Whew! At long last. I put the final touches on it yesterday. It should go to the printer this week.
It isn’t something you’ll be able to buy at the mall, though. It’s called Areas Importantes para Aves en Panama - Important Bird Areas in Panama. It’s a directory to the most important sites for bird conservation in Panama - 88 in all - based on the presence of endangered species, endemic species, nesting colonies, and concentrations of migrants. It’s in English and Spanish, but I can’t take credit for the Spanish - it was translated from my original.
What a long haul it’s been. We started the project seven years ago. The research involved expeditions to the most remote places in Panama - some virtually unexplored - by jeep, pack-horse, dugout canoe, helicopter, and just plain slogging through the mud. On one, we found a rare bird at a site where it hadn’t been seen for 95 years. Most recently the book has been held up for almost a year because we had the misfortune to hire a disaster of an editor.
handy: Yes, there are seven pages of maps, plus four plates of endemic or endangered birds and mammals. The illustrations weren’t done for the book (we couldn’t afford that) but have been borrowed (with permission) from other publications.
belladona: The book is being published by the Panama Audubon Society, and printed in Colombia. I doubt it will be distributed to bookstores outside of Panama, but will probably be available through on-line outlets like those of the American Birding Association and maybe BirdLife International. (And for the record, this is a non-commercial venture as far as I am concerned. Any profits will go to the Panama Audubon Society to support bird conservation in Panama).
screech-owl: I’d be pleased to autograph a copy for free. I don’t think Audubon has decided on a price yet. (Oh, and last week I saw about 1000 Dickcissels here in migration.)
Nerrie: The “editor” (he wasn’t actually an editor, but more of just a layout person) was a German ex-pat freelancer who has lived in Panama for a long time. He has experience in publishing, but I think most of it was in the hot-lead-type era. He knew almost nothing about modern desk-top publishing. He set up the document in Pagemaker, but there were always lots of alignment and layout problems. (On the first draft, he actually left out several complete pages through carelessness). And he wasn’t able to do the simplest things with the plates. I eventually had to do the final layout and fix the plates myself. On top of being incompetent, he was also extremely arrogant, and he would never admit it when he didn’t know how to do something. Unfortunately he was hired by the Audubon Society, and it took me ages before I could get rid of him.
Shirley: No dodos, but I’m still looking for a few species that haven’t been seen in Panama for many years. I’m sure there are still a few Sedge Wrens (last seen here in 1905) hiding out in a marsh near the top of Volcan Baru. I just need to get up there.
Muy Congrats, Colibri! I can’t imagine anything more wonderful than studying birds for a living, especially hummingbirds. Course, as a kid who lived through my marine biologist parent’s fieldwork and publication (surveys of California and Yucatan fishes), I know it’s a whooolllle lotta work. Great that you’ll finally be able to have a tome in hand, documenting all the hard work you’ve done!
