The Birds of Panama: A Field Guide (Zona Tropical Publications)

The isthmus of Panama, where North and South America meet, hosts more bird species than all of North America. More accessible than ever to birdwatchers and other ecotourists, the country has become a premier neotropical birding and nature tourism destination in recent years. The Birds of Panama will be an essential tool for the new generation of birders traveling in search of Panama’s spectacular avifauna.

This user-friendly, portable, and affordable identification guide features:

•large color illustrations of more than 900 species;

•the first range maps published to show the distribution of Panama’s birds;

•concise text that describes field marks for identification, as well as habitat, behavior, and vocalizations;

•range maps and species accounts face illustration pages for quick, easy reference;

•the inclusion of North American migrants and seabirds, as well as female and juvenile plumage variations;

•an up-to-date species list for the country that reflects recent additions, taxonomic splits, and other changes in classification.

Panama’s unique geography, small size, and varied habitats make it possible to see a vast diversity of birds within a short time. Its western and central areas harbor representatives of species found in Central America; species characteristic of South America may be found in the east. In the winter, birds from northern climes are commonly found in Panama as migrants. This is the one field guide the novice or experienced birder needs to identify birds in the field in Panama’s diverse habitats.

3 thoughts on “The Birds of Panama: A Field Guide (Zona Tropical Publications)”

  1. Finally a user-friendly field guide to Panama This new field guide to the birds of Panama follows the earlier book for Costa Rica in its pattern. Thus, hopes were high from the beginning when this book was announced. And the authors and publishers certainly kept their standards. Mostly, the illustrations from that Costa Rica book have been retained where appropriate, but they have often been enlarged, reduced , sometimes mirrored or tilted to some extent. 

  2. Fantastic field guide, thoroughly impressed after 3 weeks in Panama After spending nearly 3 weeks in the Bocas del Toro region of Panama carrying this book at all times, I must say that there was almost never a moment that I was dissapointed with this field guide. Being my first time in the tropics there were many new species for me to identify on a daily basis. The page layouts are simple, not too crowded, and have just the right amount of info to facilitate rapid indentification. Being an amateur ornithologist I also appreciated that the book is organized in…

  3. I enjoyed the Introduction section which explained the attributes and habitat … We are novice birders but this book was indispensable during our travel in Panama. We saw maybe 20% of the birds identified in the book. Many were located in very narrow land areas we did not travel to. I enjoyed the Introduction section which explained the attributes and habitat of the native and migratory birds as well as features to observe for bird identification. We used three different bird guides on our trip and each had a well used copy of this book. Only downside is the book is…

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