Birds of the Palearctic Realm

by c. artuso

The enormous Palearctic Realm stretches from Europe to Siberia and extends as far south as northern Africa in the west, whilst being separated by the Himalaya and the Yangtze River from the Oriental Realm in the east. Around 1000 species of birds are found in this realm. The Palearctic is often further subdivided into the "Eastern Palearctic" and "Western Palearctic" subrealms. The region shares quite a number of species in common with the Nearctic, especially in the more cosmopolitan families, although there have been a number of recent splits between similar Eurasian and North American taxa, e.g. Eurasian Magpie Pica pica (formerly called Black-billed Magpie and considered conspecific with the American taxon, Black-billed Magpie, now Pica hudsonia). Other recent splits include American Three-toed Woodpecker from Three-toed Woodpecker; Hudsonian Curlew from Whimbrel; Wilson's Snipe from Common Snipe, etc.

Unfortunately, I have birded very little in this realm, and these photographs are from China (photos from north of the Yangtse River treated as Palearctic, south of the Yangtse as Oriental), South Korea, and western Europe.

Species are placed in alphabetical order of their common names with alternate names given in brackets. A species' status according to Birdlife International is given where appropriate.

Asian House Martin	Asian Stubtail	Azure-winged Magpie	Baikal Teal (Vulnerable) evening flight
Bean Goose	Black Bulbul	Black-backed Wagtail	Black-bellied (Grey) Plover
Black-eared Kite	Black-faced Laughingthrush	Black-necked Crane (Vulnerable)	Blue Rock-Thrush
Brown Accentor	Brownish-flanked Bush Warbler	Chestnut-throated Partridge (Near-threatened)	Chinese Babbax
Chinese Egret (Endangered)	Chinese Grouse (Near-threatened)	Common Cuckoo	Common (Eurasian) Kestrel
Common (Ring-necked) Pheasant	Darjeeling Woodpecker	Daurian Jackdaw	Daurian Redstart
Elliot's Laughingthrush	Eurasian Curlew	Eurasian Jay	Eurasian Eagle Owl
Eurasian Nutatch	Eurasian Oystercatcher	Eurasian Spoonbill	Firecrest
Fulvous Parrotbill	Golden-breasted Fulvetta	Grandala	Great Spotted Woodpecker
Greater Sand Plover	Grey-capped Greenfinch	Grey-headed Bullfinch	Grey-hooded Parrotbill (Vulnerable)