--- product_id: 8648880 title: "The Birds of Costa Rica: A Field Guide (Zona Tropical Publications)" price: "197.62 DT" currency: TND in_stock: true reviews_count: 13 url: https://www.desertcart.tn/products/8648880-the-birds-of-costa-rica-a-field-guide-zona-tropical store_origin: TN region: Tunisia --- # The Birds of Costa Rica: A Field Guide (Zona Tropical Publications) **Price:** 197.62 DT **Availability:** ✅ In Stock ## Quick Answers - **What is this?** The Birds of Costa Rica: A Field Guide (Zona Tropical Publications) - **How much does it cost?** 197.62 DT with free shipping - **Is it available?** Yes, in stock and ready to ship - **Where can I buy it?** [www.desertcart.tn](https://www.desertcart.tn/products/8648880-the-birds-of-costa-rica-a-field-guide-zona-tropical) ## Best For - Customers looking for quality international products ## Why This Product - Free international shipping included - Worldwide delivery with tracking - 15-day hassle-free returns ## Description This is the only compact, portable, and user-friendly field guide the novice or experienced birder needs to identify birds in the field in the diverse habitats found in Costa Rica. It features descriptions and illustrations of all 903 species definitely known from Costa Rica, including pelagics and species regular to Cocos Island. Fifty-six of these species are placed in a "Rarities" section that includes accidentals, rarer pelagics, and species that have not been reported in more than twenty years. The detailed full-color illustrations show identifying features—including plumage differences among males, females, and juveniles—and views of birds in flight wherever pertinent. Robert Dean has supplied more than 360 new illustrations, including sixty-four species that are illustrated for the first time in this edition. These include recent additions to the country list, pelagic species, Cocos Island species, and all accidentals recorded from the Costa Rican mainland. Range maps and nomenclature have been updated for this edition, which also has a new user-friendly organizational scheme and an alphabetical quick-find index of groups on the inside back cover. Review: Recommend - Great addition for 10 day bird photo safari in CR. Was able to ID many birds. Review: A very good field guide just got better - Garrigues & Dean (along with Cornell's Comstock Publishing) performed a virtual miracle in 2007 with the first edition of this work. Before then, birders in the field in Costa Rica had to use the superb but voluminous guide written by Stiles, Skutch & Gardner (1989), and they often resorted to separating the plates from the text for use in the field. This second edition is not so much revolution as evolution, but it does include illustrations of 64 species not previously covered. In addition, Robert Dean has replaced some species illustrations with portraits he deems improved, and he has added some "supplementary" images (in-flight, alternate plumages, etc.). The authors chose to follow the taxonomic nomenclature of Clements and a modified version of the Clements taxonomic sequence (not surprisingly retaining falcons with other diurnal raptors; inserting pigeons & doves, parrots and cuckoos between hummingbirds and trogons; and (perhaps most interesting of all) depicting the passerine swallows after the non-passerine swifts (also aerial specialists) and before the non-passerine hummingbirds). They believe these departures from taxonomic rigidity promote their goal of producing a guide that is more intuitively useful in the field, and I think they're right. Seabirds seen offshore in Costa Rican pelagic environs have been added to this second edition, as have species associated with Cocos Island (300 miles southwest of the mainland). Novice birders (and others) will appreciate the detailed descriptions & illustrations (six pages) of anatomical features (among the best I've found in any field guide). Birders new to Costa Rica and birders looking to diversify their Costa Rican birding experiences will value the brief chapter on climate and topography, including summaries of six different "life zones" and some of the ornithological features of each. Range maps are now color-coded for seasonality, and have been updated. Species illustrations are at least equal in quality to those of the first edition, and many birders would rate at least a few as improvements. Some of the brighter colors depicted on some species in my first edition seem somewhat more subdued in this new guide, but in most instances the differences are subtle. Inside the front cover (very conveniently) are images of adult vultures and raptors in flight. Congratulations to Richard Garrigues, Robert Dean and the folks at Comstock Publishing responsible for the Zona Tropical series. ## Technical Specifications | Specification | Value | |---------------|-------| | Best Sellers Rank | #43,391 in Books ( See Top 100 in Books ) #6 in Costa Rica Travel Guides #11 in Birdwatching Travel Guides #11 in General Central America Travel Guides | | Customer Reviews | 4.8 out of 5 stars 648 Reviews | ## Images ![The Birds of Costa Rica: A Field Guide (Zona Tropical Publications) - Image 1](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/71N-FxEFjBL.jpg) ## Customer Reviews ### ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Recommend *by P***D on September 6, 2026* Great addition for 10 day bird photo safari in CR. Was able to ID many birds. ### ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ A very good field guide just got better *by G***R on December 23, 2014* Garrigues & Dean (along with Cornell's Comstock Publishing) performed a virtual miracle in 2007 with the first edition of this work. Before then, birders in the field in Costa Rica had to use the superb but voluminous guide written by Stiles, Skutch & Gardner (1989), and they often resorted to separating the plates from the text for use in the field. This second edition is not so much revolution as evolution, but it does include illustrations of 64 species not previously covered. In addition, Robert Dean has replaced some species illustrations with portraits he deems improved, and he has added some "supplementary" images (in-flight, alternate plumages, etc.). The authors chose to follow the taxonomic nomenclature of Clements and a modified version of the Clements taxonomic sequence (not surprisingly retaining falcons with other diurnal raptors; inserting pigeons & doves, parrots and cuckoos between hummingbirds and trogons; and (perhaps most interesting of all) depicting the passerine swallows after the non-passerine swifts (also aerial specialists) and before the non-passerine hummingbirds). They believe these departures from taxonomic rigidity promote their goal of producing a guide that is more intuitively useful in the field, and I think they're right. Seabirds seen offshore in Costa Rican pelagic environs have been added to this second edition, as have species associated with Cocos Island (300 miles southwest of the mainland). Novice birders (and others) will appreciate the detailed descriptions & illustrations (six pages) of anatomical features (among the best I've found in any field guide). Birders new to Costa Rica and birders looking to diversify their Costa Rican birding experiences will value the brief chapter on climate and topography, including summaries of six different "life zones" and some of the ornithological features of each. Range maps are now color-coded for seasonality, and have been updated. Species illustrations are at least equal in quality to those of the first edition, and many birders would rate at least a few as improvements. Some of the brighter colors depicted on some species in my first edition seem somewhat more subdued in this new guide, but in most instances the differences are subtle. Inside the front cover (very conveniently) are images of adult vultures and raptors in flight. Congratulations to Richard Garrigues, Robert Dean and the folks at Comstock Publishing responsible for the Zona Tropical series. ### ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Many improvements in 2nd edition...but two gripes. *by E***E on June 24, 2015* Hard to fault the newest edition of the only excellent choice in field guides for birds of Costa Rica. Other reviewers have waxed on about the new illustrations, the color coded maps (que bueno!) and such. But I would have to add that I believe the authors made a poor choice to follow what appears to be S.N.G. Howell's suggestion re grouping bird families together because to the untrained eye they look like they should be related. Really? People who are going to buy this book and spend significant sums of money to visit Costa Rica cannot handle the fact that swallows and swifts are found not to be much related? To me this is a real dumbing down of their book. Worse yet, as this is done ostensibly for the novice birder, they are the ones who will be misled re taxonomy and wonder why all those other books seem to have it wrong. For those who know their birds better than I do, which includes most birders I meet, they might be irritated that their usual search method in the book is slowed down in a few cases. I also wish the authors would have done a bit more research on current range records. I don't see the Fiery-billed Aricaris that I photographed outside Cd Colon and that are listed on ebird at El Rodeo on their range map. That said, I do like very much everything else about the new edition. Worth every colon and then some. Mike Judd ## Frequently Bought Together - The Birds of Costa Rica: A Field Guide (Zona Tropical Publications) - Costa Rica (National Geographic Adventure Map) - The Wildlife of Costa Rica: A Field Guide (Zona Tropical Publications) --- ## Why Shop on Desertcart? - 🛒 **Trusted by 1.3+ Million Shoppers** — Serving international shoppers since 2016 - 🌍 **Shop Globally** — Access 737+ million products across 21 categories - 💰 **No Hidden Fees** — All customs, duties, and taxes included in the price - 🔄 **15-Day Free Returns** — Hassle-free returns (30 days for PRO members) - 🔒 **Secure Payments** — Trusted payment options with buyer protection - ⭐ **TrustPilot Rated 4.5/5** — Based on 8,000+ happy customer reviews **Shop now:** [https://www.desertcart.tn/products/8648880-the-birds-of-costa-rica-a-field-guide-zona-tropical](https://www.desertcart.tn/products/8648880-the-birds-of-costa-rica-a-field-guide-zona-tropical) --- *Product available on Desertcart Tunisia* *Store origin: TN* *Last updated: 2026-10-25*