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NEOTROPICAL BIRDS: ECOLOGY AND CONSERVATION. By Douglas F Stotz, John W. Fitzpatrick, Theodore A. Parker III, and Debra K. Moskovits. Univ. of Chicago Press, Chicago, Illinois. 1996: 502 pp., 3 large maps, 16 color plates, 46 black and white plates, 48 numbered text figures (that include small maps), 9 databases. $37.50 (paper); $100 (cloth).-In this ambitious volume the authors attempt to summarize relevant vegetation and physical characteristics of all Neotropical habitats and, more importantly, to provide an overview of the conservation status of each. A major component of the volume is the inclusion of nine databases (also available from the publisher on diskette) that together will prove invaluable to anyone researching Neotropical ornithology. These databases collectively occupy 306 pages, while the main text takes up but 130 pages. As would be expected, there is an extensive literature cited section.
The first part of the book is devoted to five chapters that review avian habitat types, humid forests, dry forest and arid scrub, grasslands, and aquatic communities. These chapters outline the major threats to birds in each of these habitat types. The surprising conclusion, at least for those who have relatively little actual experience in the Neotropics, is that lowland humid forests, rainforests, are not the habitats facing the most severe threats. Rather, it is...