Customer Reviews

Chasing Neotropical Birds (Corrie Herring Hooks Series)

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Great pictures and what I like are the ones of unusual species such as Rufous-vented Ground Cuckoo and Spotted Antbird rather than the typical easily photographed Egrets and Herons.

The text is interesting also with travel tales from Honduras to Brazil and many of the best birding lodges, parks and locations in between. The authors include a general map of all the locations mentioned. Most of the book repeats the tales of the authors as they chase individual birds and the ordeals they encounter as they try to obtain quality photographs of some of the most elusive and sought out birds of the tropical Americas. Their pursuit requires hours of situating themselves in the birds habitat and provides a different perspective and experience than what many naturalists experience as they explore these same forests with less time to linger.

I had hoped that there would have been more images of places visited but the photos are all bird portraits, which feels somewhat limited. For example in one chapter there is a scene where they encounter a live Bushmaster, one of the most venomous snakes in the world, crossing the road. The snake is spectacular, 7 feet long and stops traffic. The terrified people make for an interesting scene but as it is not a bird there is no picture, sorry herpetologists!

I was surprised in one instance when the authors made light of evolution and seemed to support creationism when they discussed the improbability of the brilliantly colored bill of the Keel-billed Toucan as a product of "the ponderous steps of evolution rather than the hand of the creator".

A fine book of bird images and the travel accounts to find them, enough for me but perhaps not for anyone that does not find enjoyment in this subject.