The Birds of Panama

The Birds of Panama: A Field Guide (Zona Tropical Publications) Paperback – December 16, 2010
Author: George R. Angehr ID: 0801476747

Review

“Angehr and Dean have created an accurate, portable guide that will prove very useful to birders and casual observers wishing to savor the avian diversity of Panama.”Choice (August 2011)

About the Author

Robert Dean is an avid birder and natural history illustrator.

Series: Zona Tropical PublicationsPaperback: 488 pagesPublisher: Comstock Publishing Associates; 1 edition (December 16, 2010)Language: EnglishISBN-10: 0801476747ISBN-13: 978-0801476747 Product Dimensions: 1.2 x 5.5 x 8.5 inches Shipping Weight: 1.8 pounds (View shipping rates and policies) Best Sellers Rank: #31,191 in Books (See Top 100 in Books) #15 in Books > Science & Math > Biological Sciences > Animals > Birds & Birdwatching > Field Guides #19 in Books > Science & Math > Nature & Ecology > Field Guides #133 in Books > Science & Math > Nature & Ecology > Fauna
This new field guide to the birds of Panama follows the earlier book for Costa Rica in its pattern. Thus, hopes were high from the beginning when this book was announced. And the authors and publishers certainly kept their standards. Mostly, the illustrations from that Costa Rica book have been retained where appropriate, but they have often been enlarged, reduced , sometimes mirrored or tilted to some extent.

So finally, there is a fine birding guide for Panama, with range maps and today’s customary set-up with the text, range maps and plates all on the same double-page spread. Compared to the Costa Rica volume, the printing of the plates is stronger. No more pale looking birds. Instead, there may be a few that got a bit too much ink. But overall the plates look more accurate. In particular, cotingas and honeycreepers now seem to have their correct colors.

And it’s only here that one can fully appreciate the very high quality of the artwork done by Robert Dean. I think his work is at least comparable to the one by Guy Tudor, long considered the one to compare all others with when it comes to neotropical field guide illustrations. For Central America, the Dean artwork as printed in the Panama book is definitely the new standard.

There are many other improvements compared to the Costa Rica volume. Thus, range maps are now color coded, immediately providing information on the status of a species in Panama, like breeding or migrant bird.

The most critical identification characters are highlighted in bold face, a feature already found in the Costa Rica book. However, this feature has been expanded. And the text gives much more info on how to distinguish similar species from each other.
THE BASICS: softcover, 2010, 456pp; illustrates with quality artwork all 950+ species found in Panama except for about 30 of the extreme vagrants; male and female plumages are shown plus relevant immatures; most of the birds are not shown in flight; paragraph on each bird focuses on description and identification notes plus similar species; brief notes on habitat and vocalizations given; a 5-color range map is given for each bird

THE REVIEW: This book now easily moves into the top position as the best available book for birding in Panama. This is due to three things. One, this book illustrates nearly every bird known from the country. Two, a detailed range map accompanies each bird. And, three, this book is made in a true field guide format, being just a half-inch taller and quarter-inch wider than the National Geographic’s popular field guide for North America.

Except for about 30 species with only a couple of records in Panama, all 950+ species are illustrated with quality artwork. These illustrations are done by the same illustrator responsible for the sister guide to Costa Rica. As a plus, the color reproduction in this Panama guide is much better with richer, bolder hues. The tanagers, warblers, and honeycreepers now look brilliant. Nearly all the birds are of a good size in the plate to help show color and feather patterns for better identification. Only the seed-finches seem to be on the small side, almost as if the plate was reduced just a tad too much before printing.

My only critique about the layout of the drawings is relatively few birds are shown in flight. The few groups flying are the non-passerines such as the swifts, parrots, nighthawks, larids, raptors, and pelagics. For the passerines, the only group shown in flight is the swallows.
Download The Birds of Panama: A Field Guide – December 16, 2010 PDF

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