Birds of Peru (Princeton Field Guides) | Thomas S. Schulenberg, Douglas F. Stotz, ...

Birds of Peru (Princeton Field Guides) | Thomas S. Schulenberg, Douglas F. Stotz, ... | A splendid book

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Birds of Peru (Pri...

	Birds of Peru (Princeton Field Guides) Thomas S. Schulenberg, Douglas F. Stotz, ... Princeton University Press, 2007 - 656 pages average customer review:based on 25 reviews view larger image
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highly recommended

A Peruvian bird guide and illustrations worth waiting for

Despite having birded in Peru eight years ago, I've been waiting since then for this book to come out...and it's wonderful. Frankly, you could buy it for the quality of its bird illustrations by Larry McQueen alone--they are simply fantastic, and put him at or very near the top of all bird illustrators now working, which is saying a lot but still very true--he has the "quick" and nuances of how various kinds of birds appear down pat. His many plates here on the awesomely varied types of antbirds alone are worth the purchase price.

So, for anyone planning a birding trip to Peru, or any nearby country for that matter...don't delay in getting this book and beginning to study it well in advance. I wish I'd had that advice, but there was no guide like this for Peru yet available; although a good one by Hilty and Brown with fine illustrations by Guy Tudor was available for nearby Columbia.

The bird fauna of Peru is astoundingly diverse and beautiful, like almost nowhere else in the world that I've visited...and that includes Bhutan, Central America and Africa. But this book--with its superb illustrations and clear, concise organization and writing--has finally done it justice. And...despite its heft, it's adequately portable for practical use in the field.

About the only criticism that seems important to offer is that it would have (and could have) been even more useful if an abbreviated "Quick Index" such as those found in the Sibley bird guides had been included, to aid in more rapid searching in the book while out in the field...among the bewilderingly abundant and varied bird families and genera found in Peru. But a very, very good and useful contribution all the same...that will certainly stand the test of time.

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A splendid book

I have many other international birding guides but this is one of the best I have ever seen. In particular, the layout is ideal - illustrations and text on facing pages, including a small range map for each species. All other pertinent information is included - common & scientific names, size, abundance (endemics are marked), habitat, distinctness from similar species and voice descriptions. Illustrations appear uniformly excellent (I'm judging by North American species, as I have yet to visit Peru). Both sexual dimorphics & variant forms are included. Production quality is superb - sturdy binding (hard cover) and acid-free paper. The only caveat I could make is that the volume is a little heavy for the field, but there are 1800-odd bird species in this country! Hopefully the book will encourage more birders to visit Peru & therby help in preservation of its incredible avifauna.

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Birds of Peru

Splendid. A labor of love and it shows. Hard cover, backpack rather than pocket size. The book is bigger than the usual field guide to accommodate the relatively large pictures.
A new and comprehensive guide, covering all the birds in Peru, the most bird species rich country in the world. Excellent pictures, including females and juveniles as needed, plus small distribution maps. Habitat, behavior and vocalizations provided in the compact text facing the plates.

The guide does presuppose some basic knowledge of Peru, its geography and of peruvian bird genuses.
There is no introductory summary of the various groups of birds found in the country. Hence the first time user, lacking a conceptual framework, which in fact is that given by the taxonomy professionals, is somewhat overwhelmed by the sheer number of birds. Also, there is no specific designation of field marks such as are in some guides, although the text aims to clarify the distinctions between confusing species.
So this guide is likely to become a treasured adjunct to review the days species for the novice while it serves as a yardstick of achievement for the more serious listers

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Birds of Peru (Princeton Field Guides)

Overall this is a great book of the birds of Peru.Great maps,Ids. discriptions. Unfortunatly, it is not field friendly and if you take it with you to the rainforest it will not survive.

Birds of Peru

Much improved over the earlier edition. Illustsrations well presented. Unlike some other South and Central American field guides, this one has plates throughout the book (in the National Geogrphic Field Guide to Birds of North America format) rather than concentrated in a small portion of the book. Thus, users cannot remove the plates and take only the smaller (and less weighty) section into the field. Given that there is no real alternative to a thorough guide, however, we go with the flow.

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reviews: 1, 2, 3, page 4, 5

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