | Language: English | ISBN:
0691120706 | Format: EPUB
Birds of Mexico and Central America: Description
Review
"The little book has an amazing breadth of information, and a quick thumbing through leads you to just about any family of birds you may want to find."--
Gary Clark, Houston Chronicle
Praise for previous Princeton Illustrated Checklists: "The books are compact, convenient guides for birders and scientists interested in identifying birds while visiting the regions. Their small, lightweight sizes make for easy packing and carrying in the back pocket while trudging around the countryside. They are the perfect alternative to the larger guides that are too large for travelling and often have more information than is necessary for field identification."--
Condor
"The best feature about the book is that it packs a lot of birds, more than 1,500 species, in a small guide that can be easily carried in the field. . . .
Birds of Mexico and Central America is a god acquisition for anyone with a strong interest in the birds of the region."--
Frederic H. Brock, Wildlife Activist
"This useful book adds to the continually growing list of field identification field guides illustrating Neotropical birds. It is recommended to ornithologists, birders, conversations biologists, naturalists, and educators, and ecotourism guides taking people on fields trips to Mexico and Central American."--
International Hawkwatcher
"A new entry into the Illustrated Checklist guides published by Princeton. The [book's] size makes it easy to carry in the field [and] important to travelers who have been burdened with the more weighty field guides previously published for this area.... The plates are well-done and should enable easy identification of the birds found there. A must for all birdwatchers visiting the region."--
Charles E. Keller, Indiana Audubon Quarterly
"I would recommend this book highly to anyone birding or banding in Mexico or Central America."--
John Woodcock, American Bird Bander
"I wouldn't think of visiting Panama without this series' volume. . . . Superbly designed to present as much visual information about the species included in as small and portable a format as possible. . . . [T]his book will be a constant companion to me while I am in Panama."--
John E. Ruitta, Well-Read Naturalist
About the Author
Ber van Perlo is the author and illustrator of three highly successful Princeton Illustrated Checklists: "Birds of Eastern Africa, Birds of Southern Africa", and "Birds of Western and Central Africa".
- Series: Princeton Illustrated Checklists
- Paperback: 336 pages
- Publisher: Princeton University Press; New Ed edition (July 23, 2006)
- Language: English
- ISBN-10: 0691120706
- ISBN-13: 978-0691120706
- Product Dimensions: 7.6 x 5.1 x 0.7 inches
- Shipping Weight: 1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
All of the criticisms mentioned in the previous reviews are warrented, this book is not perfect (see plate 97 and check out Orchard Oriole). In fact I was a bit annoyed by the frequent overlap of the text reference and the page with the color plates. For example on Plate 74 there are 19 illustrated Wrens but if you check for the names on the facing page it starts with three pipit species, covers only 12 of the wrens then you have to look at the following page to see what the other seven wren species are. Also I had wished that the range maps would be on the text page opposite the illustrations (as in the European Princeton Guide) but they are in the back of the book. This may be due to necessity as there are so many species included.
There is a code listed at the end of the text for each species for the range that if you get used to it is a general indicator. For example YMe = Yucatan area of Mexico and SMe,CAm = South Mexico and Central America. The range maps at the back of the book are very tiny and only a bit better indicator of range. A positive attribute of the range maps is that they are coded to likelihood of occurance, which is of additional impact compared to most range maps.
Another of the many advantages of this book is that it includes the North American Migrants not included in Howell's book. The illustrations are tiny, and that does matter when you are studying the different Myiarchus flycatchers,something better left to when you get back to your room or lodge where the hefty Howell guide is. You also will want to have the larger more complete books (Howell, Skutch, Ridgely and Gwynne)for the text. For example Double-banded Greytail, an interesting species found only in the Darien region of Columbia and Panama, is included in both books.
I just got back from a trip to the Monarch Butterfly Sanctuaries in the mountains outside of Mexico City. I'm an avid birder here in the US and knew that being in the mountains we'd get to see some terrific birds along our hikes into the butterfly sanctuaries (which is an absolutely incredible experience I must add).
This bird book was really easy to use with the images of the birds and their names in the first part of the book and the range maps in the back. I had no trouble at all flipping back and forth and even taught our guide how to use it. I ended up leaving the book with him so he can take others on birding walks through the Monarch butterfly sanctuaries as well.
This was the first time he had ever used a bird book and he picked it up quickly too. I wanted to mention that because other reviews that I had read prior to buying it indicated that this was a difficult book to use and it's not at all. Other reviews also indicated that the drawings of the birds were super small and not very good - this is not the case either. They do have a number of birds on each plate but I found this to be a "plus" since it made it easier to compare different birds and figure out which ones I was seeing without having to flip through pages.
It's important to become familiar with any bird book before you go out into the field, study the birds, look at the indicator markings etc. before going out in the field so you aren't trying to process too much info when a bird is zipping by. This book does not point out specific indicator marks but if you look at the pictures you can see the differentiators.
Since I left my copy of this book in Mexico with our guide, I am buying another one to take with me on future trips.
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