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| Birds of Peru (Princeton Field Guides) | 
| Authors: Thomas S. Schulenberg, Douglas F. Stotz, Daniel F. Lane, John P. O'neill, Theodore P., Iii Parker
Creator: Antonio Brack Egg
Publisher: Princeton University Press
Category: Book
List Price: $49.50
Buy New: $31.04
You Save: $18.46 (37%)
New (24) from $31.04
Avg. Customer Rating:  20 reviews
Sales Rank: 97394
Media: Hardcover
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 656
Shipping Weight (lbs): 3
Dimensions (in): 8.4 x 6 x 1.7
ISBN: 0691049157
Dewey Decimal Number: 598.0985
EAN: 9780691049151
ASIN: 0691049157
Publication Date: October 15, 2007
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Condition: Brand New, Perfect Condition, Please allow 4-14 business days for delivery. 100% Money Back Guarantee, Over 1,000,000 customers served.
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| Customer Reviews:
| Showing reviews 16-20 of 20 | | « PREV | | |
 Helluva an improvement November 19, 2007
3 out of 3 found this review helpful
This is a more or less a must-have for neotropical field ornithologists. The layout is fantastic, with plates alongside the species descriptions and maps, and plates organized within taxonomy by field marks. Following a similar philosophy, there's just one index with both Latin and English names. It's really not that heavy.
Improvements I'd like to have seen: a references section, so that I could see whether or not the authors looked at certain resources to determine distributional records; more detail on species/subspecies histories/breakdown (for example, where's the Loja Tyrannulet, and where does it fit into the Zimmerius genus nowadays? Presumably as the flavidifrons subspecies of Z. viridiflavus, but I just don't know); a few species have changed genera without explanation, e.g. the Band-tailed Pigeon (formerly Columba fasciata, now Patagioenas fasciata). So there's been some taxonomical rearranging; well and good, but to follow it, once again a references section is necessary. Following Latin name changes is especially important when you're working with Peruvians who don't speak English, or with documents/recordings that only have Latin labels. Not to mention that it's hard on Spanish speakers who want to use the guide. Most illustrations are great but different artistic styles can be jarring.
My favorite guide to birds in Peru is still Birds of the High Andes, but it's got a limited species selection and can't be got for less than $150 these days.
 Exceptional Field Guide November 16, 2007
6 out of 6 found this review helpful
This book is a superb field guide. Unlike a number of other field guides or "illustrated checklists", the text diligently focuses on separating similar species from each other. There are good vocal descriptions too. In the introduction the authors state what taxonomy (checklist) they follow. Otherwise the species accounts are devoid of discussions justifying their taxonomic choices, thereby saving space for the business at hand. Occasionally they point out where this or that form may in fact be a separate species. These examples are typically illustrated as well. The editing is excellent - I've found a few very trivial errors (or confusing statements) so far.
The format is map/text with illustrations on the facing page. Each spread is introduced with a brief overview of the species described and depicted. There is a lot of useful information in these introductions. The type is pretty small but the font is easy enough to read. Most species get a range map. The maps are legible, clear, and easy to figure out - once one is even vaguely familiar with Peruvian geography.
The figures on any given plate usually face the same direction, thus facilitating comparisons. The poses tend to be lively. Overall the illustrations are simply outstanding. A few are perhaps a little weaker in the drawing but even these are beautifully painted and otherwise seem very accurate. The painterly style of the chief illustrator may be unappealing to some but don't mistake style for lack of substance. Those unfamiliar with American bird families can be assured that these birds are mostly very accurately characterized in terms of posture, shape, proportions, "facial expression" and so on. In fact you won't find better Tyrant flycatcher, antbird, or ovenbird (and the list goes on and on) illustrations in any other publication I'm aware of - just as good perhaps but not better. If I may single him out from his impressive colleagues, Lawrence McQueen, the main illustrator of this book belongs on any short list of the world's very best working bird illustrators. There is a rightness and justness to his drawing that knowledgeable birders will instantly recognize.
This book is also about as compact as it can be and still cover 1800 species. It is comparable in size and weight to Stevenson and Fanshawe's Birds of East Africa (the hardcover edition), and like Robson's Southeast Asia Guide or Rasmussen and Anderton's Birds of South Asia Volume 1, the Birds of Peru will hopefully show future field guide authors/designers just how compact a book that covers such a huge avifauna can be. Yes it's larger and heavier than your National Geographic or Collins Guide but it's not a behemoth like a number of guides of recent years (especially the unabridged hardcover versions).
