 | Summaries and Customer Reviews are supplied by Amazon.com | "Graced with bounteous natural beauty, a stable democratic government, and friendly citizens, Costa Rica has become a popular destination for travelers from all over the world. Birds play a prominent role in attracting visitors, too. The shimmering quetzals, gaudy macaws, and comical toucans only begin to hint at the impressive avian diversity to be found throughout this small country."--from the Introduction This is the one field guide the novice or experienced birder needs to identify birds in the field in the diverse habitats found in Costa Rica. It features descriptions and illustrations of more than 820 resident and neotropical migrant species found in Costa Rica, all in a compact, portable, user-friendly design. The detailed full-color illustrations show identifying features--including plumage differences among males, females, and juveniles--and views of birds in flight wherever pertinent. Additional features of this all-new guide include: o 166 original color plates depicting more than 820 species. o Concise text that describes key field marks for positive identification, as well as habitat, behavior, and vocalizations. o Range maps and texts arranged on opposing pages from illustrations for quick, easy reference. o The most up-to-date bird list for Costa Rica. o A visual guide to the anatomical features of birds with accompanying explanatory text. o Quick reference to vultures and raptors in flight. |
Average Customer Rating:   David W. Ideal for bird identification, without too much detail. Small size of guide makes for easy carry in the field. Lots of emphasis on comparison to similar species and how to differentiate. Costa Rica Birds
Really glad I took it. as I was the only one with a bird book. And there were many new ones as well as a great time sharing with other travelers.
Solid, compact guide necessary for birding the country Basics: softcover, 163 color plates show all 820+ species of Costa Rica, short paragraph focuses on identification; range map for each bird
This is the smallest of the three books to cover all the Costa Rican birds. This smaller size makes it a true field guide. Fortunately, its size does not sacrifice the necessary contents to identify all of the country's birds. As equally important, the size of the illustrations have not been sacrificed. These are equal to, if not larger, than the illustrations found in the two other bigger books.
All 820+ species of birds, including migrants and vagrants, are illustrated quite well. The text describing the birds may seem to be a bit scant at first, but the authors do a good job at relaying the salient points necessary for identification. Nearly all of the short paragraph is dedicated to the description of the bird. While most of the birds have their vocalizations notes, these descriptions can often be too brief. There is almost no mention of habitat or behavior; thus, truly making it a focused identification guide. For birders who may want additional natural history or behavioral information on the birds, the Birds of Costa Rica by Stiles/Skutch would make an excellent companion to this guide.
The range maps are 2 x 2cm and do a decent job at depicting the ranges of the birds despite the map's necessary small size. The ranges are shown with a single color which represents the birds' breeding and/or wintering grounds. These simple maps do not note any geographic points (e.g., city, park, mountain ranges), so it might be helpful to become acquainted with a map of Costa Rica to get a feel for the terrain of the country to help discern where the mountain ranges are located.
Many of the species are illustrated with multiple drawings. This occurs where there is notable plumage variations between genders, ages, or subspecies. As for the artistry itself, I am pleased. I consider the artwork to be better than the Birds of Panama book by Ridgely/Gwynne and a tiny bit better than Stiles/Skutch. Key identification points are illustrated quite well. The only negative aspect to me is the sharpness -- or lack of -- with the brightness or intensity of the colors. Most of the birds, especially the hummingbirds, seem to be faintly washed out; or, slightly "overexposed". It seems the grays, blacks, and rufous colors suffer the most. I suspect this is an artifact of the printing and not the original art work.
This is a great book to take to Costa Rica. If you can manage to take the larger Stiles/Skutch book as well, you'll have everything you need for the country. If you take only one book and identification is your primary purpose, take this smaller book. Again, I consider the illustrations to be a touch better than the Stiles book; and, there are a greater variety of plumages depicted here. I have the same comments about the Birds of Panama Book by Ridgely. Although the Panama book covers all Costa Rican birds, the plates are not as good and the book is certainly bulkier. However, I must admit the text is better, which is also true for Stiles. - (written by Jack at Avian Review / Avian Books, August 2008)
I've listed several related books below...
1) A Guide to the Birds of Costa Rica by Stiles/Skutch
2) A Guide to the Birds of Panama by Ridgely/Gwynne
3) Photographic Guide to the Birds of Costa Rica by Fogden
4) Birds of Costa Rica: A Field Guide by Henderson
5) Aves De Costa Rica by Skutch
6) Field Guide to the Wildlife of Costa Rica by Henderson
7) Hummingbirds of Costa Rica by Fogden
8) An Illustrated Field Guide to the Birds of Costa Rica by Soto A good field guide This is an excellent field guide. The pictures and descriptions of the birds are very clear, even for someone like myself who is not a regular birder. However, I will say that this is a FIELD guide, meant to be small and portable, and thus does not have detailed information about life history traits of birds. This book is best for people who travel regularly to Costa Rica and want a small, portable identification guide. Great CR bird guide saves the trip This is a superb guide, written by people who know these birds, with just the right amount of really useful info to help you sort them out as you stand there in the forest or the garden.
This book is in the new wave of field guides with very good paintings and concise, thoughtful descriptions. And it's compact and durable!
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