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The bird habitats of Bhutan can be roughly divided into forest, scrub, wetlands, alpine habitats, agricultural land & that land around human habitation. Unlike other Himalayan countries, Bhutan still retains much of its forest intact. The country's forests are rich, diverse & beautiful, forming some of the best remaining representatives of forest habitats in the Himalayas. Forests & bushes support the highest proportion (84%) of the country's breeding birds. In addition 57% of Bhutan's globally threatened birds & 90% of the country's restricted-range birds are dependent on forests. Subtropical & warm broadleaved forest grows along the foothills up to 1,200m. Globally threatened Rufous-necked Hornbill is virtually confined to these forests & requires mature fruiting trees. It is common in Bhutan but rare & declining elsewhere in its range. The endangered species, the Beautiful Nuthatch is rare & poorly known and has been found only in Bhutan in warm broad-leaved forest. These forests are also important for the enigmatic Chestnut-breasted Partridge that is both internationally threatened & restricted in distribution. Other species with restricted ranges, such as Yellow-vented Warbler and White-naped Yuhina are almost confined to subtropical & warm broad-leaved forests. These are also the main habitat of Broad-billed Warbler & Rufous-throated Wren Babbler. Cool broad-leaved forest grows on moist exposed slope up to 2,900m above the warm broad-leaved forests. They are second only to the subtropical & warm broad-leaved forests in their bird species richness. Globally threatened Chestnut-breasted Partridge and Blyth's Tragopan have been found here, the latter in the far east. Wood Snipe, an altitudinal migrant, probably winter in the cool broad-leaved forests. Two globally threatened wetland species occur regularly in Bhutan - The rare White-bellied Heron breeds & frequents only those rivers & lakes in dense broad-leaved forests below 1,400m, and Pallas's Fish Eagle (which has bred) inhabits larger rivers below 1400m. Typical species breeding along rivers & streams are kingfishers, fork-tails, dipper, wagtails, blue Whistling-Thrush & White-capped Water Redstart. Phobjikha valley, in central Bhutan, is an important wintering ground for Black-necked Cranes, Black-tailed Crake & Ruddy-breasted Crake which are found in wetlands in spring & summer. Bhutan has a diverse avifauna. 616 species have been recorded so far & many more are likely to be found as more people visit the country to see its birds. Around 464 species are resident although some of these are augmented by winter visitors that breed further north. Some residents are sedentary throughout the year, whilst others undertake irregular movements, either locally or more widely in the region, moving around according to the abundance of their food supply. About 40 species are summer visitors or partial migrants to Bhutan & that include species such as cuckoos, swifts, bee-eaters, warblers, flycatchers & drongos. The migration routes of a number of these summer migrants are unknown. Many species winter further south in the subcontinent including Common Hoopoe, Barn Swallow and Ashy Drongo. Other species such as the White-throated Needletail & Asian Emerald Cuckoo, move southeast, perhaps as far as Malaysia & Indonesia, although Bhutanese birds may not travel so far. The Lesser Cuckoo winters in Africa. Around 50 species are known to over winter in Bhutan. These include ducks, waders, birds of prey, thrushes, finches & buntings. 14 species recorded in Bhutan have been identified as globally threatened by BirdLife International. These include White-bellied Heron, Pallas's Fish Eagle, Chestnut-breasted Partridge, Blyth's Tragopan, Wood Snipe, Dark-rumped Swift, Rufous-necked Hornbill, Grey-crowned Prinia and Beautiful Nuthatch, all of which probably breed in Bhutan. The country is an important wintering ground for another internationally threatened species - the Black-necked Crane. Greater-spotted Eagle is a rare passage migrant, Baer's Pochard, Imperial Eagle and Hodgson's Bushchat are regular vagrants. |
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This page is sponsored by...
