This is the first single volume guide ever devoted to the eastern Asian avifauna. The eastern Asian region, centring especially on the major islands off the continental coast (including Japan and Taiwan) and the immediately adjacent areas of the Asian continent from Kamchatka in the north and including the Korean Peninsula are an important centre of endemism. Birds endemic to this region include representatives of many of the major families, from the world's largest eagle - Steller's Sea Eagle - to the tiny Formosan Firecrest. The east Asian continental coast and the offshore islands also form one of the world's major international bird migration routes, especially for waterfowl, shorebirds and raptors, while the east Asian continental mainland itself is home to a wide range of species little known to western ornithologists such as Scaly-sided Merganser, Oriental Stork and Mugimaki Flycatcher. The guide features the most up-to-date text available, which, in conjunction with extensive colour plates throughout, facilitates the field identification of all of the species known from the region. Colour distribution maps enhance the text by providing a visual analysis of the summer, winter and migratory ranges of all species.

"Published in the United Kingdom and European Union in 2009 by Christopher Helm ... London"--T.p. verso.

Literary Nonfiction. Northeast Asia Studies. Environmental Studies. Korea's birds deserve a wider audience. The country's geographical location, topography, temperate climate, and wealth of diverse habitats combine to support an extraordinarily attractive avifauna. Many visitors to Korea see the impressive metropolitan centers of Seoul or Busan, and others may visit Jejudo Island's black sand beaches or hike the popular mountain trails. Fewer see the more hidden parts of the country: the western offshore islands, the scattered and diminishing wetlands, the picturesque east coast fishing villages, the mountain hamlets and the river valleys. We can glimpse these places through the birds that live there. Moreover, we can glimpse something else--hints of Korea's people, culture, and history. A picture of a bird yields a narrow but genuine window into a country's identity. What a country's arts or folklore or language says about nature--or says by means of nature--has a special authenticity. Above all, there are the birds themselves, in all their many types of beauty. This book seeks to introduce the birds: through photographs, through descriptions of their lives, and through the ways our different cultures, Western and Asian both, perceive them.

A spectacular and lavish photographic guide to the birds of Japan, Korea, north-east China and the Russian Far East Eastern Asia is blessed with a rich and spectacular avifauna, and all 520 regularly occurring species are featured in this spectacular and lavish new photographic guide to the region, covering Japan, northern China, North and South Korea and the Russian Far East. The concise text focuses on key identification criteria, and is accompanied by a distribution map for every species. The accompanying photographs, contributed by Japan's top bird photographers, form a stunning series that will allow both field identification and rich enjoyment at home afterwards. This beautiful book is a must-have for anyone interested in the birds of Asia.