Product Description

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.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #77724 in Books
• Published on: 1998
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 304 pages

Features

• ISBN13: 9780691090351
• Condition: NEW
• Notes: Brand New from Publisher. No Remainder Mark.
• Click here to view our Condition Guide and Shipping Prices

Review
[A]n outstanding field guide that covers a vast geographic area and includes a wealth of information for more than 1,100 species of birds. . . . It should be purchased by anybody interested in the birds of southern South America. -- Review

Review
[A]n outstanding field guide that covers a vast geographic area and includes a wealth of information for more than 1,100 species of birds. . . . It should be purchased by anybody interested in the birds of southern South America.
(Floyd E. Hayes Auk )

About the Author
Martin R. de la Pena, a veterinarian and ornithologist, studies the reproduction of birds, on which he has published three books, alongside a dozen others, in his native Argentina. He has also produced several films on the life of birds. Maurice Rumboll, one of Argentina's top naturalists, directs environmental education programs for students and plans interpretive trails, brochure texts, and visitor centers for his country's National Park Administration, whose Ranger Training Institute he formerly headed. Previously he directed visitors' services and research at Iguazu National Park and served as Traveling Naturalist for the Argentine Museum of Natural History.

Customer Reviews

a good guide for visiting birders
This guide is good; probably the best available for the region. The birders I ran into (even a park ranger) had this guide. It is a convenient size, fitting easily in my cargo-shorts pockets while both hands held my binoculars. It describes most of species (I found a few exceptions, eg. Gray Gull, but it is fairly complete). I did find that some of the illustrations were somewhat simplistic. More detailed descriptions would be useful, but could also negatively affect the weight of the book. I used it in Parque Nacional Iguazu and los Esteros del Ibera, and it served its purpose well.

Excellent!
(From Planeta magazine) - Every bird species you may come across in Argentina, Chile, Paraguay, Uruaguay and southern Boliva and Brazil is described here, with more than 1,000 species illustrated in color. The text compliments the visuals, providing info about habitat, sounds and identification features. Excellent!

There Is A Better Choice for Antarctic/South Georgia Birding
I was extremely frustrated using this book on my recent trip to Antarctica and South Georgia. Some of the plates do not do an accurate job of depicting the birds and the distribution maps are also not entirely accurate. The professional ornithologist on my trip agreed with my observations and recommended that I purchase another book: "Birds of Patagonia, Tierra del Fuego, and the Antarctic Peninsula" by E. Couve and C. Vidal.