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There is no doubt that some of the greatest avifauna of the Neotropics are found in Bolivia. This beautiful and rugged country is home to no less than 1,379 bird species (SACC 2009), placing Bolivia just behind Colombia, Peru, Brazil and Ecuador in terms of avian diversity.

There are only a few publications that fully cover these magnificent birds. Among the most prominent are “The Birds of Bolivia” 1943 by James Bond & R. Meyer de Schauensee; “Aves de Bolivia” 1985 by Noel Kempff Mercado; “Birds of Bolivia: Sounds and Photographs” 2000, by Sjoerd Mayer and “Annotated list of the Birds of Bolivia” 2003, by A. Hennessey, S. Herzog and F. Sagot.

Soon there will be a new, comprehensive addition to the mix with the publication of "The Birds of Bolivia" by Joseph Tobias. This guide will appear in two volumes, an increasingly common format among the voluminous guides to Neotropical birds. The first volume will be a field guide containing 210 plates, accompanied by brief descriptions and distribution maps of each species. The second volume will contain information on identification, ecology, taxonomy and status. The artwork in this publication is provided by a seasoned group of artists including Eustace Barnes, David Beadle, Aldo Chiape and Richard Johnson. The later granted us access to some of the beautiful plates that are being produced for this book.

Plate 6 © Richard Johnson

Plate 7 © Richard Johnson

For more beautiful plates visit Richard’s site www.stitchbird.co.uk

“Land of magnificent isolation and awe-inspiring grandeur; land of bleak and desolated plains and vast steaming jungles; land of ultramodern civilization, and life as primitive and pastoral as in the days of Jacob; land of breathtaking contrasts – Bolivia”

Melbourne A. Carriker, Jr.

Experiences of an Ornithologist Along the Highways and Byways of Bolivia