A Guide to the Birds of Costa Rica

Birders the world over agree it's a classic in its field ;-) An excellent guide to one of the most diverse bird populations anywhere with 52 beautiful color plates, detailed species accounts, descriptions of birding localities. If you're already hooked on birding you know from your friends that this is the book you need for the avifauna of Costa Rica, and if you're a novice, this is a perfect place to start.

by F. Gary Stiles, Alexander F. Skutch (Contributor), Dana Gardner (Illustrator), Paperback, Publisher: Cornell Univ Pr, (1990), ISBN: 0801496004
From Amazon $US 27.97

Travel & Site Guide to Birds of Costa Rica With Side Trips to Panama

This book is exactly what it says, a guide to birding sites. It is not a field guide with color illustrations etc. That said, it's a useful tool for planning a trip or getting more information about regions you are seeing on an organized tour.

by Aaron D. Sekerak, Aaron D. Sekerak, Eussa Ginger, Elissa Conger (Illustrator), Paperback, 256 pages, Publisher: Lone Pine Publishing, (1996), ISBN: 1551050846
From Amazon $US 11.87

A Guide to the Birds of Panama: With Costa Rica, Nicaragua, and Honduras

Some tout this volume as superior to A Guide to the Birds of Costa Rica by Stiles, Skutch & Gardener. Over 1,000 species, more than 800 illustrated on 48 color plates. While the neotropical birds you are likely to spot in Costa Rica will be in this book, the site specific information is weighted towards Panama. Follows the sequence and taxonomy of the 1983 check-list of the American Ornithologists Union.

by Robert S. Ridgely, John A. Gwynne (Contributor), Paperback, 412 pages, Publisher: Princeton Univ Pr; 2nd edition, (1992), ISBN: 0691025126

A Field Guide to the Birds of Mexico and Adjacent Areas : Belize, Guatemala, and El Salvador

The author claims this is the most "user friendly" bird guide. It incorporates the 1998 check-list of the American Ornithologists Union, and has over 900 illustrations.

by Ernest Preston Edwards (Author), Edward Murrell Butler (Illustrator), Paperback, 285 pages, Publisher: Univ of Texas Press, 3rd edition, (1998), ISBN: 0292720912