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Aim To establish the geographical position of the biogeographical transition between Indochinese and Sundaic faunas using distributional data for the best-documented taxon, the birds.Methods Distributional data of 544 resident forest and forest edge bird species of Thailand and the Thai-Malay peninsula were examined at 45 sites spanning 15°of latitude from northern-most Thailand to the southern peninsular Malaysia. Sites were grouped into 23 degree or half-degree latitudinal zones and avifaunal similarity coefficients were calculated between each zone.Results A Mantel test revealed a significant transition between northern Indochinese and southern Sundaic (Indomalay) avifauna assemblages just north of the Isthmus of Kra (10°30¢ N). Northern and southern range limits of 152 species (> 269 species and subspecies combined) lie between 11°and 13°N.Main conclusions This transition between zoogeographical subregions is not coincident with the widely recognized transition between floristic provinces which is traditionally placed 400-500 km further south at the Kangar-Pattani line, but is associated with a change from wet seasonal evergreen dipterocarp rain forest to mixed moist deciduous forest north of the Isthmus of Kra in the northern Thai-Malay peninsula. Climatological and ecological factors associated with the distribution of forest types today are reviewed and it is hypothesized that the avian transition tracks the northern phytogeographical boundary. Palaeogeographical factors, including hypothetical Neogene seaways, which may account for the historical development of both phytogeographical and avifaunal transitions are also described.

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With nearly 400 migratory landbird species, the East Asian Flyway is the most diverse of the world’s flyways. This diversity is a consequence of the varied ecological niches provided by biomes ranging from broadleaf forests to arctic tundra and accentuated by complex biogeographic processes. The distribution and migration ecology of East Asian landbirds is still inadequately known, but a recent explosion in the number of studies tracking the migration of raptors, cuckoos, kingfishers and passerines has greatly increased our knowledge about the stopover and wintering ecology of many species, and the migratory routes that link northeast Eurasia and the Asian tropics. Yet the East Asian Flyway also supports the highest number of threatened species among flyways. Strong declines have been detected in buntings (Emberizidae) and other long-distance migrants. While the conservation of migratory landbirds in this region has largely focused on unsustainable hunting, there are other threats, such as habitat loss and increased agro-chemical use driven directly by land cover change and climate-related processes. Important knowledge gaps to be addressed include (1) threats affecting species in different parts of their annual cycle, (2) range-wide population trends, (3) ecological requirements and habitat use during the non-breeding season, and (4) the conservation status of critical wintering sites (including understudied farming landscapes, such as rice fields) and migration bottlenecks along the flyway.

We present compelling evidence of the continued existence of the large‐billed reed warbler Acrocephalus orinus, hitherto known only from the unique type specimen collected in NW India 139 years ago. Morphological and genetic analyses of an unusual Acrocephalus warbler mist‐netted south‐west of Bangkok, Thailand, on 27 March 2006, confirmed its identity as A. orinus, and revealed that it was heterozygous at four out of eight microsatellite markers, indicating the continued existence of a viable population whose breeding and wintering areas are still unknown.