Birds of Brazil by van Perlo (2 Viewers)

[Swissboy]

I'm starting a new thread as the old one deals with several books for the country.

OK, I finally got my copy of this fine FG, and I wonder what knowledgeable people think about it. I must say that I have somewhat mixed feelings.

On the one hand, I very much like its contents, as far as I can tell from a brief first inspection. Overall, very fine illustrations, and the book has the classic layout with the text AND range maps both being opposite the plates.

So why my mixed feelings? Well, this is a FG, and it is unnecessarily large. For one, there is a broad (21 mm wide) grey band at the top that I consider basically superfluous. The page and plate numbers could have been fitted without that band. Overall, I think a full inch or 25 mm could have been lopped off in the book's height. And at least one cm could have been taken off in its width as well. That would have resulted in a book that would be much more compact. As it is now, many plates look like there is an awful lot of white space all around the illustrations. And if the publishers had chosen a print with just slightly less space between the lines, the book could have been made even more compact.

Somehow, I can't avoid the suspicion that there will be a more compact version in the future, after everbody has bought the large one. Doesn't this look like a business strategy we already know from other field guides? It may make economic sense, but it does not further the goodwill of the buyers. I have now made it my policy that I only get the more compact version if I really visit the area. So far, I have thus not bought several books in the past years. Alternatively, one might also opt for not buying this book now, waiting for the more compact version, if one has no plans to visit the area in the near future.

 

[njlarsen]

If it happens, then it will be difficult to know if that was the business plan all along, or if it came about based on you stating the obvious in this post

Cheers
Niels

 

[Steve Lister]

Presumably you are referring to the American version as I don't think the Collins one is out yet - Amazon are saying November as opposed to October now. And I set off on 26/11 so I am hoping it is ready by then.

Steve

 

[Swissboy]

Presumably you are referring to the American version as I don't think the Collins one is out yet - Amazon are saying November as opposed to October now. And I set off on 26/11 so I am hoping it is ready by then.

Steve

Well, it says Oxford University Press. It is printed in China anyway. And my copy, though ordered via Amazon.com, was shipped from Auckland NZ!

Upon closer inspection, it says Oxford New York, and it has a US$ price printed on the cack cover. But other that that, I expect the British version to be identical, though maybe a bit more costly. But then, within the UK you may have free shipping which I did not.

It's not a Collins, for a change! And if you look at the Amazon.uk page, it also shows OUP USA as publisher. And it has the same 13-digit ISBN number. The dimensions given differ by a few millimeters from my copy, but those were undoubtedly published in advance of the final product.

 

[sneil]

Presumably you are referring to the American version as I don't think the Collins one is out yet - Amazon are saying November as opposed to October now. And I set off on 26/11 so I am hoping it is ready by then.

Steve

Mine arrived today ordered via Waterstones (UK), so I would hope you'll be o.k. It does appear to be the US version. Good luck with the trip.

 

[Steve Lister]

Amazon tell me mine is on the way - great.

Steve

 

[Andrew Whitehouse]

Been looking over this for the past few days and my impressions are pretty positive. Here's a few thoughts.

Overall: It's a fairly big book (not surprising given the 1800+ species that are covered) but not much bigger than Souza's All the Birds of Brazil. Marginally smaller size is probably the only advantage the latter has over the former. I've got the softback and it seems like it would take a bit of a beating without falling to bits. I don't get the impression pages are going to start falling out, unlike the Sigrist guides.

Plates: I was half expecting that these would be of a similar standard to van Perlo's pictures for the Serra dos Tucanos pocket guide that I have but they're generally better and larger. The tyrannulets, for example, are much better in the new guide and are now fairly IDable. I don't like them quite as much as the Brettas's pictures in the Sigrist guides, which are a bit 'cleaner' looking, but I don't think they are any less effective for ID. They are much better than the numerous Sigrist pictures in the same guides. Sometimes the jizz of a few birds seems a little bit wrong but that's a minor point, and I don't get as much of a feeling of 'wow, I really want to see that' from the pictures as I get from some other guides. In other words, the pictures are good for ID but not always that 'sexy'.

Text: This is concise but useful (and still more detailed than any other Brazilian field guides). Text concentrates on key features to distinguish species from similar birds and also on variations. There's also some brief discussion of habitat and vocalisations. The latter are a bit brief, but then it's easy to get recordings for most species. Portuguese names are given, which is a good thing. I notice that our own Rasmus Boegh has had some input into ID and taxonomic issues, which has no doubt assisted in making the quality and accuracy of information high.

