Up in the Air – Bird Watching Holidays in Nepal
An amazing topography, interesting culture and scenic landscapes, as well as 848 species of birds (with 500 of them in the Kathmandu Valley alone), are the major reasons Nepal has found its way as one of the top destinations for bird watching holidays in Asia.
Scenic valleys, lowland jungles, wetlands, open fields, dense oak and rhododendron forests, and windswept Himalayan plateaus are just a few of the habitats you will find interesting on birding holidays. The region is home to some endangered birds such as the Impeyan pheasant – Nepal’s national bird – the Sarus crane and the spiny babbler.
Kathmandu Valley
Home to the majority of Nepal’s bird species, the diverse ecology of this area makes for fantastic bird watching. Holidays in the valley can take you through many of the areas described above – wetlands and open fields inside the valley as well as hills filled with rhododendron, oak and pine. One top birding spot in this region is Phulchoki Hill, where some 265 species have been recorded to date, including warblers, thrushes, woodpeckers and eagles.
At the foot of the hill lies the Royal Botanical Garden where around 100 species can be spotted, including the spotted forktail and the Tibetan siskin. Najerjun Royal Forest on Jamachu Hill is another spot favoured by enthusiasts on bird watching holidays for its blue magpies, Bonelli’s eagles, great Himalayan barbets, kalij pheasants and more.
Terai Region
Chitawan National Park, in Nepal’s subtropical Terai region, has a recorded 255 species of birds including Tickell’s red-breasted blue flycatcher, the blue throat thrush, long-tailed nightjar, Indian peafowl, great barbet and red-billed blue magpie – making it another great stop on your Nepal bird watching holidays.
Koshi Tappu Wildlife Reserve in Biratnagar on the Koshi Floodplain – a combination of scrub, grasslands and riverbank forest – has an environment that changes tremendously depending on the seasons. It experiences flooding during the monsoon months of May to September, and dries out to expose sandy islands during the dry season. A favourite stopover on bird watching holidays, it is home to a recorded 280 species of birds including the Bengal green pigeon, 20 species of duck, ibises, storks, herons, swamp partridges and other species not found elsewhere in Nepal.
Annapurna Conservation Area
Considered the largest and most protected region in the world, it supports an amazingly diverse, yet highly sensitive biological system, with 441 recorded species of birds including the only endemic bird species in Nepal – the spiny babbler. The bird habitats of the Annapurna range from humid subtropical lowlands to dry sub-alpine areas towards the north. Among the other species that may be spotted in this area on bird watching holidays are the bearded vulture, the golden eagles, and six types of Himalayan pheasants.
