A field guide to all the passerines or songbirds found from Britain, eastwards to Japan, and as far south as the Sahara and Himalayas. Perfect for the travelling birdwatcher! This is the essential companion for the keen birdwatcher. Together with the volume on non-passerines, to be published in 2007, this book covers all the perching birds of the Palearctic, a zoographical area running from the British Isles eastwards to Japan, with its southern border marked by the Sahara, the Middle Eastern deserts, and the Himalayas. It covers the whole of the Russian Arctic, China, Tibet, Japan and the whole of Europe - the most popular bird watching area in the world. Every passerine species found in this wide area is illustrated in every plumage in which they can be seen in the wild. Author and illustrator Norman Arlott is one of the world's leading bird artists and has seen nearly all of the 1,800 species featured. The accompanying text concentrates on the specific characteristics and appearance of each species that allow identification in the field, including voice. Every species will also have a distribution map - in many cases the first time this has been compiled for the area.