Customer Reviews

A Field Guide to the Birds of the West Indies (Peterson Field Guide)

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

 

 

I am sadly disappointed by this book. The plates are sporadically placed throughout the book, and some species of birds are not illustrated. For example, what does a Greater Antillean Grackle look like? There is a brief description in the text, but will I be able to differentiate between it and a Great-tailed Grackle?
There are no distribution maps either, so I have to rely on checklists printed from my Thayer's Birder's Diary program to determine which species to expect in, say, the Cayman Islands.
I will be field testing this guide in May 2002 and may have a better feel for the usefulness, or lack thereof, of this book. Meanwhile, studying the birds prior to my trip is a bit cumbersome due to the design of this book. In any event, would recommend a North American supplement for any trip to the region.

You will find the Ornithologist James Bond's old employer, Philadelphia's Academy of Natural Sciences does not sell copies of this book. They will sell you Herbert Raffaele's updated version of this book instead.

Why?

Because, it is at least from the 1930. it contains information which is seriously dated. Not to mention that the pictures are mostly in black and white with only about 10 colour plates. The pictures that are contained in the volume are not very representative of the birds you will encounter.

This book is acceptable if you intend on bird watching on your caribbean holiday, but we spent much of our time guessing if we were really looking at a bird. Yes, you can take a book of Eastern US birds with you, but do you want to take a birdwatching library with you on your holiday? Not to mention there are birds which will not show up in a US Bird book (e.g., bananaquit and parrots).

You will notice that the most effusive reviews of this book come from fans of Ian Fleming's 007, not bird watchers. That is because this book is much more a piece of 007 trivia than useful to modern bird watchers.

The story of How Ian Fleming's agent was named was that Fleming was at Goldeneye, his Jamaican house, and needed a name for the protagonist of his spy novel. Fleming wanted a plain name and his eye came upon his copy of James Bond's "Birds of the West Indies", which Fleming described as his bible. Fleming thought that James Bond would be the perfect name for his spy (No, Audobon would not have been a possibility). Mr. Fleming paid the ornithologist a dollar a year for the privilege of using the name James Bond in his novels.

Serious bird watchers are better served buying Herbert Raffaele's updated version of this book or James Kavanagh's "Caribbean Birds".

You could also be sentimental and want this because it was what you used when you were young during the period that this version of "Birds of the West Indies" was the only show in town.

In case you haven't guessed, I am both a bird watcher and James Bond fan who owns two copies of this book. Consider this review with that in mind.

Unless one is collecting Peterson Field Guides, I do not recommend this book. Its organization is dated. Color plates are segregated from the bird descriptions. Many of the descriptions are accompanied by a black and white sketch. Some of the birds described lack any sketch or color plate. The book does not contain distribution maps. Redeeming aspects of the book are (1) it is small in size and (2) it includes a comprehensive list of species in the area with a written text for each.

When I ordered this guide, I was expecting a format that was similar to the other Petersen bird guides. Unfortunately, this book is nowhere near as well organized. The plates are small, the artwork is not as good, and not all the species are illustrated. The text was also rather thin in life history information. If you are traveling to the Caribbean in winter and aren't up to speed on North American migratory singbirds, you will need to take an Eastern U.S. bird guide with you as well, as the numerous migrants that comprise the wintertime fauna are merely mentioned. I managed to identify most birds that I saw while using this guide, but it was a frustrating process.

THE field guide to West Indian birds, a must-have for birders travelling in the Carribean, Northeast coast of South America, or the Bahamas. This book has only gotten better since being taken over by those wonderful folks at Peterson, and it was fine before that. Make sure you have this with you when you hit the airport, but consider taking along a North American guidebook, as well, and be aware that a few of the names vary from one book to another.

Yea, The book could definently use some improvements, but overall the pictures did depict the birds pretty well. The only species illustrated {in color} are those endemic ONLY to the Carib islands. Any birds that are seen in the continental US are only given black and white drawings, and small descriptions. So a field guide and familiarity to eastern migratory birds are a plus! I am VERY dissapointed with the quality of the pages in the book. After a week in the Islands, mine looks worse than any of my regular guides! Bring a water-proof sleeve or something, because it's going to get wet! Not a bad book though, I had a lot of fun, and pretty much every bird you see tends to be a new species! Have fun!

I used this guide on a trip to St.Marteen, Grand Turk and St.Thomas and found it to be excellent. It is a great buy for the money it cost.

This is a must have for any James Bond afficionado. I couldn't testify as to it's usefullness in the field. Arrived promptly and in excellent condition.

Hard core 007 afficianados will notice a pile of 007 in-jokes that are scattered throught the latest Bond film, "Die Another Day". Among them: While in a Cuban office, Pierce Brosnan casually picks up a first edition of this book, which, as others have noted, is where Ian Fleming came up with 007's name. Better than available alternatives I suppose ("My name is Audobon - - John James Audobon..."

I've never actually read this book, but I just found out that Ian Fleming got the name from the author of this book, so I decided to look it up and share it with all of you ornotholgists. Bye!