[.ca] A Field Guide to the Birds of the West Indies (ISBN 0618002103)

West Indy Birds:
Yea, The book could definently use some improvements, but overall the pictures did depict the birds pretty well. The only species illustrated {in color} are those endemic ONLY to the Carib islands. Any birds that are seen in the continental US are only given black and white drawings, and small descriptions. So a field guide and familiarity to eastern migratory birds are a plus! I am VERY dissapointed with the quality of the pages in the book. After a week in the Islands, mine looks worse than any of my regular guides! Bring a water-proof sleeve or something, because it's going to get wet! Not a bad book though, I had a lot of fun, and pretty much every bird you see tends to be a new species! Have fun!

Review of "Birds of the West Indies.":
Unless one is collecting Peterson Field Guides, I do not recommend this book. Its organization is dated. Color plates are segregated from the bird descriptions. Many of the descriptions are accompanied by a black and white sketch. Some of the birds described lack any sketch or color plate. The book does not contain distribution maps. Redeeming aspects of the book are (1) it is small in size and (2) it includes a comprehensive list of species in the area with a written text for each.

Nothing to do with Ian Fleming...:
THE field guide to West Indian birds, a must-have for birders travelling in the Carribean, Northeast coast of South America, or the Bahamas. This book has only gotten better since being taken over by those wonderful folks at Peterson, and it was fine before that. Make sure you have this with you when you hit the airport, but consider taking along a North American guidebook, as well, and be aware that a few of the names vary from one book to another.

A disappointment:
When I ordered this guide, I was expecting a format that was similar to the other Petersen bird guides. Unfortunately, this book is nowhere near as well organized. The plates are small, the artwork is not as good, and not all the species are illustrated. The text was also rather thin in life history information. If you are traveling to the Caribbean in winter and aren't up to speed on North American migratory singbirds, you will need to take an Eastern U.S. bird guide with you as well, as the numerous migrants that comprise the wintertime fauna are merely mentioned. I managed to identify most birds that I saw while using this guide, but it was a frustrating process.

A bit disappointing...:
I am sadly disappointed by this book. The plates are sporadically placed throughout the book, and some species of birds are not illustrated. For example, what does a Greater Antillean Grackle look like? There is a brief description in the text, but will I be able to differentiate between it and a Great-tailed Grackle? There are no distribution maps either, so I have to rely on checklists printed from my Thayer's Birder's Diary program to determine which species to expect in, say, the Cayman Islands. I will be field testing this guide in May 2002 and may have a better feel for the usefulness, or lack thereof, of this book. Meanwhile, studying the birds prior to my trip is a bit cumbersome due to the design of this book. In any event, would recommend a North American supplement for any trip to the region.