Orlando H. Garrido

Basics: 2000, softcover, 253 pages, 51 color plates, 354 species, range map for each bird

Truly the only complete field guide dedicated to Cuba, this book will be very helpful anywhere in the country. It covers all of Cuba's resident birds along with all the migrants that pass to and from the USA. Any birding trip to Cuba must include this book.

Although the artistic quality of the illustrations is a notch below the better US and European guides, it is certainly good enough to offer confident identification. Some of the birds have obvious quirks in the size/shape of the beaks and heads, specifically the flycatchers, warblers, and sparrows. The Clay-colored Sparrow has a bunting beak and the Giant Kingbird looks like Chewbacca from Star Wars. One note about the warblers is only the adult breeding plumages are shown, so keep this in mind if you visit during the winter. An eastern US guide might be handy.

An injustice was done to the Cuban Trogon and Cuban Tody with small illustrations. Their colors and their endemic status should warrant that they stand out more in this book -- which ought be be true of all its endemics. The tody is actually displayed (incorrectly) as smaller than the Ruby-throated Hummingbird.

The descriptions are good, but don’t go into great detail. You’ll need to read in advance from other sources to properly distinguish Red-shouldered from Tawny-shouldered Blackbirds. If you hope to rely solely on the epaulet color, you might have some troubles with these birds. When reading through the text, I recall wishing I had included another Caribbean field guide with me during my trip not long after this book was published. A handy feature in the text was the inclusion of date ranges for the seasonal migrants that pass through.

The range maps are found within the species accounts and are notably larger than other field guides.

You could certainly use one of the Raffaele identification guides for Cuba, but this book has better information, helps to zero in on just the island’s birds, and is quite adequate for any birding trip.… (más)