Fact: Peru has 1,817 known species of birds.
Fact: you can’t identify all of them on sight.
Fact: neither can I.
Therefore any trip either one of us might make to Peru on which any bird watching is to be done will require a field guide. Actually, it will require a particular field guide, which thanks to the efforts of Princeton University Press and Messrs. Schulenberg, Stotz, Lane, O’Neill, and Parker has just been released in a completely revised and updated edition: the Princeton Field Guides volume Birds of Peru.
The new Birds of Peru describes and depicts all of Peru’s 1,817 bird species (including 25 additional ones not found in the earlier edition) and shows the distinct plumages of each in its 307 vivid, full-color plates. In addition to this, Birds of Peru is specifically designed and formatted for quick and effective use in the field – the descriptions are concise and too the point and the distribution maps are conveniently located opposite the images of the birds.
Best of all (and absolutely essential in any true field guide), despite it being over 650 pages in length and printed on durable, high-quality paper to ensure clarity and sharp detail in both the maps and illustrations, its size and paperback format make it perfectly suited for backpack or field vest pocket carrying.
Be assured that when I make my journey to Peru this summer with Gunnar Engblom and Kolibri Expeditions that I will be toting a copy of Birds of Peru at all times.
