Birds of East Asia (PDF)

This is the first single volume guide ever devoted to the eastern Asianavifauna. The eastern Asian region, centring especially on the majorislands off the continental coast (including Japan and Taiwan) and theimmediately adjacent areas of the Asian continent from Kamchatka in thenorth and including the Korean Peninsula are an important centre ofendemism. Birds endemic to this region include representatives of manyof the major families, from the world's largest eagle - Steller's SeaEagle - to the tiny Formosan Firecrest. The east Asian continentalcoast and the offshore islands also form one of the world's majorinternational bird migration routes, especially for waterfowl,shorebirds and raptors, while the east Asian continental mainlanditself is home to a wide range of species little known to westernornithologists such as Scaly-sided Merganser, Oriental Stork andMugimaki Flycatcher. The guide features the most up-to-date textavailable, which, in conjunction with extensive colour platesthroughout, facilitates the field identification of all of the speciesknown from the region. Colour distribution maps enhance the text byproviding a visual analysis of the summer, winter and migratory rangesof all species.