Herbert A. RaffaeleBirds of the West Indies Second Edition (Princeton Field Guides)

I put it in my rental house in Abaco

At this point, I'm just an armchair explorer of the Caribbean, but with its birds' ties to where I live, the interest is relevant and deep, even if I have yet to see a Caribbean species in its winter home. And seeing an Elfin Woods Warbler or Saint Vincent Parrot live would be a treat indeed. This book is all I'd need to feel at home in the region, bird-wise.Species and geographic coverage (including endemics and introduced species), taxonomy (including families endemic to the region), likelihood of observing, and conservation needs are all succinctly discussed, with a nice chart of species that are threatened to critically endangered, which all too many of these birds are. The eight species that have been declared extinct since 1900 get their own page at the end of the book.The first edition of this book has plenty of reviews, and now the new edition improves and updates it in many ways, also well-explained in the introductions. With so many more bird conservationists and observers in the Caribbean these days, our information is richer, and the birds can only benefit from such efforts.My only wish was for a large map of the Caribbean, which could have been included in the end papers inside the front or back cover. And maybe this is somewhere on the internet, but an appendix featuring the many local names for the various birds would also be quite a treat and add to this book's cultural value tremendously.

I bought a book for Cuba which was a very poor layout. This layout is in great order, with birds next to the appropriate map. Much easier to follow

Nice pictures. Covering so many islands in one book is a challenge, but Herbert Raffaele does well.

Thanks for excellent service, good price, and accurate description of product.

December 2022 we will be traveling the Grand Cayman Island to scuba dive, snorkel and enjoy birding.

Though I wish every species had a map to follow along with its entry, the color plates are extremely helpful and thorough for identifying birds in the area.

This book doesn't have a map of the area covered. Field guides typically have an overview map of the region they cover. The inner covers are blank, this space could have been better used by providing an overview map of the West Indies. Also, many species don't have maps of their own. I don't recommend this book, wait until something better comes along.

Having just finished a trip to the West Indies and having shot thousands of photos, this book is a very useful tool in identifying the birds in some of my photos. The descriptions are a bit limited and the drawings often do not show wing patterns from above and below.