Birds of Costa Rica
Birds of Costa Rica by Richard Garrigues & Robert Dean Helm 2007 ISBN 9780713683691 £19.99
What do you need in a fieldguide? Simple question which probably has as many answers as there are birders. I know what this travelling birder wants; Clear illustrations which show all the diagnostic features, clear distribution maps so you have a clue as to what you might see given your location and simple text that tells you what you need to know to identify a bird… such as what other bird you might confuse it with and where you are likely to find it such as up a forest tree or at the edge of a mountain stream and so forth.
I do not need the pictures to be the most beautiful ever painted, nor do I need to have every alternate name, the colour of the birds eggs nor every type of invertebrate that they can eat, unless it helps me find one.
This book is, in my terms, just about ideal. Its simple, the pictures are big enough to know what you are looking for and the succinct text concentrates on identification and the maps are accurate without being fussy. I am sure that I could look up candidates quickly and at least narrow it down enough to know what to read up in my reference books if I am left in doubt. Should I ever get to Costa Rica this book would be my constant companion.
Fatbirder
Buy this book from www.nhbs.com
Created: 20th Nov 2007
