This illustrated identification guide introduces each family of birds by a brief description that should help the novice birder determine to which group a bird belongs. Each species account includes a description, notes on distribution, habitat, distribution map, and a description of vocalization. Pakistan has a rich diversity of bird habitats, from the dry alpine and moist temperate forests of the western Himalayas to the deserts of Baluchistan and Sind. The Indus basin, where some of the earliest human civilisations were founded, is extensively irrigated and cultivated, providing a variety of man-made habitats. This diversity of habitats supports a wide variety of bird species, and some 669 have been recorded. More than 60 per cent of the country - land lying to the west of the Indus river and south from Peshawar to the Arabian Sea coasts - is Palearctic in character, with a steppic dry montane habitat, and is very different from the rest of the Indian subcontinent.
This book is a successor to the much acclaimed Birds of the Indian Subcontinent by two of the same authors. 93 superb plates are accompanied by a succinct text highlighting identification, voice, habitat, altitudinal range, distribution and status. Covers 670 species including all breeding species, regular visitors and vagrants. The text is on facing pages to the plates, for easy reference and there are distribution maps for every species. 256 pages.