John A. Gwynne

I used this book in Rio, Iguassu Falls and in the Pantanal. Although it is written for the Pantanal and Cerrado of Central Brazil, it includes birds found in other regions and was fine for Rio and Iguassu. The book is inclusive for the Pantanal area (740 species) but not too cumbersome to carry while birding.

I had considered buying a guide with all the birds of Brazil, but it would be too heavy to carry. The book I had considered was [[ASIN:0195301552 A Field Guide to the Birds of Brazil]]. However, the illustrations were so small and unclear that it would not have been worth the weight. Certainly this Wildlife Conservation Society guide is far superior in quality.

This book is new enough (2010) to cover most of the latest changes in taxonomy. Most importantly, the drawings and descriptions are clear enough to allow identification of birds and enable you to distinguish between similar species and subspecies. The drawings also include birds on the fly, as well as male, female and immature.

The drawings include Portuguese as well as English names, with the scientific name in the species description. Essential, in my view, is having the description next to the drawing of the bird. The descriptions contain appearance, habitat, behavior, and vocalizations.

Each bird description contains a range map showing range of bird breeding, boreal migrant, austral migrant, vagrant occurrence and isolated area of distribution. Tiny flags and half flags show endemic and near endemic species. Status as critically endangered, endangered, and vulnerable is also indicated.

Note: I came across a sentence in the description of the American Pygmy Kingfisher that nobody could understand: "American Pygmy is found singly and generally perches close to the surface of shallow water, and sometimes even feeds at stagnant pools; it can be confiding." p.158. Confiding???

Also, a sentence on page xii of the introduction seems odd and unnecessary: "Brazilians speak Portuguese, and are helpful, friendly, and full of fun." The Portuguese part is fine, but the remainder of the sentence seems a bit strange, to me.

To date, the "Wildlife Conservation Society Birds of Brazil: The Pantanal and Cerrado" appears to be the best field guide to buy for touring that area, as well as neighboring regions. It worked for me.… (plus d'informations)