Maps: These are amongst the best I've seen in any field guide and give a good idea of range (which I think is pretty up-to-date) and also abundance and seasonal variations. In some of the birds with limited ranges, I thought perhaps the maps could have been 'zoomed in' a bit more.

There's also a good introduction to families and to habitats.

So this is much the best field guide for Brazilian birds, although perhaps it will be superseded by the long forthcoming Whitney and Whittaker & Zimmer guides. But at the moment it's the only game in town and, finally, the one field guide birding trip to Brazil is a reality.

 

[Rasmus Boegh]

I notice that our own Rasmus Boegh has had some input into ID and taxonomic issues, which has no doubt assisted in making the quality and accuracy of information high.

Thanks for the nice words. There are sections I was not involved in and others where my recommendations have been missed (or switches), which have resulted in some problems (I might start an unofficial errata listing cases that could result in identification problems - cf. errata to the excellent Chilean field guide; http://www.birdsofchile.com/errata.htm), and, as always in the Neotropics, the rapid pace of new discoveries (be that on distribution, taxonomy or entirely new species) easily outmatch publication deadlines. Regardless, I do believe this is a step forward for Brazilian field guides.

 

[Swissboy]

......I don't get the impression pages are going to start falling out, unlike the Sigrist guides.

.......

My two Sigrist field guides look like the pages are well bound in with stitched batches. So it's certain no single pages can fall out. Does that mean, you experience whole bunches coming out? Or is the combined version made differently? I don't have that one.

 

[Andrew Whitehouse]

My copy of the Eastern Brazil Sigrist guide isn't quite coming apart but some of the pages are quite loose. The van Perlo guide seems a lot more solid to me.

 

[njlarsen]

Thanks for the nice words. There are sections I was not involved in and others where my recommendations have been missed (or switches), which have resulted in some problems (I might start an unofficial errata listing cases that could result in identification problems - cf. errata to the excellent Chilean field guide; http://www.birdsofchile.com/errata.htm), and, as always in the Neotropics, the rapid pace of new discoveries (be that on distribution, taxonomy or entirely new species) easily outmatch publication deadlines. Regardless, I do believe this is a step forward for Brazilian field guides.

As one person who have bought the book (should arrive tomorrow) I would be thankful for such an errata page.

Niels

 

[Swissboy]

As one person who have bought the book (should arrive tomorrow) I would be thankful for such an errata page.

Niels

I'd be most grateful too!

 

[Steve Lister]

My copy came via Amazon (bookseller not river) on Friday. I was surprised to find it was the US version as I was expecting a separate UK one. Why could they not give me this one weeks ago?

Anyway, what do I think of it?

To be honest I am very disappointed. Yes it is better than the Souza guide, but not much. The illustrations are rather different in style to in van Perlo's earlier guides. They are hopefully Ok for ID in most cases but are hardly awe-inspiring. And my first look through some species I was unsure of threw up some inconsistencies between text, map and illustrations (look at Scalloped vs Scaled Woodcreepers to see what I mean).

And the whole book is so wasteful on space. There is room for loads more text on most pages, and many of the illustrations could have been printed larger. The book is too large to be convenient in the field, so another alternative would have been to make it a few cm smaller - everything would have still fit in easily.

So..........
It will be useful on this trip but next time I will be hoping that one of the 'proper' guides in the pipeline is ready.

Steve

 

[Andrew Whitehouse]

I think for ID purposes the guide is really quite a big improvement on Souza. It maybe depends on your expectations. I wasn't expecting this to be the definitive guide to birds in Brazil. We're still waiting for that, but it's actually a bit better than I was hoping for. I kind of agree on the wastage of space at times, although I quite like the uncluttered feel of it. There are some pages where I wonder why more text wasn't included though. It'll be a bit to carry around but then so are most of the other guides to Brazil (and other South American countries).

 

[Swissboy]

.....(look at Scalloped vs Scaled Woodcreepers to see what I mean).

....
Steve

Yes, the pictures and the text definitely contradict one another. Hopefully, Rasmus will be able to clear such things with his planned errata list.

I had let the book sit for a while, but taking it up for checking now, again made me a bit angry because of the obvious neglect for the needs of birders in the field. Wish it would be easy to trim it a bit. But, maybe another book will be out anyway before I make it to the area.

