A review of A Photographic Guide to the Birds of Jamaica

For bird watchers who are planning a vacation in Jamaica, there is now one more item to pack: A Photographic Guide to the Birds of Jamaica by Ann Haynes-Sutton, Audrey Downer & Robert Sutton, with photography by Yves-Jacques Rey-Millet.

While those birders in the Northeast will recognize many of the birds that are found on the island of Jamaica, especially the migratory seabirds, others are never found in the northern latitudes and will be entirely new. Vacations are a wonderful opportunity o add new life birds to our lists, but only if we know what we’re seeing. With A Photographic Guide to the Birds of Jamaica, that won’t be a problem.

Most of the birds detailed in the book have an entire page dedicated to their entries and many have two full pages. This allows each bird’s entry to be accompanied by a map of Jamaica showing which part of the island the bird frequents, several photographs of the birds in different poses and plumages, as well as a description of the bird, its behavior and habitat.

One of the most interesting features of the book for me is the inclusion of local common names for each bird. While New England bird watchers might think they know the bird referred to as a robin red-breast, in Jamaica they’ll be in for quite a shock as a local points it out as a bright green Jamaican Tody (todus todus) and gives the alternate and equally colorful local name for the same bird as the Rasta Bird.

The photographs are clear and precise, and are conveniently marked with the month in which each was taken so that readers of the book can differentiate the seasonal plumage of each species. The book includes seasonal migrants that pass through Jamaica as well as those birds that live on the island year round. A brief section covers vagrant species as well, alas, without pictures.

One criticism, though mild, is that it would have been nice for the authors to include the local names for each bird in the index, so that when a local guide tells one to look out for Jack Sparrow we would know that he is referring to The Greater Antillean Bullfinch rather than a Pirate of the Caribbean. Still, A Photographic Guide to the Birds of Jamaica is a must-have book for anyone with even a passing interest in bird watching who intends to visit Jamaica.

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Author's note: A complimentary copy of A Photographic Guide to Birds of Jamaica was provided to the author of this review by The Princeton University Press. No agreement regarding the contents or character of this review were made with publisher.

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