Birds of Central America is the first comprehensive field guide to the avifauna of the entire region, including Belize, Guatemala, Honduras, El Salvador, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, and Panama. Handy and compact, the book presents text and illustrations for nearly 1,200 resident and migrant species, and information on all rare vagrants. Two hundred sixty detailed plates on convenient facing-page spreads depict differing ages and sexes for each species, with a special focus on geographic variation. The guide also contains up-to-date range maps and concise notes on distribution, habitat, behavior, and voice. An introduction provides a brief overview of the region’s landscape, climate, and biogeography.
The culmination of more than a decade of research and field experience, Birds of Central America is an indispensable resource for all those interested in the bird life of this part of the world.
- Detailed information on the entire avifauna of Central America
- 260 beautiful color plates
- Range maps, text, and illustrations presented on convenient facing-page spreads
- Up-to-date notes on distribution supported by an extensive bibliography
- Special focus on geographic variation of bird species
Awards and Recognition
- One of American Birding Podcast's Best Bird Books of 2018 (Donna Schulman & Nate Swick)
Andrew C. Vallely is a naturalist who has worked and traveled extensively in Central America. Dale Dyer is an ornithological illustrator who has contributed to many books on birds, including Birds of Peru and All the Birds of North America. Vallely and Dyer are currently field associates in the Department of Ornithology at the American Museum of Natural History.
"It is the first bird field guide to every country of Central America. . . . And, its beautiful illustrations are by a single artist, Dale Dyer. . . . Covering 1,261 species with data and taxonomy current up to August 2017, the field guide is an exciting achievement."—Donna Schulman, 10,000 Birds
"Princeton has built a record as an outstanding source of field guides for countries around the world. This first comprehensive guide to a much-visited birding area is a valuable addition to that set."—Jim Williams, StarTribune Wingnut blog
"Whether or not you live Central America or will be traveling there, perusing Vallely and Dyer is like taking a trip there yourself. Look a little harder and you can almost taste the mossy cloud forest air."—Jacob Drucker, The Linnaean Society of New York
"Princeton University press is renowned for its many excellent volumes on birds around the world—such as those of New Guinea, Peru, New Jersey, and the West Indies. Any library with ornithologists, bird lovers, or bird watchers among their patrons should consider this book, so packed full of information on over 1,000 kinds of beautiful birds."—Mark Schumacher, ARBA Reviews
"If you appreciate scientific accuracy, pick Vallely and Dyer. Besides being useful for identification, it also compiles current knowledge about distribution, with full references. Its format also makes it a fine choice for enjoying Dale Dyer's art while planning future trips."—Knut Eisermann, Birding Book Reviews
"A very exciting field guide . . . . [Birds of Central America] will easily become the new standard reference in the region."—Joren van Schie, Dutch Birding
"[An] excellent and innovative field guide covering the avifauna of the land bridge between North and South America with long coastlines on both the Caribbean and the Pacific."—Allen Hale, The Wilson Journal of Ornithology
“With its valuable text and maps, plus clear plates, this is an excellent guide. Central America is an ornithologically complex region, and it is wonderful to have all this information together for the first time. The authors are to be congratulated for undertaking such an ambitious project.”—Steve N. G. Howell, coauthor of Birds of Chile: A Photo Guide
“This well-organized and well-written field guide occupies a unique niche, in that it covers all of Central America south of Mexico. The consistently high-quality artwork gives this guide a leg up. The book rightly emphasizes the importance of vocalizations in the species accounts and the resulting descriptions are comprehensive and accurate.”—Kevin J. Zimmer, author of Birding in the American West and international tour leader for Victor Emanuel Nature Tours
