Book Review - Costa Rica's Rainforests: The Natural History of the Plants and Animals of La Selva - Princeton University Press

      On this Earth there are mere mortals, and those exalted beings who have spent time at La Selva! I count myself among the latter. There is magic in the air in Costa Rica - always, everywhere - but the magic is elevated to its pinnacle at La Selva.

     Scott Wesley Shumway has done a terrific job in writing a complete account of La Selva's biodiversity and its place in contemporary tropical studies. In addition to being a world-renowned, distinguished research facility, La Selva welcomes ecotourists and spares no effort in disseminating information to all who visit. If you are present when it pours rain they will explain hydrology and transpiration to you!

     Many casual visitors are birders and the birding genie is let out of the bottle immediately upon arrival!

     Species that are elusive elsewhere seem to be especially cooperative at La Selva; no doubt the fact that the guides know exactly where to look plays a major role in this. I remember as though it were yesterday having prolonged views of Great Tinamou and my first ever Great Curassows perched in a tree above my head. Shumway reports, "As of 2021,480 species of birds have been identified by researchers and resident naturalists at La Selva." These same resident naturalists always seem to have the time to provide information and answer questions.

     There is more than birds, of course, and Shumway has done a magnificent job in pulling together all the component parts of an integrated neotropical ecosystem.

     This book is a field guide, a first class field guide in fact, but it is much more than that. From page to page, cover to cover, it is filled with information. Want to know about hummingbirds? Then obviously you'll need to understand the flowers they feed on. Did you know that mites travel from flower to flower on hummingbird bills? How about the mechanism by which they collect nectar? All of this kind of information is provided for every taxa covered in the book. The superb photographs do aid in identification but it is the cornucopia of information that sets this book apart.

     Shumway writes with a fluid, easy style, combining his years as a teacher with an intimate knowledge of the biology of this region, and, perhaps most importantly a deep love for it. All its creatures are special, all have their role to play, all are acknowledged in all their glorious diversity and individuality.

     I have visited Costa Rica four times and it is unlikely that I will do so again, but rest assured that should it happen, this book will be my constant companion. It is a resource par excellence. A complete guide, not only to La Selva, but the entire ecosystem of this region of Costa Rica.

     I have been an admirer of Alexander Skutch, that scion of Costa Rican ornithology for as long as I can remember, and have paid homage twice at his home in Los Cusingos. He would have applauded this work and championed it - and there could be no better endorsement than that.

Costa Rica's Rainforests: The Natural History of the Plants and Animals of La Selva - Princeton University Press

Scott Wesley Shumway

Paperback - US$45.00 - ISBN 9780691251998

480 pages - 7.5 x 9.5 inches (18.75 x 23.75 cm)

812 colour photographs - 7 tables - 6 maps

Publishing date: 11 August, 2026