raymie
Well-known member
How up-to-date is it?
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Best bird guides by region...Central and South America (2 Viewers)
- Thread starter njlarsen
- Start date
I do not believe there is any available that are more up to date. But a few recent splits have happened since publication.
Niels
Dan Miller
Avicasual Birder
Published 2014. Some changes since then, but until there is another edition, it's about as good as you'll get. eBird is up to date for CR, so use the two in conjunction.
Which includes the app Merlin - use in explore mode if you do not have photos.
Niels
And there's Vallely and Dyer (2018) Central America guide. Smaller maps, but arguably better illustrations for difficult groups like Myiarchus, and it is (or was) a free pdf download. I have used successfully in CR, Panama.
Even this doesn't include all splits (and anyway you have to decide whether you agree with the split: all authors have to have their own, sometimes idiosyncratic, position)
CaliSteve
Living life in Paradise!
Field Guide to the Birds of Belize is just out. Field Guide to the Birds of Costa Rica by the same authors is due for publication in May.
Aim still hoping for the updated field guide to Mexico that Steve Howell was supposedly working on. I have not heard anything new about that one for a few years though.
Aim still hoping for the updated field guide to Mexico that Steve Howell was supposedly working on. I have not heard anything new about that one for a few years though.
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David Swain
Well-known member
Looking forward to the Dyer and Howell CR guide. Garrigues and Dean is good, but I don't see it going to a 3rd ed. now.
David Swain
Well-known member
I will be in Southern Brazil (Porto Alegre region) this August for an ornithology conference, and besides the relevant Merlin pack, there does not appear to be any printed guide that adequately covers this area. The WCS was scheduled to publish its 3rd volume on Southern Brazil, but it has not appeared. Would the 2nd volume, to the South-East Atlantic, adequately cover the interior highlands north of Porto Alegre (I will be in Gramado)?
There are a lot of endemics in this area, but it strikes me as hard to cover being wedged between Uruguay, Argentina, and the more bird-rich and tour-oriented areas to the north. Specific recommendations (that are not van Perlo) welcome.
There are a lot of endemics in this area, but it strikes me as hard to cover being wedged between Uruguay, Argentina, and the more bird-rich and tour-oriented areas to the north. Specific recommendations (that are not van Perlo) welcome.
I have not been to Brazil, but looking at the field guides on my shelf, I would probably bring the Atlantic forest volume you mention as no 1 (the one to be brought into the field) but also bring the van Perlo book and the Argentina FG - the latter two would stay in the suitcase but could be consulted later when in the room. Alternatively, bring only one FG and use a camera to capture as many species as possible (and especially those not immediately recognized).
Niels
Niels
Van Perlo has outdone himself with the Brazil FG, so I think his book should be most helpful, together with the WCS volume for the SE.
There is also a more compact book by Tomas Sigrist, published by avisbrasilis: Guia de Campo Aves do Brasil Oriental /Birds of Eastern Brazil. It works mostly with symbols, thus there is virtually no text, except for names and family descriptions. This allows it to be bilingual yet still compact. But the illustrations and distribution maps should be helpful.
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David Swain
Well-known member
Thanks for your recommendations! Sigrist is out of print, so I'll go with the WCS SE volume.
dalat
...
I got this for my Costa Rica trip, from which I'm just back. It's a great book and was a good complement to my 1st edition Garrigues. The most obvious advantage for me of the Dyer/Howell were the range maps, as the ones in the Garrigues have no color codes (but I believe the 2nd edition does correct this). Besides that I can't say which is better.
Both are fine books, the Garrigues is more compact and has great concise ID text. The Dyer/Howell is still compact enough for field use, but has some more details (I especially liked the short indication of the global distribution).
As for the drawings, both are of different style (particularly noticeable in the hummingbirds) but I like both. It's great to have two different drawings to look at, especially for tricky IDs.
I planned to use the Garrigues in the field and keep the bigger Dyer/Hower in the room, but I ended up to leave both in the room and use the Merlin app outside. I used it for for the first time in the field and was surprised how good it is, especially the sound ID.
raymie
Well-known member
The Sound ID works well in Costa Rica? If so that's really helpful to know.
Well for the species which also occur in the US (a large percentage).
dalat
...
Yes, it helped me to find quite a few species. But I'm pretty new to the region. To more advanced people it may be of less added help.
It works not only for US birds but also worked well e.g. for some Antbirds and Antshrikes. But I noticed that for birds with more limited range (e.g. in the Talamanca mountains) it did often not work.
If you used the recording option in Merlin, then you might have material that could help make it better. Upload those in eBird lists.
Niels
Personal opinion: for complete coverage, the old Howell and Webb is still the best. If you don't care about the relatively few endemics from the northern end of Yucatan, then you could get away with either the Fagan and Komar guide to northern CA or this one : Birds of Belize (I have no experience with the second of these, but have used Fagan and Komar in the southern end of Mexican Yucatan with good results).
No matter which one, don't overlook taking a phone with the merlin app and the appropriate bird pack. In Explore mode it is like having a photo guide with multiple images per species.
Niels
No matter which one, don't overlook taking a phone with the merlin app and the appropriate bird pack. In Explore mode it is like having a photo guide with multiple images per species.
Niels
Merlin is good for the Yucatan, but there are strangely a few species missing on it.
James Lowther
Well-known member
Birds of Belize is basically fine for the Yucatan, there’s about 10 (?) species missing including several endemics but as these will presumably be the main targets it shouldn’t be too hard to learn them separately
Cheers
James
Cheers
James
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