Book, Binocular and Clothing Reviews - Birds of Machu Picchu

– Field Guide to the Birds of Machu Picchu and the Cusco Region, Peru: Includes a Bird Finding Guide to the Area

The Publisher’s View: The extraordinary ruins of Machu Picchu, at an elevation above 2400 m, were among the most amazing creations of the Inca Empire at its height: its giant walls, terraces and ramps seem to have been cut out of continuous rock escarpments. This remote site lies on the eastern slope of the Andes on the upper reaches of the Amazon basin in a region exhibiting a rich diversity of flora and fauna. With the publication of this Field Guide to the Birds of Machu Picchu and the Cusco Region, visitors from all over the world can now appreciate and identify the birds of the mountains, valleys, and forests of this World Heritage Site.

The Field Guide to the Birds of Machu Picchu and the Cusco Region is the result of a unique, three-continent collaboration between Barry Walker in Peru, Buteo Books in Virginia (USA), and Lynx Edicions in Barcelona. The text from previous versions of Barry Walker’s field guide has been completely rewritten and updated. Covering the nearly 500 species known to occur in the region, the individual species accounts provide details on habitat, behavior, vocalizations, and occurrence. The 82 color plates on pages facing the text are drawn from illustrations painted for the monumental Handbook of the Birds of the World. This is a field guide with all the essentials to identify the bird in the field, yet compact and light enough to fit in a pocket or carry on the Inca Trail. A section of the book contains a detailed guide to the best birding sites in the region and an annotated checklist, both of which will be of great value to the visiting birdwatcher.

The Author: Barry Walker was born in Stalybridge near Manchester, England and started birdwatching at the age of thirteen.

After studying birds extensively in Europe and the Middle East, he switched his attention to South America where he honed his birding skills in Ecuador, Chile, Guyana and Brazil, and, in particular, Colombia, Peru and Bolivia. He has participated in many ornithological and archaeological expeditions, and contributed to a number of scientific and general publications concerning birds in Peru and is author of Peruvian Wildlife: A Visitor’s Guide to the Central Andes. He has lived in Peru for over 30 years and has visited every corner of the country. He has been leading bird tours for private groups and prestigious

bird tour companies for twenty-five years.

He and his wife Rosario are the owners of Manu Expeditions Birding and Wildlife Tours, a pioneer eco-tour operator in the Manu National Park specializing in wildlife, birding, photography, archaeological and cultural trips in Peru and South America. In 2003 he was awarded an MBE in the Queen’s New Years Honours List and is the British Consul in Cusco, Peru, where he lives.

Fatbirder View: This is a collaborative effort… popular demand for a limited edition that is out of print and had to be re-typed and illustrations form HBW come together to give a very handy little book. Of course this was always a good idea as the most visited part of Peru needed a guide along with a something to cut the size of a book down which, had it all of Peru’s birds would be overly weighty.

British birders will know that nobody knows the area better than Barry and thousands have been guided by him to an area that has for many years been his home. Great idea well executed and a great case of collaboration between publishers too.

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