Reviews of birding literature about Mexican birds

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Book Reviews

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The material I review here is first of all relevant to birding in Mexico. It is evaluated both on academic, technical and artistic quality. And it is being reviewed according to its own mission statement. As an example: A book that is intended as a field guide will be reviewed as such. If it doesn't work as a field guide it will be down-rated, even if it has very good qualities for other purposes.
	Not reviewed yet.
	Is given to a material which is lacking quality both academically, technically and artistically. The intention of the author is appreciated, but the work in its present form should never have been published.
	Is given to a work which is partly lacking quality based on same criteria as under 1 star. The material is useful, but still you regret you bought it, since you know that it will never become a natural choice when seeking information about the subject.
	Is given to a thoroughly done work which, however, still has some shortcomings, based on same criteria as under 1 and 2 stars. It is definitely a work you will use in your daily work, but supplemented with information from elsewhere.
	A thoroughly well-done work which fully lives up to its purpose. On all three parameters the quality is high, and it is a work that you naturally will consult as a first choice when seeking information about the subject. And it will be a pleasure doing it.
	A classic to come! Every aspect of the work is perfect and you pull the it off the shelf even when you're not seeking specific information about the subject.

	A Guide to the Birds of Mexico and northern Central America 1995 Steve N.G. Howell & Sophie Webb 2018-06-05 The best bird guide to the birds of Mexico! Good texts, useful illustrations and so so distribution maps After many years of use and comparing it with other recent guide books covering the area, it has become clear that this foresighted work holds a very high standard, and though it has a few weaknesses, it is still the best bird guide to the birds of Mexico. The introductory chapters are especially useful to the reader not familiar with the region, coveri...Read more The best bird guide to the birds of Mexico! Good texts, useful illustrations and so so distribution maps After many years of use and comparing it with other recent guide books covering the area, it has become clear that this foresighted work holds a very high standard, and though it has a few weaknesses, it is still the best bird guide to the birds of Mexico. The introductory chapters are especially useful to the reader not familiar with the region, covering subjects such as climate, geography, history and birding (e.g. bird description, taxonomy and migration). One gets the feeling that the author really know the subjects and the area. Since much of this information is standard input to almost all field guides I'll not get into the details, but do feel it worth mentioning that I'm very pleased to read Howells recommendations to people traveling around Mexico. After more than ten years in the country I absolutely agree with him that it is safe to travel here, as millions of tourists do it every year, of course as long as you use your head and common sense. Your biggest problem might be the lack of communication since many Mexicans still don't speak English, but the openness and eagerness to help often up-weighs the lack of this intellectual skill and you'll find that you are still and soon good on your way despite of this. Without doubt the strongest part of the book is the texts of the species accounts. It includes an account for all the species that were known to have visited the area until the date of the publishing. After using the book during many years it has become clear that the texts in general are very precise, both when it comes to description, species comparison, voices and habitat. And the inclusion of descriptions at subspecies level for relevant species was a very foresighted move since the taxonomical science based on DNA studies is moving toward a higher degree of separation and splits. Another very useful feature of the book is the addition of a general description of each bird family before the species accounts. This is of course especially valuable to the birder new to the Americas and the Neotropic region. The distribution maps are probably the weakest part of the book. Even back when the book first came out many of them were imprecise. Surely, mostly because of the general lack of information throughout the ornithological community, but certainly also because Howell didn't visit all parts of Mexico while preparing for this book. When I landed in Aguascalientes and started birding there with this book as my main reference, it soon became clear that several species maps would have looked different if he had come this way too. Today, of course, the maps are even more obsolete. Birding as an activity is exploding in Mexico in these years, leading to new knowledge about distribution almost constantly. This said, you can still use the maps as an overall guideline to know whether or not it is likely to expect a certain species within a certain area. For a long time I've hold the illustration as the weakest part of the book, but today I'm not so sure. You