"For visitors from the temperate zone, the nature of the American tropics is exciting but very confusing. The dazzling diversity of plants and animals can seem overwhelming. In The New Neotropical Companion , John Kricher, a gifted scientist and communicator, brings order out of this chaos. With clear, lively language, he describes the patterns of tropical ecology and natural history in an accessible and engaging way--it's both tremendously educational and fun to read. Now enhanced with abundant photographs, The New Neotropical Companion is essential reading for anyone intrigued by the wonderful biodiversity south of the border." --Kenn Kaufman, author of Kaufman Field Guide to Birds of North America "My original copy of John Kricher's 'little green book' is stained and battered from three decades of tropical travel--which is why I'm delighted that Kricher has produced The New Neotropical Companion , a truly landmark revision of his classic: bigger, better, lushly illustrated, but with the same chatty, accessible tone that makes John the perfect guide to the most biodiverse regions on the planet. Whether you're going to the tropics for the first time or the twentieth, this superb new edition is utterly indispensable reading." --Scott Weidensaul, author of Living on the Wind "Seeing my beloved Neotropical Companion updated, laced with new studies, and bursting with lavish color photographs is an answered prayer.

Kricher is the ebullient professor we all wish we'd had, truly our companion on a quest to understand what makes the tropics so hot, and so cool. In this compulsively readable volume, he has constructed something much like the tropics themselves: astoundingly diverse, mysterious, colorful, and rich with the unexpected." --Julie Zickefoose, author of Baby Birds: An Artist Looks into the Nest.