Brazil, the fifth largest nation in the world, is one of the planet's richest places for avian diversity and endemism. With the Birds of Brazil field guide series, the Wildlife Conservation Society brings together a top international team to do justice to the incredible diversity of Brazil's avifauna. This first guide of the planned five-volume series features the 743 bird species of the Pantanal and Cerrado regions of Central Brazil.

The sprawling Pantanal plain, one of the world's most famed birding sites, is a seasonally flooded wetland boasting both impressive concentrations of large waterbirds and species such as the Toco Toucan, Hyacinth Macaw, Golden-collared Macaw, and endemic Blaze-winged Parakeets. The Cerrado is a distinctive Brazilian habitat that is the planet's biologically richest savanna.

This compact modern field guide's unparalleled color artwork throughout, identification points, and range map for each species enable easy identification of all the birds normally found in these vibrant and critically important areas of Brazil. With 116 threatened species encompassing 25 percent of South America's threatened birds, Brazil has an imperative to conserve its birds and unique habitats that begins with their appreciation and identification. Thus, the species accounts are coupled with an introductory chapter on the region's unique environments and pressing conservation challenges. This practical and portable guide is an indispensable companion to those visiting Brazil's glorious natural areas of the Pantanal and Cerrado.

John A. Gwynne is Chief Creative Officer/V.P. for Design emeritus, Wildlife Conservation Society. He is an artist of books including Field Guide to the Birds of Panama and Birds of Venezuela. Robert S. Ridgely is an executive of the World Land Trust. He is the renowned coauthor of Birds of Ecuador, also from Cornell, and author of The Birds of South America, Field Guide to the Songbirds of South America, and A Guide to the Birds of Panama. Guy Tudor is the Neotropics' most acclaimed bird artist, a MacArthur fellow, and principal illustrator of The Birds of South America, Field Guide to the Songbirds of South America, A Guide to the Birds of Venezuela, and A Guide to the Birds of Colombia. Martha Argel is a widely known Brazilian ornithologist and translator of the Portuguese edition of this work.