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Jigme Tsering
Managing Director - Bhutan Lha-Yul Tours & Travels
(Thimphu, Bhutan)
lhayul@druknet.net.bthttp://www.lhayul.com/
Number of bird species: 616
* Field Guides & Bird Song
For a comprehensive list of recommended titles covering Asia as a whole - please see the Asia page of FatbirderA Field Guide to the Birds of Bhutan
Carol Inskipp, Tim Inskipp and Richard Grimmett Series: CHRISTOPHER HELM IDENTIFICATION GUIDE SERIES 192 pages, 70 col plates, col photos, maps, b/w line illus. Christopher Helm 2004ISBN: 071366990X
Buy this book from NHBS.com
A Photographic Guide to Birds of India
[Including Nepal, Sri Lanka, the Maldives, Pakistan, Bangladesh & Bhutan] Bikram Grewal, Bill Harvey and Otto Pfister 512 pages, 850 col photos, 800 maps. Christopher HelmISBN: 0713664037
Buy this book from NHBS.com
Birds in Bhutan: Status and Distribution
Peter Spierenburg 383 pages, maps, illus. Oriental Bird Club 2005ISBN: 0952954516
Buy this book from NHBS.com
Birds of Bhutan
Salim Ali, Biswamoy Biswas and S Dillon Ripley Series: RECORDS OF THE ZOOLOGICAL SURVEY OF INDIA 136 250 pages, b/w photos, tabs, map. Zoological Survey of India 1996ISBN: 62224
Buy this book from NHBS.com
Birds of the Indian Subcontinent
By Richard Grimmett, Carol Inskipp & Tim Inskipp | Christopher Helm | Softcover | 2012 | Edition: 2 | 528 Pages | 226 Colour Plates | Colour Distribution Maps | Black & White IllustrationsISBN: 9781408127636
Buy this book from NHBS.com
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2000 [March] - Tom and Margot Southerland - Western Bhutan
ReportThe Kingdom of Bhutan, a predominately Buddhist country in the Himalayas situated between India and China (Tibet); is the size of the combined US states of Vermont and New Hampshire. The Bhutanese have long called their country Druk Yul (translated as Land of the Thunder Dragon). To us and members of our group, our visit was a delightful step back in time to a place where there are no TV channels (but yes to video rentals); few telephones, no cell phones, no stoplights and the people are helpful, friendly and wave back to visitors. And, the majority of Bhutanese still wear their handsome native dress, the gho for men and the kira for women. The other dress commonly seen is the maroon robe worn by Buddhist monks ranging in age from young boys to old men...
2001 [May] - John Penhallurick
ReportWe were a day late starting the trip as Druk Air, who have a monopoly on flying into and out of Bhutan cancalled their flight on 12 May. More seriously, the Indian Army had mounted a major offensive against the rebel groups in the Northeast, who promptly faded across the border into Southern Bhutan...
2004 [May] - John McAllister
ReportThe participants were the Chicken Chasers (Birders who had Red Jungle Fowl as a major target species) - John McAllister and Elize McAllister of Wakkerstroom, South Africa and Jo Johnson of Cape Town, South Africa and the Culture Vultures (the Non-birders) - Shirley and Lisa Johnson of Cape Town, South Africa...
2005 [April] - Paul Prevett & Candy McManiman
ReportJust as certain bird species tend to appear again and again on birders’ most-wished-for lists, so special parts of the world have become widely coveted dream destinations. An example of a country that has emerged relatively recently to fire birders’ imaginations in this way is Bhutan...
2007 [March] - Mark Finn - Birdwatching Breaks
ReportThis was the second Birdwatching Breaks tour to Bhutan nestling in the shadow of the mighty Himalayan mountain chain. March is a good month to visit as we had a wide range of wintering species in addition to migrants from further south. Highlights were many but included Himalayan Monal, Blood Pheasant, Ibisbill, Rufous-necked and Wreathed Hornbills, Wood Snipe, Beautiful Nuthatch, Rufous-throated Wren Babbler, Cutia, a wide range of laughingthrushes and scimitar babblers and mixed flocks of migrant warblers...
2008 [April] - Christian Boix
Report...Access to this prime birding area, the montane forest of the eastern Himalayas, has long been difficult, but birders have begun taking advantage of Bhutan opening its doors to tourists. This provides access to a wide variety of rare and little-known birds, many of which we saw on this year's tour, including Satyr Tragopan, Himalayan Monal, Ward's Trogon, Beautiful Nuthatch, Slender-billed Scimitar-Babbler, Rufous-throated Wren-Babbler, Dark-rumped Swift, Rufous-necked Hornbill and Yellow-rumped Honeyguide...
