Birds of Europe, Russia, China, and Japan: Passerines: Tyrant Flycatchers to Buntings (Princeton Illustrated Checklists) [Paperback]

Norman Arlott (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: August 6, 2007 | Series: Princeton Illustrated Checklists

This is the first of two field guides illustrating and describing all of the approximately 1,800 bird species found in the Palearctic--the huge region that includes Europe, Asia north of the Himalayas, and Africa north of the Sahara. This area spans the countries of the former Soviet Union, all of the Russian Arctic, China, Mongolia, North Korea, South Korea, Japan, and the Middle East excluding the Gulf countries. This first volume covers all the passerines (perching birds, from tyrant flycatchers to buntings) or songbirds and will soon be followed by a companion guide to the nonpasserines (divers to woodpeckers). These volumes are the first and only field guides for many parts of the area covered, and mark the first time all of these birds have been included in a single pair of books.

This first volume covers every passerine species and subspecies in the area, in every adult plumage--all illustrated and described by Norman Arlott, a leading bird artist who has many years of field experience with these species.

• Color plates of all field-identifiable species, including subspecies and color morphs
• Succinct facing-page text concentrates on key field-identification features, including voice
• Detailed distribution map for each species
• Well-researched and accessible
• Handy format-the ideal field guide
• Essential for anyone interested in Eurasian birds

Editorial Reviews

Review

Altogether a most welcome addition to the field literature of the birds found in this vast region. -- Charles E. Keller, Indiana Audubon Quarterly

In a single volume I have a reference that will assist me in my travels through many countries. . . . I would recommend buying the book if you are planning to visit Europe and Asia as a supplement to your other resources. -- Geoff Carpentier, Ontario Birding News

From the Back Cover

"As an illustrated checklist (designed for quick identification purposes) it is first class, but it will also be a useful field guide in its own right. I can't think of another book that would qualify as competition to this one. No other book covers a similar range and scope in one volume. It is long overdue."--Clive Byers, award-winning bird illustrator

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Product Details

• Paperback: 240 pages
• Publisher: Princeton University Press (August 6, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0691133727
• ISBN-13: 978-0691133720
• Product Dimensions: 7.5 x 5 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 11.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,262,163 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Clearing up misconceptions, August 19, 2008

By 

Andres M. Dewet (Cape Town, South Africa) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Birds of Europe, Russia, China, and Japan: Passerines: Tyrant Flycatchers to Buntings (Princeton Illustrated Checklists) (Paperback)

This is indeed an excellent (visual) field guide apart from the odd mapping location. Text is indeed minimal, but it is made up for in excellent art and its easy-to-bird-watch pocket-size; Norman Arlott is one of the best bird artists in the world and his plates are stunning. However, people in North America buying this book need to take heed that south-eastern China, Shanghai-southwards, is not included, as it falls within the Oriental Avifaunal Region. The European published version of this book is more aptly named "Birds of the Palearctic - Passerines."

7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Useful in some cases, but not a true field guide, October 21, 2007

By 

Richard "Birder-Naturalist" (Tucson, Azerbaijan) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Birds of Europe, Russia, China, and Japan: Passerines: Tyrant Flycatchers to Buntings (Princeton Illustrated Checklists) (Paperback)

This book is handy in picturing many species side-by-side that don't occur together in any other field guide. The illustrations are quite nice as well, though small and almost all in perfect profile (which can obscure some field marks such as coronal stripes). The maps in the back are easy to interpret, though country lines are missing, making it impossible to pinpoint the edges of ranges on a real map. It's also very small and easy to carry in the field. The title "Illustrated Checklist" is a very good description of what this book offers.

A true field guide or identification handbook it is not. The text offers virtually no useful identification details, rather the few words on the page opposite the pictured species briefly describe only behavior, voice, and habitat. To further distance itself from being an identification guide, as few plumages as possible are depicted, e.g. the only non-adult plumage in the entire book is that of a first-summer Hooded Wheatear.

Having the maps placed in the back of the book and numbered according to plate and species number is hugely awkward.

We used this book while birding on Saint Paul Island, Alaska mostly to browse the maps and dream about what long-distance migrants might be possible as vagrants on U.S. soil. Or to see approximately how far away past vagrants had to come to make it as far as Alaska (such as Wood Warbler or Sedge Warbler). But after our having found something as straightforward as even Yellow-browed Warbler, this book was not sufficient to confirm that it wasn't possibly some other Phylloscopus, and we required more detailed information found in the usual field guides.

6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A first comprehensive view of the passerines of the palearctic!, October 24, 2007

By 

Gottlieb Dandliker "Nature book lover" (Geneva, Switzerland) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Birds of Europe, Russia, China, and Japan: Passerines: Tyrant Flycatchers to Buntings (Princeton Illustrated Checklists) (Paperback)

This book's real name should have been "Passerine of the Palearctic". It might not be as commercial, but it would clearly show the amazing work that has been done by Normann Arlott in bringing toghether, in an uniformised way, all the birds of the northern Old World (a second volume covering the non-passerine is in preparation). And mind you, his Palearctic approach includes all the islands (from Cap Verde to Riyuku), the whole Arabic penisula and best of all, the whole Himalayas, including the southern slopes towards India and Burma... European and Japanese birders, who are spoilt with excellent but more local field-guides, can finally get a real appreciation of the species diversity in each group, and it's a delight!

True, there are still many way's to improve such a work. Having the (very interesting) map's at the end of the volume is not optimal, the treatement of subspecific diversity is some time surprisingly incomplete, the drawings, while acurate and perfect for comparison inside the groups, are typical of the author's style which is slightly stiff in my view, and there is minimal information on field ID (nothing on juveniles). But this information is available in many other books, and does not deter from the appeal of this volume, who is much-more then a check-list and brings together for the first time and for a very reasonable price most of what Marco Polo would have needed, had he been a birder...

So whether you plan to travel or are still in the dream phase, sit down, relax, and wander through the plates, recognising the species you know (or even have seen) and discovering the (many) others, that are still waiting out there to be observed, appreciated and protected!