- Hardcover: 336 pages
- Publisher: Collins (5 Jun 2006)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 0007134908
- ISBN-13: 978-0007134908
- Product Dimensions: 19.4 x 13 x 2.4 cm
- Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 345,901 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
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Product Description
Review
Praise for Collins Illustrated Checklists by Ber van Perlo:
‘Very easy to flick through and get a quick impression of what may be unfamiliar families’. Birdwatch magazine
‘I found the illustrations and text to be skillfully produced and accurate…the ideal guide to take on your travels’. British Ornithologists Union
Product Description
The essential guide to identifying every species of bird you may see in this area, for tourists and wildlife enthusiasts.
‘Birds of Mexico and Central America’ is the only field guide to illustrate and describe every species of bird you may see in Central America from Mexico to Panama, including Belize, Guatemala, Honduras, El Salvador, Nicaragua and Costa Rica.
• Features over 1,500 species
• Text gives information on key identification features, habitat, and songs and calls
• All plumages for each species are illustrated, including those of males, females and juveniles
The 98 colour plates appear opposite their relevant text for quick and easy reference. Distribution maps are included, showing where each species can be found and how common it is, to further aid identification. This comprehensive and highly portable guide is a must for all birdwatchers visiting the region.
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
28 of 29 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
The good news about this book is that it provides the most extensive coverage of the region, with the birds of all of Mexico and Central America being illustrated in a single volume for the first time. It is also very small, compact and light-weight.
Unfortunately - and predictably - the price to be paid for this is the quality. Illustrations are tiny, often just 2-3 cms in size, and usually dozens of them are crammed on one page. What's more, there are no "arrows" pointing out distinguishing marks between the similar species, making a bewildering page featuring 30+ tiny, green hummingbirds look like one of those "Can you spot the difference?" puzzles.
Text on the pages opposite the illustrations is extremely limited (usually 2-3 lines for each species), simply noting size, basic distribution and habitat info, plus maybe voice and a few key distinguishing features - though the latter are all too often replaced by the word "unmistakeable". With so many species on one page, often even this limited info has to spill over to the previous or following page!
Maps are tucked away in the back of the book, and are also very basic and small. They only show distribution very roughly, and often with the paint completely obscuring topographical features like country boundaries.
All things told, if you just want a cheap, basic and compact introduction to what this exotic region has to offer, this book may be good value. However for actual use as a field guide it is hardly the best, and it may well be worth investing into more guides that each cover a more limited region better.
"A Guide to the Birds of Mexico and Northern Central America" by Steve N.G. Howell seems to remain the best alternative with the widest coverage of this region.
Unfortunately - and predictably - the price to be paid for this is the quality. Illustrations are tiny, often just 2-3 cms in size, and usually dozens of them are crammed on one page. What's more, there are no "arrows" pointing out distinguishing marks between the similar species, making a bewildering page featuring 30+ tiny, green hummingbirds look like one of those "Can you spot the difference?" puzzles.
Text on the pages opposite the illustrations is extremely limited (usually 2-3 lines for each species), simply noting size, basic distribution and habitat info, plus maybe voice and a few key distinguishing features - though the latter are all too often replaced by the word "unmistakeable". With so many species on one page, often even this limited info has to spill over to the previous or following page!
Maps are tucked away in the back of the book, and are also very basic and small. They only show distribution very roughly, and often with the paint completely obscuring topographical features like country boundaries.
All things told, if you just want a cheap, basic and compact introduction to what this exotic region has to offer, this book may be good value. However for actual use as a field guide it is hardly the best, and it may well be worth investing into more guides that each cover a more limited region better.
"A Guide to the Birds of Mexico and Northern Central America" by Steve N.G. Howell seems to remain the best alternative with the widest coverage of this region.
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
I concur with Laszlo Wagner's fine assessment, except that I think this book still does an excellent job that deserves a four-star rating. Being compact is a major virtue in a field guide, and if one visits several countries of Central America, weight limits become all too often an important consideration. I have not used this book in the field yet, but I'm presently finding it most helpful in preparing an upcoming trip. Adding the missing pointers myself in many cases. And I still recall the times when I had no illustrated field guide for a two month visit of Costa Rica. There have been a number of books since, but this one is the most compact one if one wants to cover several countries of the area.
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
Fits in fatigue pocket, through Central America wilderness. Illustrations a bit small, but most useful because of the covering range.
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