2008 [April] - Dave Farrow
ReportHaving considered various adjectives to describe this year’s Birdquest tour to Bhutan, that one stands out as being the most succinctly descriptive! I could also begin with just the final figure, 453 species (a tour record), of which 364 species were within the borders of Bhutan...
2008 [April] - David Shackelford
Report... Elephant back rides afforded us our best chance at seeing one of the rarest birds in India, Bengal Florican, of which we had excellent views of a male on the ground and in flight. Great scope views were also obtained of this mega on our second last morning in the park...
2009 [April] - Ravi, Namita & Medha Potluri
ReportWe managed to get exceedingly good and multiple sightings of the top 3 birds in our target list – the Satyr Tragopan, the Himalayan Monal and the Blood Pheasant. Of the other target birds we had, while we dipped on a few, we bagged a few surprises which more than made up. In all, we had close to 200 species (highlights below), many of which are lifers to us, and were a pure delight to be able to see after only fantasizing about them all these years...
2009 [May] - Dave Farrow
ReportOnce again we enjoyed another superlative Birdquest to the wonderful mountain kingdom of Bhutan. We recorded 387 species on the tour, 351 that were inside Bhutan itself - our second highest ever total for the country...
2010 [April] - Eustace Barnes
Report...A nearby marsh held Rosy Pipit, Grey-backed Shrike, Hodgson’s Redstart and innumerable Russet and Tree Sparrows, while the rather dry little marsh along the roadside produced a single Black-tailed Crake...
2010 [April] - Josh Engel
ReportStarting in Kaziranga, in the plains and lowland forests of the northeast Indian state of Assam, we saw well over 100 species that we would not see again in Bhutan. The park is best known for its charismatic megafauna—we saw innumerable Indian one- horned rhinos, Indian elephants, wild Asian water buffalo, as well as deer, otters, boars, and primates...
2010 [April] -Markus Lilje
ReportThe Himalayan Buddhist Kingdom of Bhutan is unique as the only country that still supports huge areas of undisturbed and pristine forest-clad mountain slopes in this extensive mountain range of southern Asia. Spectacular blazes of flowering Rhododendron and magnolias, magnificent Dzongs and ancient forms of cultivation still dominate this inspiring landscape. In these now quickly modernising surroundings we were able to still experience the natural wealth as well as find out about some of its history and fascinating culture...
2011 [April] - Glen Valentine
PDF...The grasslands yielded specialties such as Chestnut-capped and Striated Babblers, Swamp Francolin, Red Junglefowl, Pied Harrier, Lesser Coucal, superb Blue-tailed and Chestnut-headed Bee-eaters, Eurasian Wryneck, Bengal Bush Lark, White-tailed Rubythroat, Black-breasted, Streaked and Baya Weavers, Western Yellow Wagtail and Rosy Pipit, while the vast wetlands supported an array of waterbirds...
2011 [April] - Glen Valentine - Bhutan & Assam
ReportIndia and Bhutan are two truly magical countries, both offering a wealth of fabulous birds, impressive mammals, awe-inspiring scenery and fascinating and unique cultures. Very few tours can combine such a diversity of habitats, scenery and culture with the likes of some of Asia’s most sought-after birds….
2011 [May] - Glen Valentine
PDFWe were treated to a banquet of fantastic and little known species during this magical birding adventure and some of these mouth-watering specialties that were seen included the near-mythical Satyr Tragopan, Blood Pheasant, resplendent Himalayan Monal, endangered White-bellied Heron, incredibly rare and localized White-winged Duck, Greater Adjutant, Pied Harrier, Ward’s and Red- headed Trogons, impressive Rufous-necked Hornbill, much sought-after Yellow-rumped Honeyguide, spectacular Long-tailed Broadbill, elusive Black-headed Shrike-babbler, Coral-billed and Slender- billed Scimitar Babblers, Long-billed Wren-Babbler, Sikkim Wedge-billed Babbler, seldom-seen Rufous-rumped and Bristled Grassbirds, aptly-named Beautiful Nuthatch, Fire-tailed Myzornis, rare and secretive Blue-fronted Robin, exquisite Golden-naped Finch and a staggering six species of Parrotbill!
