Curacao Critters
Curacao, Netherlands Antilles
Jeff Maass
Updated: 3 May 2015
The following are photos taken in
Curacao, Netherlands Antilles during 2007 through 2013.
As many of the critters pictured are birds, a good bird book is of value. Not
being a dedicated birder (I mostly just enjoy the photography), I don't own a
comprehensive bird book covering the Caribbean and South America. What I have
are specific to the Netherlands Antilles "ABC islands": Aruba, Bonaire, and
Curacao.
The first book is "De Vogels van de Nederlandse Antillen" by Dr. K. H. Voous. This book is long out of print (my edition was published in March 1955), and includes just a few black-and-white photos. The text is in Dutch and English.
There is a Second Edition of Dr. K. H. Voous' book, "Birds of the Netherlands Antilles", published in 1983. This is an English-language version, with expanded coverage of species and better photos. I purchased my copy by searching on Amazon.com which found several copies at used book sellers, where it is priced (at present) between USD $75 and $120!
The third book, which I used to identify most of the birds I saw/photographed, is "Our Birds" by Dr. Bart A. De Boer. This book was written to help educate the people of the ABC islands of their birds, includes color photos of the common birds of the Netherland Antilles, and is available at Amazon.com and other book sources. The description of each bird is written in Papiamentu, Dutch, and English.
In March 2012, a new book was published by two publishers, Princeton University Press and Christopher Helm (London). This is the same 176 page book with two different covers, and both are excellent modern bird guides, with color illustrations. The authors are Bart A De Boer, Eric Newton, and Robin Restall. These are available from various sources, with the Helm version currently available for approximately $32, and the Princeton version available for $55. I have no idea why the prices have jumped in a so very short time: I ordered my copy of the Princeton version on Amazon.comfor under $20 in February 2012!
I added a couple of books about the birds of Northern South America, since some of those birds are known to stray as far North as Curacao during migration.
These books are pictured below.
These photos were taken with a
variety of Nikon equipment.
Most of these were taken from 2007 to 2009 with D80 Digital SLR with the Nikkor 70-300 VR zoom lens.
Photos taken between 2009 and 2014 were with Nikon D300 digital SLR and a Nikon 200-400mm f4
or Nikon 70-200 f2.8 VR zoom.
Since November 2014, photos are taken with
Nikon D7100 or D810 digital SLR and either Tamron SP 150-600mm F/5-6.3 Di VC USD
zoom or Nikon 70-200 f2.8 VR zoom.
Click on any of these thumbnails to see a slideshow of other photos of that type
of critter.
CONCORD TOWNSHIP LOCAL CRITTERS:
For my web page showing birds and other critters around my home in Concord
Township, Delaware County, Ohio, see my "Concord
Critters" web page.
Copyright (c) 2012 Jeffrey A. Maass
All Rights Reserved.