can say, and many do, that it is a great minus that the book only includes illustrations of species you can't find north of Mexico. This means that most of the migrants are not included, and as such you might also conclude, that the book is failing its purpose. Including illustrations of all species seen in Mexico, however, would have made it bigger and even more unhandy in the field (see later). A solution could have been to make the illustrations smaller, thus adding more species on each plate, but this should be balanced well, since too small illustrations are difficult and unsatisfying to use. Most North American birders probably already have guide books covering their home grounds, but to a non American visitor it will probably be necessary to count with a double-purchase when visiting Mexico to avoid frustrating moments not knowing to id the many wood-warblers or how to separate the stints for example. If a clever re-design of the book, adding all 1100 species on plates, would be possible without creating a super heavy guide monster I would opt for this solution, but since there already exist, and existed, very competent field guides covering North America, I agree that the solution the authors decided upon is the best one. What made me think that the plates were the weakest part of the book was the lack of quality in the illustrations. The birds often don't look natural, and within some families it is difficult to separate similar species based on the illustrations alone. I think mainly of the tyrant flycatchers and the vireos. But while obtaining a more detailed level of knowledge of the different species from the field, I today must admit that it looks like Webb has indeed tried to capture the accurate details to safely distinguish most of the species and subspecies, and if one can abstract from the lack of jizz in her drawings one can get a long way with the intent to make a correct identification. It is also a very large plus that many of the subspecies that are candidates for a split, or simply look sufficiently distinct, have been illustrated as well. This is a big help for those wanting to be pro-active in the quest for a complete Mexican species list, or to simply become a more competent birder in the country. Throughout and in between the species account you find several pencil drawings used to illustrate extra delicate details that are noteworthy. I find these very useful because they often add an extra level of accuracy to the description of the species that the general illustrations don't. Both Pacific and Caribbean Island species and subspecies have been placed on separate plates, I guess, in order to emphasize the avifauna present away from the mainland. The intention is fine, but I remember that I tended to forget this in the beginning, and would lose focus of these species when they didn't show up in the main account order, especially the hummingbirds. The last two plates contain species and subspecies found at the southern limit of the area, practically outside of Mexico. This works better than with the island plates since these species and subspecies are never, or rarely, relevant to focus on from a Mexican perspective. But having them in the book for reference and comparison is definitely a good thing. The appendices, one with a list of extinct species, and one with a list of potential new species to the region are interesting to read. Especially so many years after the book was published, when it is now possible to compare with what is known today. Of the 6 extinct species on the list for example, one, the California Condor, has been re-awaken from the dead, effectuated by a reintroduction program in the national park San Pedro Mártir in Baja California. And of course there have been many new entries into the official Mexican list after such a long time span, with increased birding activity throughout the country. Especially many seabirds have been confirmed present where Howell chose to downgrade many observations that were not sufficiently documented at that time. A conservative approach that I think is wise. A last appendix is covering extralimital species from eastern Honduras. From a Mexican perspective they are not interesting as such, but again it can be valuable to know what there is to be expected just outside the door, both to broaden ones horizon in general but also to prepare oneself in case the unexpected will happen. The book has very few spelling and grammatical errors, which in today's world is a real pleasure to experience. Thank you! And the build quality has also been excellent. Even though it is a soft back material, it took several years of heavy use, in the field and at home, before my copy started to get loose in the back, and still it held together until the day, after perhaps 10 years, when I decided to sacrifice it for a pdf-transformation. Adding Spanish species names with the accounts is of course a sympathetic move, and could ideally have been very useful. The only thing is that many of the names are not used in Mexico, and honestly, I have sometimes suspected that Howell himself invented some of them translating directly from English to Spanish. But even if this is not the case, the difficulty with Spanish names in Mexico is, that every region, not to say every village, for a large part use very localized names, and it therefore is very likely that local