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Rating: 
Summary: A bit of a let-down
Review: I applaud the authors' effort to publish a field guide to birds of Peru. Compiling all the information and plates necessary to document all the ~1800 bird species in Peru must be a truly daunting task. I was initially delighted with the clear, crisp plates. Once out in the field with the book, however, my delight turned to disappointment. Most annoying to me is the poor organization of the plates. For example, large-billed and yellow-billed terns are illustrated on plate 9, along with ducks and geese. The remainder of the terns are pictured on plate 23, with the gulls. I found numerous examples such as this. Needless to say, while out in the field and trying to make a quick ID, one is not likely to happen to flip to the duck plate while looking at terns. The species descriptions also leave a lot to be desired. The text is quite sparse, with very little information regarding range, habitat type, behavior, or physical descriptions. There are no descriptions of vocalizations, although references to recordings containing vocalizations are provided for some species. On the positive side, the sparseness of the text means that this guide is light and easy to carry in the field. I'm left with the feeling that this book was rushed to press in order to fill the need for a field guide to this region. I can only hope that future editions will fix some of the errors and fill in details. For the time being, I'll rely on Birds of Colombia or Birds of Ecuador next time I'm in Peru.
Rating: 
Summary: Review by someone living in Peru
Review: I have been birding for over 20 years now, and was thrilled to hear that this book was coming out last year. Why? Because I live in the Andes of Peru as a medical missionary. Up until now I have not had much interest in birding, because I cannot identify what I am seeing, and I derive much of my birding pleasure from doing just that. If I am a 'lister' fine. If others are so noble as to take birding pleasure from just seeing birds, good for you, but I am not that way. Thus, this book has made me want to get up early and stomp through the Andes like I used to with my Peterson guide in the plains of Nebraska! Yes, the book has typographical errors, and probably content errors. Yes, some comorants appear incongruously on pages away from other comorants. Yes, some birds on the same plates are not to scale. But I suspect most birders are functioning at a high enough level to overcome these difficulties. For us casual birders it is quite adequate. Considering the vacuum of information existing before this guide, it is a 'must have' for anyone wanting to do some birding in Peru. In the US we are used to high quality available guides. Peru is a poor country. We don't have resources to put out a perfect guide. The author lives in California, so putting out this guide is a remarkable achievement, even if there are errors.
Rating: 
Summary: A 'must have' for all bird watchers.
Review: I took this guide with me into the Amazon (Manu Bioreserve) and found it to be a delight to use. The book is first-rate in all aspects. Ibis Publishing has done a brilliant job of illustrating each of the 1800 species of birds on the 127 color plates. The text, though scant, describes the identifying feature of each bird, plus its range of habitat throughout Peru. I only wish that Clements and Shany would have included information about the unique characteristics, or habits of the birds. All ornithologist and birders visiting Peru should have this valuable guide in their daypack. Highly Recommend
Rating:
Summary: A 'must have' for all bird watchers
Review: I took this guide with me into the Amazon (Manu Bioreserve) and found it to be a delight to use. The book is first-rate in all aspects. Ibis Publishing has done a brilliant job of illustrating each of the 1800 species of birds on the 127 color plates. The text, though scant, describes the identifying feature of each bird, plus its range of habitat throughout Peru. I only wish that Clements and Shany would have included information about the unique characteristics, or habits of the birds. All ornithologist and birders visiting Peru should have this valuable guide in their daypack. Highly Recommend
Rating:
Summary: Not perfect but very useful
Review: On a recent trip to Peru, this book was used more than any other field guide. Featuring a wealth of color plates, this book is for carrying in the field and identifying birds, not for learning much about them. The text tells you very little about each species, but other guides such as Birds of Columbia and The Birds of South America series can fill in information once you have identified the bird. Unlike other guides I brought, Birds of Peru was sufficient for identifying almost everything I saw, and though it could be better, it is a must for any birder visiting Peru.
Rating:
Summary: Not perfect but very useful
Review: On a recent trip to Peru, this book was used more than any other field guide. Featuring a wealth of color plates, this book is for carrying in the field and identifying birds, not for learning much about them. The text tells you very little about each species, but other guides such as Birds of Columbia and The Birds of South America series can fill in information once you have identified the bird. Unlike other guides I brought, Birds of Peru was sufficient for identifying almost everything I saw, and though it could be better, it is a must for any birder visiting Peru.
Rating:
Summary: Monster Work
Review: This book is a monster. With almost 1800 birds, peru's field guide is really all that it could possibly be. It has very limited text, it doesn't illustrate immatures, birds in flight, or birds in different positions, and yet it is still so large as to be clumsy. So I think that this book is really the best that it can be. It is a comprimise between massive size and limited content.
Rating:
Summary: Monster Work
Review: This book is a monster. With almost 1800 birds, peru's field guide is really all that it could possibly be. It has very limited text, it doesn't illustrate immatures, birds in flight, or birds in different positions, and yet it is still so large as to be clumsy. So I think that this book is really the best that it can be. It is a comprimise between massive size and limited content.
Rating: 
Summary: Not what we had hoped for!
Review: Well, it's good that there is a field guide for Peru, finally. But if you think standards would have gone up since the days of "Birds of Venezuela" or "Birds of Colombia", you are in for some considerable disappointment. For one thing, there is a great difference in the quality of the plates. Some of the plates are truly excellent, while others are simply terrible by today's standards. Many of them look like they have been done in a hurry. Often, the plates look flat and the colors are way too bright without the differentiations one would expect. Of course, the plates will still be helpful for identification of the species. But often, the actual bird looks considerably different. Texts are extremely brief, usually not more than 3 to 5 lines! There is no information about voices except for a number sometimes, referring to a list of recordings. There are no range maps. In sum, if you had hoped for the definitive book on the birds of Peru, keep waiting. This is not it. And since the plates in "Birds of Ecuador" are also rather disappointing, a really satisfying bird guide for Peru, and its surrounding countries still remains to be written. I understand that the originals of those plates that were done by Barnes looked considerably better. Thus, it seems, there might be a chance for an improved second edition, at least as far as color renditions are concerned. Of course, if you plan to travel to the area now, you do need the present edition, anyway.
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