Best bird guides by region...Central and South America (4 Viewers)

[njlarsen]

Niels,
re our chat on another thread, you mean take not 'bring'.......:king:


Andy

B

 

[Richard Klim]

What do people think about E.P Edwards 'Birds of Mexico and adjacent areas' which also covers Belize, Guatemala and El Salvador?

No range maps (just brief range statements), but it provides an alternative set of plates at very low cost as a complement to Howell & Webb and van Perlo.

 

[michalb]

Thanks for info! As for the Belize guide, it seems about half the size, so maybe it would be worth trying... but I wonder if range maps cover any area beyond Belize?

 

[jamesdee]

How useful is Sibley's Western North America for Mexico? I see that the maps cut the bottom of the country off. Are there many Mexican species not covered in the Sibley?

 

[njlarsen]

The text on howell and webb mentions about 180 species endemic to the region covered (including areas down to western Honduras and Western Nicaragua). If you travel beyond the isthmus of Mexico, there are a good number of birds that would be likely to overlap with e.g., Costa Rica but not with the US. Some species look quite different when you reach down to Yucatan even if they officially are the same species. If you are only visiting the 200 miles nearest the western end of the US border, no problem I believe

Niels

 

[jamesdee]

Thanks Niels. Looks like I need two more books then

 

[jamesdee]

I'm going to travel from Cancun south to Panama from Jan 5th. I already have Sibley's Western North America guide but is it safe to say I can buy one or maybe two more books to cover the whole region?

Birds of Costa Rica. And one for Cancun south?

 

[njlarsen]

No, the Costa Rica Guide only covers to western Panama. If you expect to go to the canal or even further east, the similar Panama guide will be needed. For the northern part of your trip, a recent book for Belize (I think that is what I remember) should cover all but a few of the possibilities, some pre-work with photos and sounds should make that doable.

Regarding your description of what you would like to do: NW of Cancun up to the northern coast of Yucatan would be a worth-while addition for a good number of species found in slightly more dry areas. Down in Yucatan, the western Sibley would do very little benefit, the eastern Sibley would be much better, if you need anything more than the guide to the country just S of Yucatan.

Niels

 

[jamesdee]

Wow. I need too many books for this trip. I'll need to compromise and miss some out as I'm backpacking and can't carry so many books without major inconvenience. Bah.

 

[Jim M.]

Wow. I need too many books for this trip. I'll need to compromise and miss some out as I'm backpacking and can't carry so many books without major inconvenience. Bah.

Jimmy,

There's a book by Ber van Perlo called Birds of Mexico and Central America that will cover all the species on your trip. (Tried to link to it on uk amazon, but link was automatically converted to textbooks.com link when I saved this post--bizarre!)

You should also check this thread: http://www.birdforum.net/showthread.php?p=3329533#post3329533

Hope this helps,
Jim

 

[gdhunter]

Wow. I need too many books for this trip. I'll need to compromise and miss some out as I'm backpacking and can't carry so many books without major inconvenience. Bah.

The relatively new & somewhat compact guide to the birds of Nicaragua (http://www.nhbs.com/title/204760/a-guide-to-the-birds-of-nicaragua-nicaragua-una-guia-de-aves) might be worthy of consideration. It covers more than 750 species in a country that has a fair share of species ranging southward from Mexico and other species ranging northward from Costa Rica and Panama. The Van Perlo illustrated checklist should probably be in your backpack, but I would personally feel ill-prepared without the plates from Howell & Webb and at least one of the compact guides from southern Central America.

Gary H

 

[jamesdee]

Thanks Jim. That might be the answer. Will have to check it out.

Although I may just buy one for Central America in order to save on weight. I'll be backpacking most of the time so weight is important.

Thanks again

 

[Swissboy]

Van Perlo is the obvious single choice if weight is important. The book is pretty good in my opinion, though the individual bird depictions are on the smallish side. And there are range maps for the whole area.

Here is the link for US Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/06...ica&qid=1450991474&ref_=sr_1_1&s=books&sr=1-1

It runs as a "Princeton Illustrated Checklist", whereas in Europe it is a "Collins" book.

 

[jamesdee]

I think I will get that one actually, yes. When I get to CR, I expect to be able to pick up another guide if needed.

Thanks for your help Swissboy, Jim et al.

 

[jamesdee]

The Birds of Mexico and Central America has been perfect for this trip. Very compact. I wouldn't have wanted to take another guide as size and weigh tis important to me on this trip.

Great advice.

Sometimes a bit hard to find a bird I've seen in there due to the sheer numbers per page but still the best choice when visiting so many countries. I'll be travelling in every country from Mexico to Panama. Currently in San Salvador. So many birds.

 

[DMW]

The WCS guide to SE Brazil Atlantic Forest now seems to be available. Has anybody seen a copy? If the illustrations are decent, this will presumably become the default field guide for this important region.

 

[Jim M.]

The WCS guide to SE Brazil Atlantic Forest now seems to be available. Has anybody seen a copy? If the illustrations are decent, this will presumably become the default field guide for this important region.

I have a copy. It's a little larger than their guide for the Pantanal & Cerrado since it covers more species, but still light enough to carry in the field. Same generally high quality with extensive textual accounts and easy to read range maps.

Illustrations are of high quality. I believe the passerine illustrations are all from Guy Tudor's work in the Songbirds of South America. The non-passerine illustrations are mostly from other artists; some of it is not quite the quality of Tudor's work, but still good.

My only real gripes about the book are lack of a quick index, a stiff binding, and lack of bold subheadings within the long species accounts. But regardless these regional guides are clearly the best Brazil guides out there at the moment imo.

 

[DMW]

Thanks for the review, Jim - sounds good, and pleased that the passerine illustrations are Guy Tudor's. It's relatively cheap, so I'll get a copy.
Cheers, Duncan

 

[Swissboy]

Ecuador

There is a discussion concerning bird books for Ecuador here: http://www.birdforum.net/showthread.php?p=3424864#post3424864
No need to repeat it all in this thread. But it started with the new photo-based book for western Ecuador.

 

[Papuan birder]

It would seem that publication of the Peterson Field Guide to Birds of Northern Central America is imminent. I have not seen any of the plates or species accounts featured in this book but it will surely be a welcome update to Howell (1995).