people, if asking, won't be able to understand which birds you are talking about if you only refer to the name. But of course it can be used as a starting point and from there a clarification would hopefully emerge. The content of the book follows the standard order of presentation with general information first, then species accounts and at the end appendices, bibliography and indices. This works absolutely fine, of course. The only thing that isn't optimal is the placement of the plates which have been placed in the middle of the book in between the hummingbird accounts. Searching the plates themselves is no problem, but when needing to find the account of a specific hummingbird it is almost guaranteed that I will be searching at the wrong end, before or after the plates, before finally finding what I'm looking for. It would have been easier to remember and flip through the book if the plates had been placed in between two families, or ideally perhaps, separating passerines and non-passerines. This said, expecting that the placement was done based on physical limitations mounting the book. As many birders have already experienced, the book is very big, especially thick, almost brick size, and you might ask whether it is really suited as a field guide or should be left at home as a reference work to consult before and after the trip. This is why many people creatively hve decided to pull out the plates and have them wrapped up as a book of its own, bringing only this one with them and leaving the text part at home. However, from a serious birder's point of view this isn't very practical since the text part of the book is so valuable when you need to dig into detailed descriptions of the different species. Of course, bringing the plates is better than bringing nothing, but my experience is that this will lead to equally big frustrations when you find out that the illustrations don't give you the clear answer you hoped for. Therefore, since the book is still the best field guide about Mexican birds, I can only suggest that you bring the complete work with you. A compromise solution could be that you, assuming that you've adapted to the technical realities of today and now own a Smartphone, have your copy of the book scanned and transformed to a pdf-file to bring with you instead of the physical book. I've done this with my copy, and it works great. This is probably a violation of the copyright rules, but since I've already bought the physical book, I, morally, refuse to feel guilty of any violations as long as I'm disciplined enough not to share this file with anyone. So, all in all, if you're a serious birder who wants to be able to identify birds in Mexico, there is no way around it, as I see it. You have to buy this book and somehow find room for it among the rest of your travel gear. At least until we get a new updated version, or an equally clever material, which in these electronic ages hopefully will be as a downloadable version... Enjoy! Hide
	The Sibley Guide to Birds 2nd Edition David Allen Sibley 2018-11-06 High quality field guide. Precise illustrations and good supportive texts. The essential companion to Howell & Webb for birders in Mexico. I bought my first copy of the Sibley Guide many years ago. It was the first edition, and I had bought it for use when birding in the USA and Canada. I remember I also had a copy of the National Geographic guide, but it was the Sibley Guide I came to like the most because the illustrations were more detail-correct and the book as a whole ...Read more High quality field guide. Precise illustrations and good supportive texts. The essential companion to Howell & Webb for birders in Mexico. I bought my first copy of the Sibley Guide many years ago. It was the first edition, and I had bought it for use when birding in the USA and Canada. I remember I also had a copy of the National Geographic guide, but it was the Sibley Guide I came to like the most because the illustrations were more detail-correct and the book as a whole much more useful in the field than the NC guide, or others, at that time. Yes, it was a big and heavy thing to carry with you out in the field, but being completely new to North American birding, I had no choice, if I wanted to be able to identify the birds, and not end up with a long list of question marks in my notebook. That long ago, yes. So, when I started to bird in Mexico, and found it necessary to complement the Howell & Webb guide with a guide that covered the northern species that they don't cover, other than in text, it became natural to choose Sibley once more. And this combination worked very well. And despite of their combined and added weight close to 2.5 kg, I carried them with me faithfully on every outing for a good number of years. Suffer but learn! Later the Smartphones became standard, and as I've revealed elsewhere several times, I converted my physical items to pdf- versions, and still enjoy that change tremendously. And the combination of the two guide books, both first editions, has worked so well for me, that I didn't pay attention when Sibley's second edition came out a few years ago. So it wasn't until last year when I met someone in the field who pulled out a hard copy, that I realized that it actually existed. Much had happened in the birding world since the first version came out 15 years earlier, and for that simple reason