Birds of Chile (Princeton Field Guides) (Paperback)

~ Alvaro Jaramillo (Author), Peter Burke (Illustrator), David Beadle (Illustrator)

Editorial Reviews

Review

'If you are going to Chile this is certainly the book to take.' Scottish Bird News (June 2004) 'This book fills a niche and will be a 'must have' for anyone visiting the region.' Wildfowl & Wetlands (Summer 2004) 'This guide is a must-have for birding in Chile! "Birds of Chile" is a most welcome addition to the well-known Helm Guides.' Ostrich 2004, 75 (1&2) ' The essential field guide to the birds of this spectacular and tourist-friendly country.' birdtours.co.uk (April 2004) 'The long awaited, pocket-sized "Birds of Chile" attains a particularly high standard among field guides "Birds of Chile" is an important addition to Neotropical and ocean ornithology.' Ibis (British Ornithologists' Union) 2004 --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Review

Rarely does a field guide of this caliber debut as its country's first. Birds of Chile offers not just perfect field-portability, beautiful and accurate artwork with facing text, and clarity and conciseness throughout: it presents genuinely new scholarship on the field identification of several cryptic and difficult groups, as well as on the modern geographic distribution of Chile's birds. Those who bird Chile will find the combined brilliance of Jaramillo, Burke, and Beadle indispensable in the field and by the fireside.
(Ned Brinkley, Editor, "North American Birds" )

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Product Details

• Paperback: 288 pages
• Publisher: Princeton University Press (November 3, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0691117403
• ISBN-13: 978-0691117409
• Product Dimensions: 8.2 x 5.6 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 11.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (12 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #74,889 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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  #3 in	Books > History > Americas > South America > Chile
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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Birds of Chile: a long time needed book, April 26, 2004

By	Humberto Cordero (Viña del Mar, Chile) - See all my reviews

Backcover statement for Jaramillo's "Birds of Chile" as the first bird fieldguide for the country is false: back to 1986 Araya and colleagues published "Guía de Campo de las Aves de Chile". But it was a quite simple work, all black & white drawings, succint descriptions, and almost nil encroachment with ID problems. So for practical purposes Jaramillo's guide is really the first reliable one for Chilean birders... and visiting foreigners as well.
Introductory chapters are excellent. Plate-facing descriptions are very good and don't fear tackle with the toughest ID puzzles. Distributional maps are the first critical for a lot of species (Thinocoridae, Oreopholus, Chilia, Phleocryopes,etc.). Plates include some masterpieces, e.g. Sheldgeese (plate #24), Treerunner (68), Hummingbirds II (62). A few (#11,#54) rank below average, and would deserve reassesment. Also some inevitable mishaps affect the book: the missing initial text for Juan Fernández Firecrown (page 150), wrong-written words ("Azúl", p.152) .... minor defects easy to amend in future editions.
No doubt Jaramillo's book inaugurates a new era in Chilean ornithology. That's why I give it five stars level.

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great and compact, August 16, 2004

By	Robert K. Furrer "Swissboy" (Sempach, Switzerland) - See all my reviews

The great void of high-quality field guides for South America is gradually shrinking. This book is undoubtedly most useful way beyond the boundaries of Chile. I wish I had had this book for my trip to southern Peru in 2000. The attempt to identify yellow-finches with the only field guide I had for that area (de la Peña and Rumboll) was an exercise in sheer frustration. The new book shows clear differences between the species. I can't judge the accuracy for most species, but this is a book that gives you confidence that the author and the illustrators got the vast majority right. As had been mentioned in earlier reviews, the quality of the plates is a bit variable, but they all seem at least usable, and the majority is downright excellent. The many flight pictures are particularly welcome. Sexual differences and even some geographical variations are clearly depicted as well. What a fine and compact guide book! And it is so affordable (at least here at Amazon!)that any traveller could really take a second copy along for local birders, as had been suggested.

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Mandatory Field Guide for Chile, June 3, 2004

By	KD (Southern Chile) - See all my reviews

This is a fantastic field guide. The plates are excellent and the descriptions detailed. I'm no expert birder, but with this guide I've been able to clearly ID far more birds than what was possible using Sharon Chester's guide (which is a great quick-start for spotting, but otherwise not detailed enough), or the Collins book "Birds of Southern South America" (which is good, but too expansive for focus solely on Chile). It is obvious that a lot of work has gone into "Birds of Chile", yet it is an infinitely user-friendly guide. Thanks to this book, I find I try to get out more to see what's around.

My only gripe with the book concerns its durability under wet conditions. Chile is a rainy country, and my copy suffered on a typical hike in the rain. That's a minor gripe, however, and I probably could have taken extra measures to protect it.

One side note: If you are planning a birding trip in Chile, it would be nice to bring an extra copy to leave behind for someone you meet here. Field guides are usually imported, very expensive, and hard to find. I haven't seen this one in the stores here yet, and I'm sure that many folks would be glad to receive a copy.