The Birds of South America : Volume 1: The Oscine Passerines

Rating:
Summary: The "South American`s Birders Bible"!
Review: Even if you`re not a bird lover, you should find this book a very interesting one. The high quality of the descriptions and, of course, the plates, makes this book an essential tool for every one who wants to now more about these lovely animals. These two volumes may be the best bird guide ever made(at least for South American Passerines), and all I can say is that I can`t wait to see the next two volumes(Nonpasserines Land Birds and Aquatic Birds). The book describes even the Subspecies, and each description includes the bird`s behaviour. Don`t miss this one

Rating:
Summary: How could I have done without it?
Review: This really is a must for everyone who's seriously interested in South-American birds. The colour plates are up to Tudor's high standards. I even managed to identify some birds I saw 2 years ago. This surely was not due to the (poor) quality of my notes, but to the excellent quality of the plates.
The text is as clear as can be with good discription of the species, accompanied by clear distribution maps.
There are only two drawbacks:
- they did manage to illustrate "only" about 60% of the species (this cost them a star),
- we have to wait very long for the two remaining volumes.