it would make sense to upgrade my Mexican guide package, expecting that Sibley would have added many new details, but when I opened the book to have a look I got a shock! Flipping through the pages I could quickly see that many new species had been added, which is always good, and some of them were even Mexican species which was even greater, but the big disaster was the quality of the illustrations, and especially the new ones. They were really bad. It was obvious that the printing had gone wrong, but the fact that the new species looked worse than the old ones, I could only conclude that these from the beginning had not been of very high standard. Definitely a surprise to me, since I had gotten the impression that detail was important to Sibley. I decided not to buy the book, and kept using the first edition. Later I was back in Denmark, and one day browsing through the book selection that Naturbutikken, the shop of the Danish Birdlife, had on display (very few titles because there is nowadays something called online shopping and home delivery), and there I found a copy of the second edition, and I opened it, expecting it to look like the first one I had seen, but found it different. Better. The new species were still rather fluffy, but the overall impression was good, and I concluded that the other birder had been unfortunate with his buy. The second edition follows the same design and layout as the first one. Still large and somewhat unhandy to carry with you, even though the soft back makes it more comfortable to grab and flip through. The build still feels good and solid. The book consists of a very short introductory section, the species accounts and at the end a species checklist and the index, mixed common and scientific order. And that's it. And that is probably why it works so well. If you don't know anything about birds, you would probably have preferred a longer introduction explaining more about general aspects of bird life, but knowing that the book is meant as a working tool in the field, I think Sibley has made a good choice cutting down on general information that you would better be reading elsewhere and when at home under calmer and focused conditions. There is one page about taxonomy, which is always useful to understand the order in which the birds are presented (AOU until 54h supplement). After this follow 5 pages focusing on information and advice about how to execute the activity of bird watching. Equipment, psychological effects, individual variation or variations based on environmental conditions, learning by voice, rarities and ethics. All well written, and revealing details about birding that only an experienced observer can do. Then follows a page with extinct species of which all but two are irrelevant to Mexico: In the good old days Passenger Pigeons were also crossing the blue sky over the Mexican Highlands, and depending on religion, some might even disagree, and say that the other species, Eskimo Curlew, is still possible to be encountered one day. In all relatively positive that all recently extinct species can be presented on less than one page! Next follows 7 pages with bird topography. Most authors will suffice with one or two drawings to illustrate what the different feather groups are called on a bird. Sibley shows the same information on no less than 4 different types of birds, a sparrow (passerine), a shorebird, a duck and a gull. At first you might think of this as being excessive, since most, or all?, species always having the same feather groups as the others, but if you are a birder who have not, and will not, get in physical contact with birds via banding or other activities then it can be a challenge to master the discipline of describing and identifying correctly a bird's different parts. By choosing 4 different types of birds the beginner will get a much better idea of how differently the different feather groups present themselves depending on the type of bird, and by different postures which Sibley shows too. Next follows a single page with a quick introduction to molt and mainly terminologies about ageing. Simplified, and again, a good choice not to dig deeper into this subject which is one of the more complex ornithological disciplines, best covered elsewhere than in a field guide. The last two pages in the introductory section describes how to read the species accounts. A simple essential necessity. There are only one or two species on each page, depending on the size of the plumage variety within a species. I like that Sibley has made this decision, and this is also when you appreciate the larger dimensions of the book. The illustrations never get cramped together on too little space, and the larger format also makes it possible to add the many detail captions throughout the page making it easy for the user to understand which are important characteristics and which are not. A good field guide should always have these. All information about a single species is therefore found on the same page. Starting out at the top with the formalities of the name, a short species description and average measurements. Here it would have been nice if Sibley had added the metric measurements directly together with the imperial ones that the Americans, annoyingly, use, instead of referring to a simplified conversion table in the introductory section. Even more so because