Birds of Northern South America (Paperback)

This work is noteworthy for many reasons and chief among these is the fact that the plates depict juveniles, females, and virtually all visually distinct subspecies for each of the over 2300 species within the range of the book. This book covers all species known from Ecuador, Colombia, Venezuela, Guyana, Suriname, French Guiana, Trinidad and Tobago, Aruba, Curacao, and Bonaire. I know of no other regional guide with such complete coverage of plumage variation. For example, there are 18 depictions of Bananaquit alone. As one might expect the coverage of such groups as gulls and shorebirds is not as extensive as books dedicated thereto, but coverage is as complete on tanagers as the Islers’ The Tanagers, on woodpeckers as Winkler, Christie, and Nurney’s Woodpeckers and nearly as complete as Dunn and Garrett’s Warblers on wood warblers. Overall there are over 6300 illustrations. Each volume is the same height and width as Ridgely and Greenfield’s The Birds of Ecuador. Volume 1 is about 90% as thick as the field guide portion of that work. It contains the species accounts and includes sections on identification, lists each subspecies and its range with differences from the described subspecies, habits, status, habitat, voice, and notes where appropriate. It does contain informative line drawings but no plates. Volume 2 is about 70% as thick as R&G and contains all the plates and range maps. The range maps are somewhat small and finely detailed so for those who have reached the reading glasses stage you’ll probably need to keep them handy. The maps also show the approximate ranges of the applicable subspecies. Below each map is the size of the bird, and coding for its altitudinal range, status (resident, etc.), abundance, threat status, and the page in Vol. 1 where one finds that species’ account. The plates themselves are liberally annotated with helpful hints. The books are called “An Identification Guide” and the author states that it is “primarily intended to be a visual guide” and “was never intended as a field guide.” I believe however that Volume 2 will be used in the field by many and will prove to be extremely useful there. For those interested in the bird life of this fascinating area Birds of Northern South America is more than worthy of their consideration.
 
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