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The Birds of Panama: A Field Guide (1 Viewer)

gdhunter

Well-known member
I received my copy of the new Angeher/Dean The Birds of Panama: A Field Guide just before the end of the year. I haven't yet spent time in Panama and those with such experience should probably address its utility in that country. As might be expected, birders who use the Garrigues/Dean Costa Rica guide will recognize much of the artwork; with few exceptions, Dean seems to have used the same images for the Panama birds shared with Costa Rica. My CR guide may well be faded, but I did note in the Panama guide that the colors seem brighter and richer. The format is the same, and the text is quite concise. For birders in Panama and birders planning to spend time there, this will mark the same kind of milestone that Garrigues/Dean achieved for Costa Rica. I cannot imagine going to Panama without Ridgely/Gwynne, but now it will be as a supplemental reference after a day in the field.
 
....... For birders in Panama and birders planning to spend time there, this will mark the same kind of milestone that Garrigues/Dean achieved for Costa Rica. I cannot imagine going to Panama without Ridgely/Gwynne, but now it will be as a supplemental reference after a day in the field.

I posted a short review here: http://www.birdforum.net/showthread.php?t=180479

See posts #18 and 19.

I'm about to leave for Panama, and I can see no need to take along the Ridgely/Gwinne book as well. Though I may consult it later back home. I would assume that the new FG should be sufficient, except for flight pictures which one also misses in the other book.

As for the artwork, I think Dean has set a new standard for Central America, and he is at the same level as Tudor regarding the Neotropics. But it's only with the improved printing (compared to the faded looks in the Costa Rica FG) that this becomes apparent.
 
I am in Panama city now and fortunately brought the Ridgeley guide with me - on gdhunter recommendation. I couldnt get the new book in the UK before I left and met someone here who said it is not yet available here in Panama either.
If the shorebird descriptions are similar to those in Garrigues and Dean, I would say they are not really adequate for peep IDs, but I am certainly finding it easier to use G&D for general birding here than R&G, though of course it doesnt cover all the birds.
Des
 
Have you visited the Parque Metropolitano? The book store there would likely have Angher and Dean before any other spot in Panama, it had the siteguide before it was available in Amazon.com.

cheers
Niels
 
.....met someone here who said it is not yet available here in Panama either.
......Des

My brother and a friend bought it around January 10 in Chiriquí. Not sure anymore where exactly. But they were on a private field trip and heard of a place that had it for sale.

I had mine sent by special delivery from Amazon US and received it in Switzerland on December 29th. Just in time to still leave a few weeks preparing for my trip that is going to start tomorrow. It was like 23$ for the book and 30$ for postage. But that has been money very well spent in my particular situation.

As for shorebirds, I have my National Geographic FG for North America along anyway as I'll visit Florida on the way home. But I think both the Costa Rica and the Panama book are pretty good for shorebirds as well. The "peepses" are a can of worms anyway, whatever FG one uses. And the pictures for them in the Ridgely/Gwynne book are much worse. Lots of lengthy description all right, but I'm not functioning that way.
 
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Thanks, I will try to check the PM store this afternoon. G&D only mentions bill shape to distinguish non-breeding Western and SemiP sandpipers, and leg colour for Least. I feel sure the Collins guide has more. Otherwise though it is a great guide.
 
I have been using the new field guide since january and it is simply great... Particularly, I found the maps very useful... it is easier to recognize the weird ocurrence of a bird now that I have a picture of its distribution in my mind (instead of a description of its distribution). The book is handy and practical, and now I have my Ridgely and Gwynne as a reference book in home.
 
I am finding a few of the pictures in the Garrigues and Dean guide sometimes surprisingly misleading. I trust they have been fixed for this book.
Des
 
I am finding a few of the pictures in the Garrigues and Dean guide sometimes surprisingly misleading. I trust they have been fixed for this book.
Des

Many of the illustrations from the Costa Rica book were used for this one. Which have you found misleading?
 
I have found the colours to be too pale on some birds eg Slatybacked nightingale thrush, eyebrow of Ochraceous wren, but accurate in Ridgeley and Gwynne. I was struggling today with the Yellow-bellied Flycatcher. The pictures are more pleasing than in R&G and generally the structures look very good eg of Rufous Piha. I only have the first edition of R&G but I have seen the 2nd Ed at Lost and Found and will certainly want to have that with me as and when I come back. I suspect also that eastern Chiriqui races are somewhat distinct from western Costa Rican birds.
 
My impression of R&G is that the smaller flycatcher page is more accurate in colors in the first edition, so 1 vs 2 is an open question

Niels
 
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