he has consequently added the kg measurement next to the oz measurement. If only one of the two were to be added, I would have chosen the double effort on the size measurements, length and wing span, rather than on the weight. The first two are absolutely relevant to be able to use and judge in the field, while the weight almost never is. The species descriptions are rather superficial, and I only use them on rare occasions, when a bird can't seem to be fit into any of the graphical presentations. Then I'll start looking for whatever information that might help me get closer to an identification. Then follows the central part of the book, the illustrations. Do they work or do they not. That is always the first and most important question to ask when deciding whether a guide book is worth buying or not. This is much easier to judge when you have a lot of field experience, of course, as it is also much easier for an illustrator who has a lot of field experience to be able to reproduce the birds in a realistic and credible way. And I consider myself experienced enough to be able to say that Sibley is an illustrator with enough field experience to have made some very credible illustrations overall! The birds look like you would expect them to look in the field. The proportions, the perspective, the postures and the overall jizz work well. You may argue that his style is too much on the transparent side leaving the birds with only a ghostly resemblance of what they look like in reality, but this is probably a matter of personal taste. However, as I mentioned in the beginning some of his new additions to this second edition, the rarities, are not as elaborate and precise as one could have hoped. Species like Red-crested Pochard, White-throated Thrush and Orange-billed Nightingale-Thrush almost look odd, and almost like sketches only, and Brown-backed Solitaire is too dark and slightly out of shape from how I normally see them. And species like Yellow-browed Warbler and Dusky Warbler look as if they have been prepared relying too much on photos rather than personal experience (the illustration of Dusky Warbler in the first edition is different, and I will say is more useful emphasizing the characteristics better). I guess Sibley doesn't have much personal experience with these species, or at least not compared to the core species of the book, which just shows that even the best and most talented illustrator simply can't rely on static material. He has to get out in the field to catch that extra layer. The illustrations follow a standard approach showing juvenile and adult plumages plus sexual difference if necessary and breeding and non-breeding plumages. And for relevant species also different color forms. He uses these simplified daily life expressions, breeding, non-breeding etc, which works fine except when he starts doing the same with the subspecies descriptions where needed. The subspecies groups of Clapper Rail for example he refers to as Gulf Coast and Atlantic without mentioning which subspecies are involved. And this might be fine in many cases, but when you need to cross reference with other literature it is very annoying with this absence since most other authors are mainly using the scientific names of the subspecies when needed. With all species there is also a description of voices, and I think Sibley is doing a good effort in trying to transcript the sounds to letters, but as always, except for those sounds that are easy for humans to repeat, the results are rarely useful. Which species is this one for example: gididi drreee drrooo? We all perceive a sound differently and we would also transcribe it differently. The verbal description of the sound is often more useful, and for learning the sounds it might be a very good idea to read about it while you have the bird calling or singing in front of you. The distribution map at the bottom of page, is a small standard size of the continent, and luckily Sibley has chosen contrasting colors which makes it easy to distinguish between the different categories, whether it being breeding, resident, wintering or migrating behavior that is being described. Unfortunately the map only includes the northern half of Mexico. It would have been neat to have the updated distribution map for all of Mexico. But I guess we'll have to wait until someone feels inspired to follow in the footsteps of Howell. Though I'm not sure if a physical guide book is what is really needed for the future. I've not tried to verify the preciseness of the maps, for the same reason, that the they are only partly relevant from a Mexican perspective. Next to the distribution maps there is often space for a personalized comment about the species, and it's relation to other species. Whatever might be relevant in terms of finding and identifying the bird. This is gold spoken from the mouth of an experienced birder, and adds tremendously to the value of the book. And this I say even though I can't agree with him that flocks of Long-billed Dowitchers always chatter when they forage. Living in the wintering area of the species, I've paid attention to this, exactly because Sibley mentions it, and I must say that it is more the opposite that is the case. They are normally very quiet. Another feature of the book is the introducing text and illustrations to each bird groups. A general text describing the species