Finally the uninitiated should not confuse this book with A Field Guide to the Birds of Peru by Clements and Shany. That book, like the one considered here, also has a black spine and front cover with a lovely painting on it. The Clements and Shany guide, which is not without merit, is nonetheless plagued by disorganized plates and poor editing among other things.
This new guide to the Birds of Peru is now one of the very best bird guides available. It will inspire the user with confidence in making headway with difficult groups like tyrants and the rest. The authors and illustrators deserve a big thank-you from the birding community for this excellent book.
Finally, the field guide Peru deserves November 4, 2007
9 out of 9 found this review helpful
Birds of Peru is a long awaited and overdue contribution to neotropical ornithology. That said, this volume was worth the wait. The book is very well laid out, with descriptions and plates on facing pages. There are range maps for each species and species descriptions are at once concise and very thorough, including altitudinal range, habitat preferences, abundances, and even songs and vocalizations. Even with all this information, this volume is very compact compared to books for other countries, such as Ecuador or Venezuela. An added bonus is the hardcover binding, which is certainly worth the extra weight since paperback field guides get dog-eared and ragged very quickly if you actually take them out in the field for any length of time.
In comparison to the Clements field guide to the birds of Peru, this new book is superior in almost every respect. Perhaps most notably, the quality of the artwork in this book is far more consistent than in the Clements book, which has several plates that are similar to what my toddler can do with his crayons. Also helpful is the fact that the birds on each plate are shown with accurate relative sizes, which makes size comparisons more obvious and intuitive without having to refer to the text. Overall, the quality of this book easily surpasses that of the previously published Clements field guide, which looks sloppy, rushed, and unprofessional by comparison. This book compares favorably with other classic neotropical field guides such as those for Columbia and Ecuador, but with the added advantage that this field guide can actually to out with you into the field without breaking your back! An excellent work - I can find no faults with it. I suppose my old Clements field guide will have to live out its days propping up my air conditioner.
A Nearly Perfect Field Guide for Peruvian Birds October 31, 2007
21 out of 22 found this review helpful
This is an excellent, rich guide to the identification of Peruvian Birds. You can tell as you look over the book that an incredible amount of research and time went into it and the authors do say that it had its beginnings as early as 1961! I also liked to see that the late great field ornithologist Theodore Parker was included as an author.
If I could, I would give this guide a 4.9 star rating as I feel there are only a few minor problems with it. With the vast number of species that have to be illustrated, described, and mapped it is almost impossible to make a field guide for most South American countries field worthy. This book is just a little too large and a bit heavy for the field. It is hardcover and a paperpack edition might be a bit lighter. I wish the illustrators could have been a bit more efficient in their use of space and condensed the plates slightly. For example on the Pigeons and Doves the Rock Dove, a species we are all familiar with takes up over 1/3 of a page while other species such as some difficult to id woodcreepers are limited to a much smaller area.
That said the book overall is excellent. I was relieved to see that all the species illustrated on the plates have species accounts on the opposite page with a map of their range. The species accounts are clear, concise and include information on altitude range, habitat,separation from similar species, population status, and additional identification notes. Most of the range maps are easy to use but I found some confusing as birds with small limited ranges are depicted only in a few provinces without reference to the country as a whole.
Most of the illustations are excellent but they do vary in quality as there are several illustrators for the book. I find that I prefer the plates in the Clements Field Guide to the Birds of Peru (not currently available on amazon.com) somewhat over those of this book but in general if I could only have one book it would be this one for ease of use and accessibility to the information on range and distribution.
Also for a much more detailed (and better) review see Frank Lambert's review of this guide in WorldTwitch at http://www.worldtwitch.com/birds_of_peru_review_lambert.htm
A superb field guide October 28, 2007
10 out of 11 found this review helpful
There are very few bird field guides of this quality. The arrangement and set-up are excellent, if a bit limited because of space. The illustrations (by many top field guide artists) and maps are generally first-rate and it covers one of the most amazing single-country areas of avifauna in existence and thoroughly. One of the best bird field guides in years!
Additionally, at Amazon's discounted price it's "a steal." Don't miss it!
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