Customer Reviews

Birds of Argentina & Uruguay

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

It's an excellent field guide. The little maps with each bird showing the distribution area makes the identification fast and easy. Drawings are very good and so are id clues. I think that due to printing problems sometimes the colors are not so accurate (few cases). If you are coming to Argentina to watch birds, is a must (I'm not the author cousin).

This book is depressingly poor, especially considering its price. Some are touting it because the descriptions, images (paintings) and range maps for each species appear together. Bravo! That would be lovely if they were useful, but the maps are too small, the descriptions too brief and vague, and the paintings are (I'm tempted to say "hopelessly") amateuristic. Quality of the illustrations not withstanding, all good modern field guides depict similar (e.g., congenric) species in the same pose so key differences are conspicuous. This field guide seems to go out of its way to do the opposite, featuring as many poses as species, making it essentially impossible to determine essential field marks. There must be something better. If not, avoid Argentina and bird Afghanistan! The result is bound to be more positive.

This book is out of print but it is still used by all the birders in Argentina and Uruguay. I used it in conjunction with other bird guides and it solved some identification mysteries for me.