Customer Reviews

Birds in Brazil

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

 

 

I read the other review and was deceived. The other reviewer made it sound like a field guide comparing it to Peterson. NO!!!! There are a total of 45 color plates covering less than 500 of the about 1500 Brazilian birds and some of these plates are black and white.

This book is an excellent guide to Brazil's birds, but it is not a field guide. Illustrated throughout with line drawings, maps and figures which show various aspects of scientific interest (behavior, nests, etc.). At the back of the book are 47 color plates which depict many but not all of the species listed and described in the text. The author, a German immigrant to Brazil who made a life long study of the country's birds, writes in a surprisingly engaging style for such a serious ornithological work. His accounts of bird families and species are peppered with delightful anecdotes and much useful information for the serious student and birder.

Since most of Brazil's birds and their family groups are widespread throughout the neo-tropics the book is useful for information on tropical American birds in general. In addition to the family and species list with their detailed comments, there are sections covering terrain types and their characteristic birds, history of ornithology in Brazil, conservation, and biogeography and speciation. The book is fully referenced throughout. Any serious student of South American birds should probably have this book, or will want to borrow a copy.

Yes, this is not a field guide and is not intended to be one. It is a fascinating encyclopedia/reference book of Brazilian birds and will give years of pleasure and instruction to anyone who likes to watch birds in Brazil. The text has been very well translated by William Belton and captures all the nuances Helmut Sick's wonderful descriptions of birds. He not only wrote very detailed and exact descriptions of birds, their behavior, their nests etc but he also imbued these descriptions with a personal style that makes the book much more than a scientific monologue and thus more enjoyable for readers from a non scientific background. He also includes many interesting notes on how local people view or exploit different species.
And yes, there is not a picture of every single bird described in the text but there are pictures of the most common species and they are absolutely superb!
This book never leaves the table on the veranda of my house from where I watch the birds in the garden. I always find something new and interesting in it. I would advise any birdwatcher in Brazil to get a copy of this book while they are still available.

Birds in Brazil is a big book, beautifully produced on quality paper. It is exhaustive but never exhausting on the topic of Brazilian birds . The color illustrations are beautiful, but unfortunately they are separate from the text about the birds. That is the book's only fault. The text is in smooth and enticing English, and where the same birds are to be found migrating to the United States, the information is quite comparable in completion and interest to the American field guides of Roger T. Peterson. That leads me to believe that the information about birds that we don't experience will be equally accurate. This book is captivating and well worth the price. It is a coffee-table style book that we will be proud to use and to display.