About literature, copyright and
distribution mapsAbout literature, copyright and
distribution maps
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the introduction Color usage
The tables with distribution data try to indicate the chance to notice a particular bird in the different regions of Suriname. Of course this chance does depend on the experience of the birder, assumingly a trained observer with knowledge of birdsongs.
The colors used have the following meaning:
| common:if you know the bird and you are in his habitat of choice, chances are big that you see it that day. |  |
| uncommon:there is a good chance of noticing the bird, but certainly not every day. |  |
| rare:not often seen in this area, so not much chance to notice it. |  |
| very rare:no observation known (to me) in this area. |  |
The different areasThe partitioning of Suriname in five areas is rather coarse. The main reason is that the number of observations is so low. Apart from easily reachable places, a lot of points on the map have only once been visited by a bird-watcher and outside those spots nobody has reported. Mountain forests means forests on places higher than 400 m. Most observations come from Brownsberg nature reserve. For the Sipalawini region especially there have been only a few visitors and so not many birdobservations. The main contributors of bird observations are mentioned in a list. The total number of observations in my database is about 100.000 (observations of one or more bird(s) of a species in a place at a specific date)
A selfmade map of Suriname should accompany this page to indicate the the position of the different areas: I did not find the time yet to make one. But a simple map from the (former) pages of Marco Bleeker will do (with permission and still his copyright).
| Coast | Coastal region, with a depth from about 100 km in the west to about 30 km in the east. |
| Savanna | A small band (10-50 km) of savanna forests and grass savannas with bushes |
| Forests | The main part of Suriname |
| Mountain forests | With elevations from 400- 1230 m |
| Sipalawini | Savanna area on the Brazilian border |
Distribution maps for SurinameAs already stated above, the number of places visited by birders and reported to me is only about 500. Also the distribution of these places over Suriname is rather uneven. The map at right shows all places with at least one report. The forest especially is not often visited apart from the Raleigh Falls- Voltzberg nature reserve. In West and South Suriname areas can be found with no visited place within 50 kilometer. Of course it is difficult to get there. Still the number of species reported for the southern part (below 5 degrees North) is greater than for the part above that line.
For some birds there are maps of the distribution in South America. They are only meant to globally indicate the areas where a bird can be found. They were produced from the general literature as cited below.
1. Haverschmidt en G.F.Mees, Birds of Suriname, Paramaribo 1994. Big and heavy, so not suited for in the field. But with many details about the birds. This second printing has a total of 668 birds, many beautifully illustrated. Costs about $100.
2.Steven L.Hilty: Birds of Venezuela, Helm Field guides 2003, the best book for field identification, together with the next book
3. Robin Restall, Birds of Northern South America, Christopher Helm, 2006
4. Tostain, Dujardin, Erard et Thiollay, Oiseaux de Guyane, France, 1992
5. Helmut Sick, Birds in Brazil, Princeton university press, 1992
6. Otte H. Ottema, De wilde vogels van Paramaribo, Stinasu, 2007, with illustrations and english text for 100 birds (birds of Paramaribo)
7. Arie L. Spaans, Kustvogels van Suriname, Stinasu, 2003, with illustrations and english text for 100 birds (birds of the coastal region of Suriname)
6.Frederik Paul Penard en Arthur Philip Penard: De vogels van Guyana, Paramaribo 1908 en 1910
An impressive (old) account of the birds of the Guyanas (in dutch).
7. Dunning, South American Birds, Harrowbooks USA, 1987
Full of pictures of South American birds. About 35 pictures in this internetbook come from the same photographer
7. Voous, Birds of the Netherlands Antilles, De Walburg Pers, 1983
Used for the Papiamentu (spoken on Curacao, Aruba, Bonaire) names of some birds.
8. Peter Boesman, Birds of Venezuela, a CD-ROM 1999,
with photographs, sounds and distribution data of a lot of birds.
Text: The idea for this internet booklet originates in 1984. Ben de Jong en I wanted to make a (paper) book for children on Surinamese birds. We both made some texts, Ben gave his to me but he has never seen the corrections and I've lost contact years ago. He seems to be somewhere in the Neotropics, maybe this way I will hear from him again. (or only if a spanish edition follows?). The copyright on all texts therefore lies with me. The internet edition started in 1995.
Pictures: Many
photographers have contributed their pictures for this 'booklet'.
Their names should be on the same page as their photographs. The
copyright of the pictures is with the makers, they gave only
permission for this publication. Therefore I can not make them
available for other purposes. For the 60 or so pictures made by
me, if you want to use them, ask me.
The site started long ago with some 30 photographs, donated as
the original diapositives by John S. Dunning when he was still
alive in the eighties. After that the collection slowly grew. I
still hope for more to come.
Sounds and Videos: I have included many birdsounds and some videos (most of them are very short for economy of transmission). Their copyright lies with the person that recorded them. For the ones I made (Ribot) you can ask me if you want to use them.
Pictures of many birds from Suriname
Last update 11-June-2008