Birds of Belize

Description

Author: H. Lee Jones
Illustrator: Dana Gardner
ISBN: 9780292701649
Publisher: University of Texas Press
Year of Publication: 2004
440 pp., 56 full color plates, 28 figures, 234 range maps
Paperback

Birds of Belize provides the first complete guide to the identification of all currently known species—574 in all. The birds are grouped by families, with an introduction to each family that highlights its uniquely identifying characteristics and behaviors.

With nearly six hundred identified species of birds—and an average of five “new” species discovered annually—Belize is becoming a birding hotspot for amateur and professional birders from around the globe. Thousands of birders visit the country each year to enjoy Belize’s amazing abundance and variety of both temperate and tropical birds in natural habitats that remain largely unspoiled. But until now, despite the growing need for an authoritative identification guide, birders have had to rely on regional field guides that offer only limited information on Belizean birds.

The species accounts include all the details necessary for field identification: scientific and common names, size, plumage features, thorough voice descriptions, habitat, distribution, and status in Belize. Full color, expertly drawn illustrations by noted bird artist Dana Gardner present male and female, juvenile and adult, and basic and alternate plumages to aid visual identification throughout the year, while 234 range maps show the birds’ distribution and seasonality in Belize. A comprehensive bibliography completes the volume.

Author H. Lee Jones is an experienced environmental consultant and research biologist who lives in Punta Gorda, Belize. His previous publications include the Annotated Checklist of the Birds of Belize. He also serves as a regional editor for North American Birds and writes a quarterly column on seasonal bird records in Central America.

Excerpt:

“Located at the southeastern tip of the Yucatán Peninsula, Belize is the only English-speaking country in Central America and one of the few in all of Latin America. At 16º to 18º30′ north latitude and 87º30′ to 89d5′ west longitude, it is well within the New World Tropics. The Caribbean Sea lies to the east, Guatemala to the west and south, and Mexico to the north. Belize is about 180 miles (290 km) north to south and 65 miles (105 km) east to west at its widest point, with a land area of 8,867 square miles (22,965 km²). It is only slightly larger than El Salvador, Central America’s smallest country; yet with only 250,000 people, it has only one-thirtieth of El Salvador’s population.

Belize has a broad, flat coastal plain, broken only by the relatively low-lying Maya Mountains in the south and some low hills in the northwest. Belize’s highest peak, located in the southern Maya Mountains, is only 3,688 feet (1,124 m). Composed of granitic, metamorphic, and volcanic rocks, overlain in some areas by limestone, the Maya Mountains rise abruptly from the coastal plain, then slope gradually to the west. The Vaca Plateau, for example, which lies west of the Maya Mountains, has an average elevation of about 1,600 feet (490 m). A number of rivers drain the Maya Mountains watershed, most prominent among them being the Raspaculo-Macal-Belize river system, the Sibun River, North and South Stann Creek, and the Sittee River in the north, and Monkey River, the Deep River, and the Rio Grande in the south. North of the Maya Mountains are the New River, with its network of bird-rich lagoons, and the Rio Hondo, which defines much of the Mexico-Belize border. South of the Maya Mountains watershed are the Temash and Sarstoon rivers, the latter defining Belize’s southern border with Guatemala.”

** Split your book, lighten your load! For a more portable and convenient alternative to carrying the full field guide, we can “split” your guide. We can remove the 38 color plates that occupy the middle section of the book, bind them in a metal spiral binding, and do the same with the remaining text. One may choose to carry only the plates with the short descriptions while in the field, leaving the text at the lodge to refer to later – eliminating more than 70% of the weight of the book!
Cost is $25 (this is our cost to have it done at the printer).

• 440 pages
• 6″ x 9″
• 56 color plates
• 28 figures
• 234 maps