in the group as a whole, is a good idea adding extra useful information about what to expect in the field. But following the text Sibley has added a single illustration of each of the species. To be able to make a quick comparison, he says. But it must also be meant as an extra index because he's put the page number of each species next to the illustrations. I think this initiative is needless. I've never used it, and knowing that there often are significant size differences within a species it seems pointless to add this information. Even more so because all accounts have average size shown at the top of the page, and I'm sure that even the greenest of all beginners will soon get an idea about size differences between the different species. If this space could be used for something more valuable in the third edition, let me be the first to applaud the initiative. After the species accounts follows a species checklist where you can make a mark when you've got a new species. Personally I would never use such a list to keep track of what I've seen and not, but I understand that there might be less requiring birders out there who find such a tool useful. The list uses the common names, but then for some strange reason Sibley has decided only to show the scientific family name (family names are always useful to break of the list into a more readable presentation). The only logical reason I can think of is that there simply wasn't enough space on the line to write the common names of the families which are often much longer than the scientific ones. This at least if the assumption is correct that the book is supposed to be an easy accessible tool for ordinary American birders. The last entry, the combined scientific and common name index, I've already mentioned. Good and practical. The technical quality of the book is high. Normally I quickly spot spelling errors, for example, but to date I still haven't found any! This might not be important to many, but to me it is, and the fact that I haven't found any, is a good indication that the author has put all he's good effort into the project, which is very much appreciated. Thank you! All in all, therefore, a very recommendable book, and the indispensable companion to Howell & Webb when you travel to Mexico. Hide
	Where to watch birds in Mexico 1999 Steve N.G. Howell 2018-11-07 When I first came to Mexico after having convinced myself that birding could be a rather enjoyable way to spent the rest of my life, I was disappointed to find out that the area I was going to stay in, Aguascalientes, because of a woman, was not included in this book. What a sloppy approach by Howell, I thought, lamenting that I would have to investigate everything myself from scratch. Later I've realized that this is exactly the kind of birding I prefer to do, exploring on my own, so from m...Read more When I first came to Mexico after having convinced myself that birding could be a rather enjoyable way to spent the rest of my life, I was disappointed to find out that the area I was going to stay in, Aguascalientes, because of a woman, was not included in this book. What a sloppy approach by Howell, I thought, lamenting that I would have to investigate everything myself from scratch. Later I've realized that this is exactly the kind of birding I prefer to do, exploring on my own, so from my selfish point of view, I have nothing to let him hear for this, anymore. Reviewing a site guide 20 years after it has been published might sound completely irrelevant, and even more so because birding as a local activity in the country has exploded in recent years, and while Howell's material is mostly based on his own experiences, which were heavily based on the experiences of earlier foreigners exploring the area, nowadays the picture of where to find the different species has altered quite a bit, and does so continuously and rapidly, mainly because there are many more birders out there, and all through the year too; but of course also because the distribution and abundance over the time have changed, and even more so with the impact of climate changes. So when I still decide to do it, it is both because my ambition, over time, is to cover all the mainstream material aimed toward birders that has been produced with relevance to Mexican birding, but also because it turns out that for a larger part the material is still surprisingly valid. Today, living in Cd. Guzmán at the foot of the volcanoes between Jalisco and Colima, I just re-read the chapter covering this area, and for a larger part the localities that we still visit today are the same. So if you're the relaxed type who like to do bird trips to foreign countries but can live with a less-than-up-to-date level of information about species whereabouts, I feel very convinced that you could still prepare your Mexico trip based on this book today, and end up with an absolutely satisfying and memorable result. And also because the Mexicans are the same frustratingly quality- and responsibility-eluding people with big smiles and open hearts as they have always been, and you would very likely feel equally welcomed as you would 20 years ago. The introductory chapters lead you well through the practicalities of traveling and birding in Mexico, and most of the information is still valid. Today, though, a gas station can no longer just be called a Pemex, because