Rating: 
Summary: The best field guide to date anywhere!
Review: After reading this guide almost cover to cover, and field testing it in several locations in the guide area, I believe that this may very well be the best bird guide that has ever been written for a geographical area. The book is quite large (23.3 x 14.3 x 4.4 cm) and heavy (about 3 lbs), with 71 color plates sandwiched between over 850 pages of text. In spite of it being a bit cumbersome in the field, it is an essential resource that should always be close at hand when studying birds of this region.The introduction is a lengthy 90 pages that includes a wealth of information such as geography, climate, ornithological history, conservation efforts per country, taxonomy, and an excellent outline of the species accounts which includes a bird topography page and a glossary for looking up words like heterodactyl or vermiculations. It can not be overstated that all of this is worth reading for a greater understanding of the species' descriptions. The species accounts are packed with information and written in a easily accessed style. The accounts are taxonomically organized and preceding every taxonomic order, family and large genus is an introduction concerning their identification and habits. Every species is named by its American name, latin name, and its Spanish name. I have found the Spanish names to be almost worthless since they are so regional, but I am glad to see that Howell has made an attempt at standardizing them. All the species identification pieces are well written with sexual and age differences given lots of space. I particularly like the voice sections where he writes out in letters how he hears the songs and calls. There are some songs and calls of resident birds that he has omitted, but it would take up too much space to include all the calls. And, of course, there are many calls that he has written that I hear differently which is to be expected when dealing with sounds. The habitat and habits section informs as to where one is likely to find a certain species and to what it might be doing. Nidification is also covered in this section. The similar species section is excellent for differentiating between look-alikes. And the status and distribution section tells you how rare or common a species is in the geographical areas it inhabits. Elevational limits are also given here. This section is aided greatly by the superb range maps which accompany most species. They delimit summer and winter ranges as well as showing migratory pathways. Vagrants and isolated breeding colony locations are shown with an asterisk or dot respectively. The notes section at the end gives overall ranges and may inform of a name or taxonomic change that Howell made that was not recognized by the AOU at the time of printing. The 71 plates were all expertly drawn by Sophie Webb illustrating mainly the species that occur in the guide region, but not in the U.S. There are several North American species included, however, for the sake of comparison. I particularly like the plates for showing age, sex and regional differences within a species. I also find it very helpful having species such as raptors and parrots depicted perched and in flight. Facing the plates are the bird names and short descriptions that should be sufficent for most identifications. With nearly 26 pages of bibliography and 74 months of field work by the author and artist, this is an extremely well researched field guide. Even so, during my 6 mos. of travelling in this region, I have discovered many birds in places where they have never been seen before or seen only once or twice prior. Without the rangemaps in this field guide though I probably would not have realized that a Sandwich Tern is unheard of on a land-locked lake in the middle of Guatemala. And thus, I would not have known to document it. This field guide is not meant to be the final chapter in Middle American ornithology. In fact, it shows what gaps still exist in our knowledge of the birds in this region and allows us to start filling them in.
Rating:
Summary: The best birding guide around for Mexican birds.
Review: From the moment I bought this book, I became captivated with simply looking at it's pictures. It's amazing! The diversity and beauty of Mexican birds is unbelievable, and Steve Howell and Sophie Webb do an excellent job of portraying the reality of Mexican birds. It's by far, the best guide out there (heads and tails above the Peterson guide to Mexican birds) for the region. If you're going south of the border or just want to drool over God's creation, this is the book to look at.
Rating: 
Summary: Not exactly a field guide
Review: I purchased this book before going to Mexico for a three-month research trip. While this guide is fairly complete, it is more than a little cumbersome to take along on any birding expedition. Also, some of the illustrations seem cartoon-like, especially after seeing the real bird in the wild. However, the general information at the beginning of the book about birding in Mexico was helpful, and it helped to initiate some interesting discussions with local nature guides.
Rating:
Summary: Not exactly a field guide
Review: I purchased this book before going to Mexico for a three-month research trip. While this guide is fairly complete, it is more than a little cumbersome to take along on any birding expedition. Also, some of the illustrations seem cartoon-like, especially after seeing the real bird in the wild. However, the general information at the beginning of the book about birding in Mexico was helpful, and it helped to initiate some interesting discussions with local nature guides.
Rating:
Summary: Best Neotropical Field Guide - Hands down!
Review: I will be brief - I find this to be the best field guide to the birds of any neotropical region currently available, and I pretty much have studied them all on depth! The only guides that come close to this level of usefulness are Hilty's Columbia field guide and the new Ridgely/Greenfield Ecuador 2 volume set. This book has excellent, seasonally specific range maps, and illustrates many plumage variations. I am astonished to read other reviews in which this book is considered cumbersome, because all too often smaller, lighter books sacrifice completness of information and thoroughness, which compromises their usefulness. True, it's a hefty volume, but it treats a complex avifauna without sacrificing necessary information. The other criticism I was surprised by was that the pictures were too "cartoonlike"; I have found these plates to be some of the most useful in the field, for they emphasize key characteristics with clarity. In the field, simplicity is far more practical than overly-detailed artwork which may be more lifelike, but blurs the differences between species. Anyway, praise for Howell! May this volume set an example for future field guides throughout Latin America!
Rating: 
Summary: Problem to buy this book
Review: I'm sorry to send you this message here but I don't succed to put this book in my CART (A Guide to the Birds of Mexico and Northern Central America)
de Steve N. G. Howell (Author) (no place for that on the page)and I don't know what to do to join you.
Rating:
Summary: The Best Guide for birders in Mexico
Review: I've found this field guide quite complete, cause all the plates are well distributed, you can find the bird in perch & flying wich are really good when you're in the field, I've used this guide in all mexico for 4 months and work great!! even with the birds of tres marias island, it's rare find a book which describes the bird of this particular zone, the part describing the mexican border with guatemala it's fantastic, relating possible sightings of great birds of prey like (guiana crested eagle)in this part, and also mexican goverment used this book as a first bibliography, in it's bird conservation programmes,(parrot, birds of prey, passerines) first released on 1999 (PREPS)Semarnat. i really recommed this book
Rating:
Summary: The Best Guide for birders in Mexico
Review: I've found this field guide quite complete, cause all the plates are well distributed, you can find the bird in perch & flying wich are really good when you're in the field, I've used this guide in all mexico for 4 months and work great!! even with the birds of tres marias island, it's rare find a book which describes the bird of this particular zone, the part describing the mexican border with guatemala it's fantastic, relating possible sightings of great birds of prey like (guiana crested eagle)in this part, and also mexican goverment used this book as a first bibliography, in it's bird conservation programmes,(parrot, birds of prey, passerines) first released on 1999 (PREPS)Semarnat. i really recommed this book
Rating:
Summary: The Best Guide for birders in Mexico
Review: I've found this field guide quite complete, cause all the plates are well distributed, you can find the bird in perch & flying wich are really good when you're in the field, I've used this guide in all mexico for 4 months and work great!! even with the birds of tres marias island, it's rare find a book which describes the bird of this particular zone, the part describing the mexican border with guatemala it's fantastic, relating possible sightings of great birds of prey like (guiana crested eagle)in this part, and also mexican goverment used this book as a first bibliography, in it's bird conservation programmes,(parrot, birds of prey, passerines) first released on 1999 (PREPS)Semarnat. i really recommed this book
Rating:
Summary: Best reading before/after birding Mexico
Review: Of all books about birds of Mexico, this is the best. Very good illustrations and information. Some map distributions could do better, but everything else has been of great help.
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