Birds of Costa Rica (Helm Field Guides)

Product Information

This is a good and brand new (May 2023) field guide but not necessarily superior to the older (2014) book by other authors that we also recommend for Costa Rica at our “ recommended field guides blog”. Reading this book will give you a deeper appreciation and understanding of the world around you as you trek through the cloud forests of Monteverde or the lush tropical rainforest of the Osa Peninsula. This is a particular study area for Steve Howell and Dale Dyer, and in an appendix, they outline the potential splits to look out for.

It seems obvious that the most important component of a book dedicated to enabling observers to identify a bird, is the accuracy of the illustrations. It features descriptions and illustrations of all 903 species definitely known from Costa Rica, including pelagics and species regular to Cocos Island.Dale Dyer is an acclaimed bird illustrator and a field associate at the American Museum of Natural History. There are no written names or inscriptions in the book, but there are 2 circular embossed previous private ownership stamps (the same owner) at the very beginning of the volume: in the bottom right-hand corner of the half title and title pages.

Costa Rica is among the most popular birding destinations in the world, with a breathtaking diversity of neotropical birdlife and stunningly beautiful habitats ranging from shady mangrove swamps to mist-enshrouded mountaintops and verdant rainforests. Costa Rica has benefitted from a number of species splits in recent years, and potentially there are many more to come. The only problem was that despite being a softback, it was still too big and heavy for the average pocket.The detailed full-color illustrations show identifying features—including plumage differences among males, females, and juveniles—and views of birds in flight wherever pertinent. My daughter took the kids to Costa Rica on last spring break but I don’t think they watched birds – they were too busy surfing.

Graced with bounteous natural beauty Costa Rica has become a popular destination for travelers from all over the world.An American Birding Association Best Bird Book of the Year" "A very fine book, meeting all the established criteria for a successful modern field guide, and in many instances exceeding them. In April 2000, he published the first quarterly online Gone Birding Newsletter and has been keeping readers up-to-date on rare birdsightings, new distributional records, and other pertinent local birding news ever since. This is exactly the focus of The Birds of Costa Rica ―to assist with identification in the field―and the book succeeds admirably. There are generally about 6 species descriptions to a page placed opposite illustrations showing, more often than not, male and female where sufficiently distinct.

The species accounts themselves are engaging and provide rich descriptions of bird habitat, behavior, identification marks, near species comparisons, vocalizations, and regional status. Where taxonomic ambiguity exists, they helpfully include alternate species names in parentheses and uncertain labels or proposed splits in brackets, while providing evidence for the changes in the appendices.

I found it interesting, and commendable, that Dyer and Howell acknowledge the development of field guides to Costa Rican birds, going back to the 1989 seminal guide by Stiles and Skutch. G. Howell’s portrayal of behavior is particularly detailed for many birds, pointing out specific behavioral cues that are useful for identification in the field and making them come alive for the reader at home. It is certainly the best book to use for any bird tours to Costa Rica, compact and generally accurate and I recommend it to all of our clients. Buenas tardes, estimado amigo David, gran reseña la de ese libro de Dale Dyer y Steve Howell, por lo que nos cuentas es un maravilloso libro guía de consulta sobre la diversidad de aves en Costa Rica.