Costa Rica: The Ecotravellers' Wildlife Guide

Rating:
Summary: good but not great
Review: For 30% less of the cost of this book, you could (as I did) pick up a superior book that details the history of conservation in the country's diverse geographical zones (seacoasts, prairies, jungles and volcanic highlands). That book is "Costa Rica: The Last Country The Gods Made."

Rating:
Summary: Not enough coverage
Review: I took this book with me to Costa Rica so that I could spot and identify commonly-seen birds and wildlife there.

The first part of the book contains an overview about Eco-traveling that could have been summarized a bit more. The book conveniently places details about wildlife in the center of the book, and puts the illustrations in the back so that you can do faster lookups.

Although I appreciate the emphasis on Eco-travel, I found this book rather disappointing when used as a reference. Some of the birds I saw more than once were not listed at all. There are few illustrations of what the birds look like in flight and there is little about age- or gender-based differences in appearance. Also, although the wildlife coverage is fairly good for reptiles and amphibians, there is very little about marine or plant life.

I'm still relatively new to birding, but if I could do it again, I would have paid the additional cost and bought the Stiles and Skutch book.... If you're not a bird watcher and you're just looking for a basic 'wild life' identifier, I would suggest skipping the book, and instead, buying one of those laminated 'bird/wildlife identification' cards that you can find for about $10 in many of the visitor-oriented shops around Costa Rica.

Rating:
Summary: A Beginner's Guide
Review: If you really consider yourself to be an "ecotraveller" then you will be greatly disappointed by the limited information provided in the book.

The attractive title "Ecotravellers Wildlife Guide" had me sold. Unfortunately this book is not for ecotravellers, but for the novice wildlife observer. This book is very elementary and is very limited in the variation of species of birds and reptiles listed. As for the mammals, the book was sufficient.

I just returned from my trip to Costa Rica 3 days ago and I had more than one of my wildlife tour guides criticize this book for its lack of information. It was so frustrating to see gorgeous birds and lizards everywhere and not be able to find hardly any of them within the book. Costa Rica has 1600 species of birds, so it is understandable that many birds would go unmentioned. Unfortunately, this book does not even scratch the surface of the diversity of birds found in this amazing country. While on my trip I was fortunate enough to be able to borrow a book from my tour guide so that I could go out bird-watching. The book I borrowed was fabulous and it was called "A Guide to the Birds of Costa Rica" by F. Gary Stiles & Alexander F. Skutch. (highly recommended)

I hope this information is helpful and best of luck on your trip!

Rating:
Summary: best book of the kind out there...
Review: Not too big, not too small. Just the right amount of information. This book is exceptionally easy to read. It's well organized, funny and full of good science and interesting lore. Two other qualities makes this book outstanding. First, it describes and illustrates only the birds that you are most likely to see. Other books gave me too many choices. This was my first try at birding and of the 55 different birds I saw, all but one were in this book. Second, this book also covers all the other wildlife that you may be lucky enough to see. Monkeys, lizards, coatis, and red poison- dart frogs - they're all in there. However, if you like being a loner don't buy this book. It's a friend maker - everyone wanted to borrow it. Wherever we went it was "Can I see your book for a minute please? You may want to bring or read more books but...this is the one you'll always carry in your backpack and bring to the breakfast table. Enjoy!

Rating:
Summary: excellent nature guide
Review: This book provides a fascinating, well-written and often humorous overview of Costa Rican natural history as well as a detailed description of the most often seen wildlife. I cannot overstate how much this book enhanced my trip to Costa Rica and gave me a greater understanding of what I was seeing. It is not exhaustive, but unless you want to carry multiple, subject-specific books with you, this is the one to bring. It had information on virtually every bird and creature I saw there.

Rating:
Summary: good but not great
Review: This is a pretty good guide and introduction to the wildlife of Costa Rica and fills a particular need. Costa Rica is full of wildlife and as a consequence there are many wildlife guides out there. Many of these guides, while technically excellent, are too specialized for the basic tourist exploring the country. The problem is that one cannot carry all of these guides into the field at one time. This book consolidates wildlife encountered by a visitor into one book that fits readily into your pack. If you can only carry one guide, this is good choice.

Rating:
Summary: A Versatile Guide
Review: This is a pretty good guide and introduction to the wildlife of Costa Rica and fills a particular need. Costa Rica is full of wildlife and as a consequence there are many wildlife guides out there. Many of these guides, while technically excellent, are too specialized for the basic tourist exploring the country. The problem is that one cannot carry all of these guides into the field at one time. This book consolidates wildlife encountered by a visitor into one book that fits readily into your pack. If you can only carry one guide, this is good choice.

Rating:
Summary: A must-carry reference for the ecotourist in Costa Rica!
Review: This is the first really comprehensive, backback-suitable wildlife guide for ecotouring in Costa Rica that I've come across. It combines information from the best possible sources and includes much of what you are likely to encounter in various regions of the country. Well-organized and easy to use, this is a must-carry reference guide! My thanks and congratulations to the author!