As for the look of the illustrations, however, I don't feel disappointed. They are certainly not exactly awe-inspiring, but much better than many in the Sigrist guides. I have never bought the Souza book as it was so poorly illustrated, and I had no urgent need to get just any FG to Brazil. On the Sigrist volumes, it's a pretty cover plus some fine plates by Brettas mainly. And basically no text except for some symbols.

 

[Rasmus Boegh]

And my first look through some species I was unsure of threw up some inconsistencies between text, map and illustrations (look at Scalloped vs Scaled Woodcreepers to see what I mean).

Illustrations of Scalloped (89.6) and Streak-headed (89.7) have been switched. Of note that, after the deadline of the book, it was documented that the distribution of the Scalloped actually extends northwards to south-central Minas Gerais, i.e. limited overlap in distributions of Scaled and Scalloped has just been discovered (and there are some indications of possible hybridization, meaning that the Scaled/Wagler's/Scalloped split may need re-evaluation). Details here: http://www.scielo.br/pdf/paz/v49n3/a01v49n3.pdf

 

[sneil]

...... They are hopefully Ok for ID in most cases but are hardly awe-inspiring. And my first look through some species I was unsure of threw up some inconsistencies between text, map and illustrations (look at Scalloped vs Scaled Woodcreepers to see what I mean).


Steve

Just to compound the 'woodcreeper issue', I happened to purchase previously the 'counterpoint' Narosky/Yzurieta Argentine field guide (yes, we're doing the touristy thing...up to Iguassu, etc, so it's not a full on birding trip....my wife is not a birder, but I wanted to 'cover the birding bases' ). Admittedly the Narosky is somewhat naive in its illustrative quality but if I compare and contrast, say, both narrow-billed and scaled between the two volumes, then (acknowledging sub-species variation) I'm looking at something completely different. I'm inclined to go with van Perlo.

[(I might start an unofficial errata listing cases that could result in identification problems -Rasmus Boegh ]

That would be much appreciated.

From my perspective and not having visited before, the van Perlo is a publication that I welcome as I was getting in a slight panic that something a lot more than just reasonable for the south-east/north-east of Brazil (we're covering Rio and Salvador as well) wasn't going to be available before we went.....so am well pleased and the book is much appreciated.
Off now to study those pesky tyrannulets.
PS....would agree comments above re book size.
PPS.....minor point (from a European perspective): anyone notice plate 45.6 v description label?

 

[Swissboy]

Just to compound the 'woodcreeper issue', I happened to purchase previously the 'counterpoint' Narosky/Yzurieta Argentine field guide ......Narosky is somewhat naive in its illustrative quality but if I compare and contrast, say, both narrow-billed and scaled between the two volumes, then (acknowledging sub-species variation) I'm looking at something completely different. I'm inclined to go with van Perlo.

PPS.....minor point (from a European perspective): anyone notice plate 45.6 v description label?

45.6 has the correct scientific name, but the common name is wrong.

As for the woodcreepers and the Narosky/Yzurieta FG, I would first like to say that we fared amazingly well with that book. Also thanks to the text that emphasizes what to look for. And for comparisons, one might also consider the books by de la Peña and by Sigrist (Eastern). Looking at those as well, the Argentine FG is rather closer to them. The van Perlo book is the one that shows the Narrow-billed W. by far with the darkest "cap". Without knowing the species, van Perlo is definitely in the minority regarding those two. But who is correct, I can't tell.

 

[Rasmus Boegh]

Even if only parts are of direct relevance to the guide, this may be of use to some (a brief intro here). New posts are likely to be added at random intervals, though anything that takes longer than ~30 minutes to write is unlikely to end up there (longer posts will generally just be modifications of things that already had been written). If an unofficial errata list is started at some point, it will likely be there.

 

[Xenospiza]

I received the book (from WildSounds) today, after a sneak preview in Foyles on Thursday (I did buy other stuff).
It adds a few (potential) splits and (at least one) undescribed species to my "depicted in books" list, which I can always appreciate (thanks Rasmus!)
It also updates my knowledge on some more recent sightings which I had not noticed (e.g. Buff-cheeked Tody-Flycatcher).
It's a shame I still don't like van Perlo's drawing style, but of course this is a big improvement on what was available. Surely one day the better illustrators must finish their guide, but I guess this may take a while yet...
The maps are conveniently located. I applaud the fact that they show seasonality and (however crudely) abundance .
For a South American guide, I would happily carry a book double its weight if that would mean extra information (check Colombia, Venezuela, Ecuador...).

Errata-wise: it looks like Pyrrhura leucotis leucotis was omitted from the map of P. leucotis.