math0065@waikato.ac.nz (02/27/91)
I am planning a trip to Ecuador and the Galapagos for this December, and I would like people's advice on field guides, please. I almost certainly need to import whatever I decide on, so I need to be thinking about it now. Unfortunately, I speak almost no Spanish, so an English-language guide would definitely be preferred. Thanks in advance, Hamish Spencer (h.spencer@waikato.ac.nz)
dmark@acsu.buffalo.edu (David Mark) (02/27/91)
In article <1991Feb27.094529.3019@waikato.ac.nz> math0065@waikato.ac.nz writes: >I am planning a trip to Ecuador and the Galapagos for this December, and I >would like people's advice on field guides, please. I almost certainly need to >import whatever I decide on, so I need to be thinking about it now. >Unfortunately, I speak almost no Spanish, so an English-language guide would >definitely be preferred. Thanks in advance, > >Hamish Spencer (h.spencer@waikato.ac.nz) Unfortunately, there is no field guide for Ecuador. I just spent 16 days there, mostly birding. I found that almost all of the birds were in "Birds of Colombia", by Steven Hilty and William Brown. Princeton, New Jersey: Princeton University Press, 1986. ISBN 0-691-08372-X. An extremely valuable reference is "Aves del Ecuador", by Fernando Ortiz, Paul Greenfield, and Juan Carlo Matheus, published by 'Feprotur' in Ecuador in 1990. It was 6000 sucres, about $US 6, in Quito. They had copies in Libri Mundi bookstore on Juan Mera street a few blocks north of the Hotel Colon. (There is a branch of libri Mundi in the Hotel Colon, that might have a copy.) This is a neat little checklist, with names in English and Spanish, scientific names, and charts that show the bird's range by altitudinal bands, east and west of the Andes. So, if you have a little time on arriving in Quito, try to find it. The other useful reference was John Dunning's "South American Birds: A Photographic Aid to Identification". Newtown Square, Pennsylvania: Harrowood Books, 1987. This covers all of South America, including land and freshwater birds, with tiny maps and very brief descriptions of "more than 2700 species", with color photographs of over 1400 of them! (Birds were mist-netted, photographed, and then released.) ISBN 0-915180-26-X. Ecuador is a great country, bird-wise and otherwise. I saw 190 species while there, of which 129 were "lifers". (It was my first South America trip, but I had birded for about 15 days total in Costa Rica.) Enjoy! David Mark dmark@acsu.buffalo.edu
bur@quercus.gsfc.nasa.gov (Mike Bur) (02/28/91)
In article <1991Feb27.094529.3019@waikato.ac.nz> math0065@waikato.ac.nz writes: >I am planning a trip to Ecuador and the Galapagos for this December, and I >would like people's advice on field guides, please. I almost certainly need to >import whatever I decide on, so I need to be thinking about it now. >Unfortunately, I speak almost no Spanish, so an English-language guide would >definitely be preferred. Thanks in advance, > >Hamish Spencer (h.spencer@waikato.ac.nz) I was just in Ecuador and the Galapagos islands this past summer(our summer that is, July-Aug.). Ah, what a great trip. Anyway, the book I had with me, and virtually all of the travelers that I ran into had, which was commonly refered to as "the Bible" was a book put out by the Lonely Planet people. If you are not familiar with the Lonely Planet Publishers they are people that put out traveling guides for places that are "off the beaten path". The author, whose full name escapes me right now, is Rob R-something his last name ends with "ski". In this book you will find, among other useful things, a list of field guides for both Ecuador and and the Galapagos. If you want more info, contact me via E-mail. Cheers, Mike -- ------------------------------------------------------------------ M.J.C. Bur | Internet: bur@ultisol.gsfc.nasa.gov NASA/GSFC Code 923 |------------------------------------------ Greenbelt, MD 20771 | Phone: (301)286-8424
misan@ra.abo.fi (Annika Forsten DC) (02/28/91)
In article <1991Feb27.094529.3019@waikato.ac.nz> math0065@waikato.ac.nz writes: > I am planning a trip to Ecuador and the Galapagos for this December, and I > would like people's advice on field guides, please. I almost certainly need to > import whatever I decide on, so I need to be thinking about it now. > Unfortunately, I speak almost no Spanish, so an English-language guide would > definitely be preferred. Thanks in advance, There already was a reply on Ecuador. There is an English Field Guide for Galapagos ('A Field Guide to the Birds of Galapagos'). I think all the English books you need would be available from the American Birding Assocciation. Let us know if you need the particulars. Do you need site information as well? Annika Forsten, Finland