Reviews of "Birds of Bolivia 2.0 / Aves de Bolivia 2.0"
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"... The CD-ROM is easy to install (with the option of choosing English or Spanish as
the language of choice) and the programs are easy to operate: clicking on the variety of
symbols and underlined text brings up lists of included families or species, photographs or
recordings, details on the location of the recording or photo, and additional information.
To me the most important feature of the disk remains the sound recordings.
These selections often are long (not infrequently 30 or 40 seconds long, sometimes longer than
a minute). Another nice feature is that there usually are two, three or more recordings
for each species, thus providing many more examples of each species' vocalizations than is
standard in other cassette or compact disk compilations. ...
...
These recordings do a good job of covering the taxonomic and geographic diversity of
Bolivia. Suboscines are particularly
well-represented, with vocalizations of more than 350 (!) species of ovenbirds, antbirds,
tyrant flycatchers and the like. Included on the disk are a good number of rare or
poorly-known Bolivian endemics such as Bolivian Earthcreeper Upucerthia harterti, the
recently-described Bolivian Spinetail Cranioleuca henricae, Yungas Antwren Myrmotherula
grisea, Bolivian Blackbird Oreopsar bolivianus, and Citron-headed Yellow-Finch Sicalis
luteocephala. Other recordings of particular interest are those
that document the first and second records, respectively, for Bolivia of Rufous-fronted
Antthrush Formicarius rufifrons and Red-billed Tyrannulet Zimmerius cinereicapillus.
A particular treat of these recordings is that all background sounds are identified as well
(and even assigned a quality rating). ...
...
... This is an important tool for anyone interested in the vocalizations, field
identification, or distribution of Neotropical birds. Everyone, regardless of level of
expertise, will learn something from this disk; and most users will find it a very handy
learning tool, indeed."--Thomas S. Schulenberg in The Auk 117(4):
1087-1088, October 2000.
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"... For each recording (typically one to three per species and occasionally up
to six), there is a sliding bar (clicking the arrow at the left starts the recording)
surrounded by additional information: length of the recording, when and where the recording
was made (including elevation, latitude, longitude, and a map); a letter (A to E) indicating
the quality of the recording; a notation of the vocalization type (song, call, alarm note,
etc.); and, if there are pictures of the selected species, a small photo which can be enlarged
by clicking it. Background species are noted, and identification certainties for various
species are given. Some may find that this is more information than they need, but I feel
differently. Many species and subspecies, tropical and otherwise, have different vocalizations
in different areas, so location information can be very important. (I wish that ABA-Area CDs
and CD-ROMs did this!) As to the need for identification certainty ratings, I can only point
out that inaccurate recordings of rails and marsh sparrows on well-known recordings of ABA
birds have confused birders for decades. And, while some of our marsh birds are notorious for
hiding, most could take secrecy lessons from rain-forest denizens. In other words, I view the
certainty rating as overdue honesty in recognizing the difficulties of recording in the rain
forest and in identifying areas in need of more work.
...
... the treatment and documentation of their data (especially the vocalizations) are
among the best commercially available to date. As such, they are well worth their list price
(...), and I only hope that Bird Songs International continues to update them and produce
similar products for other regions."--Michael R. Hannisian in Birding
33(1): 86-88, February 2001. This is a review of all our three CD-ROMs (also Birds of Venezuela and Birds
of Tropical Asia).
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"...
O CD Aves de Bolívia de Mayer pertence à biblioteca pessoal de todo o Ornitólogo tanto
amador como profissional. Hoje em dia com a difusão de computadores portáteis e com a
existência de micro computadores em laboratórios de campo, o CD de Mayer é um excelente
companheiro de viagem. Tenho testado o CD do Mayer em meus estudos sobre a avifauna do Rio
Tubarão. Levo meu computador portátil até minha base em Tubarão, onde consulto sempre as
espécies problemáticas. Em minha experiência, o CD do Mayer tem sido de grande ajuda na
identificação e como forma de exercitar minha capacidade de identificação de sons e fotos
de aves. Isto que a fração de aves do sul brasileiro compartilhada com a Bolívia é bem
menor que a fração das aves de Rondônia, Acre, mato Grosso do Norte e do Sul. Com certeza
deve constar na lista de recomendações para compra de novos títulos para bibliotecas de
universidades e de pós-graduações nas áreas Biológicas de nosso país. ..."--Jorge
L. B. Albuquerque in Ararajuba 8(2): 146-147, December 2000.
And from a review of the first version:
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".. Bird Sounds of Bolivia is a masterpiece of diligent, exacting work
covering 538 of Bolivia's presently known 1,365 species ... Each track is labeled precisely,
containing all of the information one needs to make quality scientific comparisons (e.g.
location, elevation, time, date, and sound duration). Most of the recordings are for a very
decent period of time (20 to 40 seconds), .... Unlike many other Neotropical bird-sound
products, Mayer almost always manages to give the listener at least two types of sound
variations. Species accounts are thoughtfully made; species that have more regional or
individual variation are displayed with more examples of sites and sound recordings. The song
data base is well distributed, with an example of almost all of the genera found in Bolivia.
...
One feature that I believe deserves special acknowledgement is the thorough identification of
the background sounds on all of Mayer's tracks. ...
... It is ignorant and egotistical that products about Latin American wildlife are made only
for people outside these countries. The extra effort Mayer placed in writing both the English
and the Spanish text should be standard practice for all works of this type.
My biggest criticism is that I want more. I want everything that is on Bird Sounds of
Bolivia and then more calls and songs showing more and more variation. But this is a
typical complaint in South America, where many species with quite a large vocal repertoire are
demonstrated by just a single type of sound.
As a research tool, Bird Sounds of Bolivia represents a technological and ideological
revolution that will set a precedent for all future bird-sound (especially Neotropical)
products. If one were to own only a single reference work of bird sounds for the Neotropics, I
would recommend Bird Sounds of Bolivia above anything else available." -- A.
Bennett Hennessey in The Auk 115(3): 819-820, 1998.
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