Birds of the West Indies

Why is the One and Only? The color Plates The Cover and size The Distribution Maps The Basic and accurate Information Do I mention the color plates?

I just came back from St. Vincent where I used a copy of James Bond's "Birds of the Caribbean". It was acceptable, but it didn't have many colour plates or pictures of birds in flight. This book is all colour illustrations and has pictures of birds in flight. The information is also up to date. Many more useful tools for bird identification than in Bond! For example, this has habitat and maps of range.

This is an excellent field guide with great pictures of birds, making identification easier. The descriptions about the different bird species inhabiting the West Indies are also very good. The guide seems to give fuller coverage to birds in the northern Caribbean islands, such as Cuba, Hispaniola, Jamaica, and Puerto Rico, and somewhat less coverage to birds in the central and southern regions of the West Indian island chain, but it was still very helpful to me with bird identification on a recent trip to the island of Montserrat (about 300 miles southeast of Puerto Rico). Recommended for birders vacationing in the West Indies.

Provides color plates for all species found in the West Indies, and helpful maps alongside the text, whenever necessary. All that you need for a field guide, at a reasonable price. It more than lives up to Princeton's reputation for fine guides,

Birds of the West Indies is a much needed and well researched update of the classic book "Birds of the West Indies" by James Bond. This update provides layman and serious birders and researchers with critically important updates on species distribution and habitat areas. A must read for the serious birders and curious readers interested in understanding the birds of the West Inidan Archipelago.