Birds of Mexico and Central America (Collins Field Guide) (Hardcover)

~ Ber van Perlo (Author)

Editorial Reviews

Review

Praise for Collins Illustrated Checklists by Ber van Perlo: 'Very easy to flick through and get a quick impression of what may be unfamiliar families'. Birdwatch magazine 'I found the illustrations and text to be skillfully produced and accurate!the ideal guide to take on your travels'. British Ornithologists Union

Product Description

The essential guide to identifying every species of bird you may see in this area, for tourists and wildlife enthusiasts. 'Birds of Mexico and Central America' is the only field guide to illustrate and describe every species of bird you may see in Central America from Mexico to Panama, including Belize, Guatemala, Honduras, El Salvador, Nicaragua and Costa Rica. / Features over 1,500 species / Text gives information on key identification features, habitat, and songs and calls / All plumages for each species are illustrated, including those of males, females and juveniles The 98 colour plates appear opposite their relevant text for quick and easy reference. Distribution maps are included, showing where each species can be found and how common it is, to further aid identification. This comprehensive and highly portable guide is a must for all birdwatchers visiting the region.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 336 pages
• Publisher: Collins (June 5, 2006)
• ISBN-10: 0007134908
• ISBN-13: 978-0007134908
• Product Dimensions: 7.6 x 5.1 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #1,181,604 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A great field companion in central america, April 13, 2009

By	Nolan D. Britt (Alexandria, VA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This is a very good guide for an area with an incredible array of species. Besides Costa Rica, none of the other Central American countries have a usable guide in the field so this could come in quite handy in Panama or Mexico for instance which have large, informative, but quite cumbersome guides of their own. This guide easily slips into your pocket and illustrates all the species you may see over a wide area. Range maps are also easy to reference based on the bird's number on a particular plate.

The illustrations in this guide are comparable to the Garrigues guide for Costa Rica, and in my opinion better than those in Stiles & Skutch- although they are smaller in this guide by Van Perlo and sometimes bunched up on the plate. The illustrations remind me a bit of the Sibley guide-sketchlike but proportionately very accurate.

I would give this five stars for fieldworthiness but way too many plates have birds whose names appear on a different page making it very hard to compare certain groups of birds. I don't know why they only went with 96 plates for this book when Birds of Western and Central Africa by the same company has 109 plates for fewer species.

This book contains the same material as the Princeton Illustrated Checklist for Birds of Mexico and Central America but has a nicer cover and cool glossy paper. If you are taking this book out of the home library and out into the field, I don't know if the glossy paper is a help or a hindrance :)

3 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Good, but room for improvement, May 9, 2007

By	ShutterFlash (Portsmouth, NH USA) - See all my reviews

We used this book in Central America and at times found it difficult to match the picture to the right bird. Larger pictures would improve the book. More descriptive information would also help.