An illustrated checklist, alright

A review of "Birds of Southern South America and Antarctica" 

This volume covers the birds found in Argentina, Chile, Bolivia, Paraguay, Uruguay, southern Brazil and the part of Antarctica closest to South America. It's part of a series called “Princeton Illustrated Checklists”.

After leafing through the book, I concur. This is definitely a checklist, rather than an actual field guide. The color illustrations are very small, the fonts are even smaller and the species presentations are ultra-short. Range maps form a separate chapter.

Highlights include the Jabiru, the Andean Condor, the Greater Rhea, the Wandering Albatross and the Dwarf Tinamou (provided you can see it). The European Starling is also included, since it has established itself around Buenos Aires and is expected to spread. It seems the local avifauna in southern South America has been cursed with “interesting times”…

A curious detail is that the copy I found in a Swedish library has been “improved” by an enthusiastic bird-lover, who has written the Swedish vernacular name of each bird after its entry! It must have taken the poor man at least a week to conclude this Herculean task. Thank you. However, since this checklist didn't thrill me enough, I only give it two stars.