it was decided a few years ago to open the market for competing enterprises, resulting in a host of obscure companies entering the market. Most of them I can't remember the names of, but the more conspicuous ones yes, OXXO Gas, 7-Elleven Gas...I dare say, you can smell a rat when it has been lying in the sun long enough! Of course you can't rely on concrete information about hotel references and roads. These things change, and especially the road system is constantly being improved and expanded why you should consult more up-to-date resources when planning your itinerary today. That would most likely be an online map system of your preference. Though Google has become too imperialistic for my taste, I can't ignore the fact that Google Maps does a good job, mostly, here in Mexico, why I still prefer it over alternatives. This might also mean that the rather detailed descriptions that Howell give, on how to access the different localities, might be obsolete in some few cases. But probably mostly on the longer intercity or interstates stretches. When you get closer to the localities, away from the major pass ways, I would expect that you'll find the directions still good and valid. And this is actually the big strength of this book, the very precise information about how to get to the localities. Howell's sketches are excellent, and so is his ability to refer to local characteristics to let you know when you are close to your destination. After ten years of traveling in the country, I'm not using the book anymore myself. But I remember clearly in the beginning when I did, and I only think it was one time when I got lost following his directions. That is pretty good. Especially in a country where road signs are notoriously unreliable or often non-existing. As mentioned, the species listed to be found at each locality are mainly based on Howell's own observations. This obviously makes it much easier to prepare such a book, not to have to collect observations from everybody to present a more accurate list of the species possible to find at each site. But it is obviously also a weakness, and more so because he has mostly been traveling the country in the winter months, why the lists are far from complete and accurate. And this was 20 years ago, or more. Imagine how much has changed since then! However! The intention with the book is not to be regarded as a country-wide scientific contribution, but as a tool for visiting birders to know how to navigate their way through a successful birding trip in the country, and especially how to find those endemics and other rare and interesting species. Because this is where Howell's focus is, and it works very well (accepting this fact, is another reason why I can't complain about the selective geographic coverage Howell has made. I have to acknowledge that you don't have to go to Aguascalientes to get any endemic..!).. Endemic species are highlighted in all species lists and locality texts. And appendix A, showing a complete list of all species encountered relative to where they can be found, likewise highlights the endemics, and appendix B is a particular list of all the endemics and other species of interest, and here referring directly to the exacts site under each chapter where the species can be found. Very useful both of them. A to get the overview and B when you need to know about a specific endemic. If you need to know about a Squirrel Cuckoo then, you'll have to flip through the relevant chapter marked in App A, but this is only a minor inconvenience. The index, at the back of the book, is based on the locality names, in alphabetical order. I don't think I've ever used it, and can imagine that it would only be relevant to someone already familiar with birding in Mexico, or if you've learned the names while studying for your trip. But wouldn't you then try to find it directly in the chapter, which you naturally already have an idea about where is located in the book, because you've already been flipping through it numerous times..? But so are we all different, I guess! Had I been reviewing this book 10 years ago, I would have given it 4 stars, because it is well-made and it was very relevant and useful back then. But today, knowing that so much has happened both with localities and the knowledge of species distributions in Mexico, I have to downgrade it one star simply because it is not up-to-date with the latest information available. And today where ebird is collecting the observations from most visiting and local birders, this up-to-date information is right at your hands if you bring your Smartphone, and with a few clicks you can easily get directions about how to get to a given spot. So whether we like it or not, as with the physical field guide, the physical site guide is becoming less relevant each day from now on, if not already obsolete. An unavoidable shame in an ever-changing world! Enjoy! Hide
	Complete Birds of the North America - National Geographic 2nd Edition Edited by Jonathan Alderfer 2017-11-08 Coming soon...
	Field Guide to the Birds of North America - National Geographic 6th edition Jon L. Dunn & Jonathan Alderfer 2017-11-08 Coming soon...
	Field Guide to the Birds of Northern Central America - Peterson Jesse Fagan & Oliver Komar 2017-11-08 Coming soon...
	Raptors of Mexico and Central America William S. Clark & N. John Schmitt 2017-11-08 Coming soon...