A Birder's West Indies: An Island-by-Island Tour (Corrie Herring Hooks Series) (Paperback)

by Roland H. Wauer (Author), Mimi Hoppe Wolf (Illustrator), Paul Butler (Afterword), Bradford C. Northrup (Foreword)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description
The West Indies offer so much more than sun, sand, and shopping. This sweeping arc of islands, which runs from Cuba to Grenada and includes the Virgin Islands, teems with a rich diversity of plant and animal life. Up to 40 percent of the plants in some forests are found nowhere else on earth, while the West Indian flyway is a critical link in the migratory routes of many birds. In A Birder's West Indies, Roland Wauer takes you on an island-by-island journey of discovery. He describes the unique natural features of each island and recounts his often fascinating experiences in seeking out the nearly 400 species of birds known in the West Indies. His accounts give insight into the birds' habitats, status, and ecology and record some of the threats posed by human activities. For readers planning trips to the West Indies, Wauer also includes helpful, up-to-date facts about the best times to travel, the kinds of entry and customs systems to expect, the money exchange services available, and general information about weather, food, and accommodations. Filling a unique niche among current guides, A Birder's West Indies offers both professional ornithologists and avocational bird watchers a chance to compare notes and experiences with an expert observer. And for readers who haven't yet visited the islands, Wauer's fluid prose and lovely color photographs will be the next-best thing to being there--and an irresistible invitation to go.

Product Details

• Paperback: 270 pages
• Publisher: University of Texas Press (1996)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0292791011
• ISBN-13: 978-0292791015
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #880,667 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Just like being there (but without the map), February 15, 2007

By	Brian Allen "neotropical birding" (Manistee, MI USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Readers that have read Roland Wauer's "A Birders Mexico" will enjoy this guide to all the islands of the Caribbean. This book is primarily aimed for birders and nature or eco-tourists. It is a joy to read and after getting it out again this morning to review it during breakfast I was almost late for work as it was hard to put down. It was also very difficult to make the transition from his discription of the Island of Monteserrat to my driving in the snowy cold morning to work.

This 238 page book is packed from cover to cover with information on the birds, forests, plants, and history of the Caribbean Islands with photographs and excellent pen and ink drawing of endemic island birds by Mimi Wolf. There is a checklist of 161 Island bird species in the first section of the book and an excellent list of references in the back. There is a chapter devoted to each island. Wauer walks you around the best natural areas of the islands recounting his personal visits there and the sights he encountered with his keen observation skills and rich knowledge of natural history. If you are a birder, or ecotourist this book will give you very convincing reasons to plan a trip and if you have already bought the tickets it will rachet up your excitement over it.

The only shortcoming of this book is the lack of maps or specific instructions to the parks and reserves mentioned in the book. A good compliment to this book would be Wheatly and Brewer's "Where to Watch Birds in Central America, Mexico and the Caribbean" which has all the specific lists, maps and directions you would need. If you don't get this book (A Birder's West Indies) you will though miss out on a more literary and rich reading experience of the islands.