Birds of the Dominican Republic & Haiti (Helm Field Guides) [Paperback]

Steve Et Al Latta (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 30, 2006 | Series: Helm Field Guides

The Dominican Republic and Haiti make up the island of Hispaniola, which is the second largest island in the West Indies, after Cuba. The Dominican Republic is a popular destination as there are several endemics on the island, one of which, the Palm Chat, is in its own unique family. In this book all 302 species known to have occurred on the island are described and illustrated and information on the biology and ecology of the birds is also given. This is the only comprehensive field guide devoted to the birds of Hispaniola, providing new information from the authors' personal research on the biology and ecology of the island's avifauna. This is a valuable addition to the literature of the West Indies.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"The illustrations are good and the concise text is free of waffle... This new guide provides the travelling birder with all they need for a visit to this superb location and even those with a casual eye on the local wildlife will find it indispensable when trying to put a name to that hummingbird in the hotel garden." The Visitor (January 2007) 'I liked the book and if I ever go there for a trip I will certainly invest in it... A manageable field guide at a reasonable price.' Scottish Bird News (June 2007) 'Will undoubtedly prove an invaluable field guide for residents and visitors... [an] excellent guide that anyone interested in the birds of Hispaniola should have.' IBIS (2007)

Review

An outstanding contribution to Caribbean ornithology, this guide will be an invaluable reference for the identification of the diverse and unique avifauna of the Dominican Republic and Haiti. It provides accurate and up-to-date summaries of the distribution of the island's birds while providing appropriate descriptions to enable identification of the species known from Hispaniola and associated satellite islands. Included, too, are useful notes on status, behavior, ecology, and distribution, some of which have not been previously published. All told, this guide will be an indispensable tool for visiting birdwatchers and will likely encourage ecotourism on the island, while stimulating interest in the study and conservation of the island's endangered endemic avifauna.
(Joseph M. Wunderle, Research Wildlife Biologist, International Institute of Tropical Forestry, Puerto Rico, former President of the Society of Caribbean Ornitholog ) --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 360 pages
• Publisher: Christopher Helm Ornithology (October 30, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0713679050
• ISBN-13: 978-0713679052
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6.1 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.8 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Variable but good illustrations, good quality field guide, June 26, 2008

By 

Soleglad (Arizona, USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Birds of the Dominican Republic and Haiti (Princeton Field Guides) (Paperback)

Basics: 2006, 1st edition, softcover, 258 pages, 57 color plates, 300+ species, range maps

This is a good field guide - and the only one - to focus on the birds of this 2-country island, Hispaniola. All the known species are illustrated and described. Most have multiple illustrations.

The authors take a few progressive liberties with the taxonomy, such as splitting out the Hispaniolan Oriole from the still-recognized Greater Antillean Oriole; or, the Hispaniolan Palm Crow from the combined Palm Crow.

The artistry is good, but with inconsistent styles between plates. The styles of the various illustrators are quite different. I find this slightly distracting. Plate 50 seems more like a mural for a wall or calendar versus the cleaner look of Plate 48 versus the cartoonish style of plate 34 versus a more meticulous plate 20 or 21. The two different Flat-billed Vireos (plates 38 and 43) look like two different species. Again, the plates are good and the accuracy of the field marks are well done; although, the sandpipers could use a bit more distinguishing detail and the beaks of the warblers appear too thin and pointed.

Many of the illustrations will look familiar because they are taken directly from the earlier work "Birds of the West Indies" by Raffaele et.al (1998). Two of the primary illustrators worked on both books.

The text is thorough, focusing on descriptions, similar species, and range. Given the high degree of speciation and subspecies in the surrounding islands, it would have been nice to see a little more - or even any -- reference given to the sister species only an island-hop away.

The range maps show good detail. The authors obviously tried to make the localized distributions show in these maps as denoted by splotchy shading representing altitudinal changes around the highlands.

If you're going to Haiti or to the Dominican Republic for birding, this is the only book you will require for a good trip.

I've listed several related books below...:

1) Aves Comunes de la República Dominicana by Latta/Fernandez

2) The birds of Haiti and the Dominican Republic) by Wetmore

3) The Birds of Hispaniola by Keith

4) Endangered and endemic birds of the Dominican Republic by Dod

5) Aves de la Republica Dominicana by Dod

6) Birds of the West Indies by Bond

7) Birds of the West Indies by Raffaele

8) A Guide to the Birds of the West Indies by Raffaele

9) Photographic Guide to Birds of the West Indies by Flieg

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Really good book, November 11, 2010

By 

Ricardo Miller "Maximus" (Jamaica) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Birds of the Dominican Republic and Haiti (Princeton Field Guides) (Hardcover)

Get the Hardcover version! It makes so much difference. The book is already fairly large and cannot be regarded as a pocket guide so you might as well get the extra protection from having a hardcover. The illustrations are really good but a few could have been better, for example the vireos, a couple of the warblers, a couple of flycatchers and a couple of doves and a few others. But overall this is an excellent field guide.

I chose the hardcover version as I do not expect to visit Hispaniola very often and so it would mostly be set on my bookshelf. The extra weight is therefore not important to me.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Glad we had it onour trip, May 7, 2010

By 

Peter C. Davis (Sanford, ME) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Birds of the Dominican Republic and Haiti (Princeton Field Guides) (Paperback)

Purchased this book to take on a weeklong trip to the Dominican Republic. I always like to find a good field guide when we go away and this book filled the bill. Some of the pictures are a bit inconsistent, but I doubt I could have found a better guide to bring along. It's great to be able to figure out what you're seeing. The section on the natural history of the DR is also very good. We went in early August and I would also recommend bringing a butterfly and dragonfly guide as well if you're going at that time of year. Would have liked to identify some of the beautiful flying insects we saw.