Basics: 1985, hardcover, 245 pages, 45 species shown in 72 color photographs, no range maps

This is a handy little photo guide that covers all 180+ birds recorded from the three islands making up the Cayman Islands group in the Caribbean. The highlight of this book is the use of very good photographs that focus on 45 of the island’s specialties and common birds. The photographed bird typically takes up the entire page, which is a nice contrast to the many photo guides that use small pictures. Twenty-two of the birds are shown with multiple photos. Of the few books with color photographs of the endemic Vitelline Warbler, this book has the best photos.

All birds are described in the text. Each bird typically receives 1-4 paragraphs that cover field characteristics, range, habitat, and status. Although each bird is described fairly well, the description is a little too generic to be of much help if you are trying to distinguish between the sandpipers or fall warblers.

Despite covering all the birds of the Cayman Islands, this is not a complete field guide since only 45 (25%) of the species are illustrated. If you are focused on just the islands’ specialties, this book will be useful. If you are newer to birding or just not familiar with the US birds, you might want to include a standard US field guide on your trip to cover the other 75%.

I’ve listed several related books below…
1) Birds of the West Indies by Bond
2) Birds of the West Indies by Raffaele et al.
3) A Guide to the Birds of the West Indies by Raffaele et al.
4) Photographic Guide to Birds of the West Indies by Flieg/Sander ( )