Birds of Southern South America and Antarctica.

South America, though home to about one-third of the world's bird species and twice as many endemic families of birds as any other continent, has the world's sparsest population of birdwatchers. Birds of Southern South America and Antarctica illustrates and describes all the known species--more than 1,000 of them--in a vast swath of this underexplored birder's paradise, from Argentina, Chile, Bolivia, Paraguay, southern Brazil, and Uruguay to parts of Antarctica. Just some of the birds it covers are teals, tinamous, chachalacas, conebills, cuckoos, macaws, parakeets, parrots, penguins, nightjars, hummingbirds, ovenbirds, tyrants, and tanagers. The habitats range from torrid rainforests and cloudforests to grasslands, the world's driest desert, second highest mountain range, and ice caps.

The 97 color plates depict each species' male in breeding plumage, with the female and young often shown as well. On the facing page are concise textual descriptions of each species, highlighting not only salient physical features and behavioral patterns but the calls or songs of each. Casual birders and ornithologists contemplating a journey to the region, or simply interested in a one-volume overview of its bird life, will not want to miss this book.

Customer Reviews:

Could be a lot better...

Since there are few complete pocket guides for South America I though that this was worth a chance. However, there are areas for improvement- many of the illustrations are strangely proportioned- heads are too big or too small, bodies elongated or squat, and so forth. The poor use of space on the plates is surprising for a book produced by Princeton. To top in all off the maps are all in the back of the book, meaning that you are constantly flipping back and forth. I ordered this with "Birds of South America" by Erize et al., which is of a similar format and also published by Princeton. No problems with that book at all...but too bad I can't recommend this one...

2008-03-29

Second best for Chilean Patagonia

I took this book and also Birds of Chile by Alvaro Jaramillo with me to Chilean Patagonia. I found the Jaramillo book better. The bird names are on the plates by the illustration whereas in Birds of Southern South America many more species needed to be illustrated so they are numbered on the plates. Also, Birds of Chile puts the range maps opposite the plates, and in full color. Birds of Southern South America puts the colorless maps at the back of the book. Still, it's a good field guide, but covers a broader area than I needed for Chilean Patagonia and its deficiencies are traceable to the need to include more species.

2008-01-03

Good companion in the field

I've seen this book used by field guides in the Pantanal in both places I was visiting. I noticed how fast they were finding the information they needed during our trips. I found it very comprehensive and even if I might not have the chance to return to Brazilia I bought it as a reference for my photos taken there and also to learn more about birds. Although I've seen some comments about the accuracy of some pictures I recommend it because of its rich content well organized in a small size book which can be used effectively on the field.

2007-12-24

Weak

I don't believe there is a good choice at this time. We are headed to Brazil on a birding trip soon. Of about 720 birds that we might reasonably see in the areas we are to visit according to various compiled trip reports, this book only covered 60%. In addition, the pictures on the facing page from the text, were in almost random order. I used the Clements book on Peru to fill in 3/4 of the missing birds.

2007-08-09

Consider an alternative guide!!

This guide book covers a wide range of habitats: from the jungle tropics to the southern tip of the continent and even Antactica. If you are going to be traveling widely, this guide might well be your best bet. The illustrations are good and the descriptions on the facing page are quite useful. The major drawback is that the distribution maps are at the back and that's annoying. (Once you've found an illustration that seems to identify the bird you're seeing, you need to note both the plate and illustration number before heading back to the range maps to see if it's likely to be found in your present location. All too often I found that wasn't the case!)

If you're going to do your birdwatching in or near the mountains or along the southern coast, I'd suggest that you carefully consider, instead, Birds of Chile by Jaramillo et al, a Princeton Guide. It's a superb field guide with many illustrations of the birds in flight, as well as sitting still; its descriptions are excellent and the range maps are on the facing page. I bought a copy of it on my return from Patagonia and it's definitely the guide I'll take next time -- not only to Chile, but to southern Argentina, as well!

2007-02-25