2011 [May] - Glen Valentine - Bhutan & Assam
ReportOur second scheduled tour of 2011 to the spectacular Himalayan Kingdom of Bhutan and adjacent Assam was timed to coincide with the end of spring and the beginning of summer, offering an exceptional visual and cultural spectacle like nothing on earth. We were treated to a banquet of fantastic and little known species during this magical birding adventure including Satyr Tragopan, Blood Pheasant, Himalayan Monal, White-bellied Heron, White-winged Duck….
2012 [April] - Glen Valentine - Bhutan & Assam
ReportOur birding adventure to the north-east Indian national parks of Kaziranga and Nameri and the Himalayan birding paradise of Bhutan was timed perfectly to coincide with the onset of spring. This ensured that we scored a host of exciting winter visitors that were still present before migrating to higher altitudes to breed. Our trip succeeded in recording an impressive 467 species, which included some of Asia’s (and the world’s) most exciting and highly desired species….
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Across Bhutan
Tour OperatorDespite the Bhutanese people’s abiding love of nature, bird watching as an organized pursuit is a new concept in Bhutan, and most of the birding tours are lead by foreign tour guides. While generally knowledgeable, these guides typically lack the in-country experience necessary to maximize the chances for successful sightings. In contrast, at ACROSS BHUTAN, we take pride in having a team of experienced and professional Bhutanese bird watching guides....
Bhutan Bird Quest
Tour OperatorBhutan Bird Quest prides itself as being the only operator in Bhutan specializing exclusively in birding tours. Bhutan Bird Quest's founder Yeshey Dorji is a renowned professional bird photographer. His works have appeared in BirdAsia Magazine and several birding websites and in 2008 he will release his first book of photographs, Bhutan Birds…
Bhutan Birding
Tour OperatorQuality Birding in the Himalayas - Organizing birds watching and wildlife photography tours. Despite the Bhutanese people abiding love of nature, bird watching as an organized pursuit is a new concept in Bhutan, and most of the birding tours are lead by foreign tour guides. While generally knowledgeable, these guides typically lack the in-country experience necessary to maximize the chances for successful sightings. In contrast, at Bhutan Birding we take pride in having a team of experienced and professional Bhutanese bird watching guides…
Bhutan Footprints Travel
Tour OperatorWe provide specialized historic highlights with well-organized transportations, accommodations, and impressive treks in the tranquil Himalayas, in a professional and dependable manner....
Bhutan Majestic Travel
Tour OperatorThe highlight of this trip is the Festival for the Endangered Black Necked Crane. By legend the cranes are believed to be the reincarnated souls of Lamas that come to pay homage at the monastery of Gangtey Gompa. Each year at the cranes return it is said that they circle the monastery three times before landing in the wetlands below. The Festival is sponsored each year by the Royal Society for the Protection of Nature and the Phobjikha Valley community. Foreign guests are asked to make a small donation for attending the festival...
Birding Ecotours
Tour OperatorBhutan is a quaint, quiet and scenically spectacular country with a fantastic conservation ethic that means that vast areas of unspoiled forest still cover the Himalayan foothills covering much of the country. On clear autumn days we hope to see snowcapped peaks as well as fabulous architecture, while we search for a suite of sought-after birds.
Birding Pal
InformationLocal birders willing to show visiting birders around their area...
Jachung Travel
Tour OperatorJachung Travel is a Bhutanese-owned, San Francisco-based tour company offering cultural tours and trekking in Bhutan, in cooperation with its partner, White Lake Adventures, a professional, licensed tour operator in Bhutan. We promote good travel ethics and respect for the environment and culture while making sure that you enjoy your adventure and that you experience Bhutan to the fullest. Through us you will learn about the Bhutanese culture, expand your mind, and leave with the feeling that you've had a unique, unforgettable experience. We hold ourselves to the highest standards and provide the best services possible, with the goal of giving you the adventure of your life.
Kauntei Tours India
Tour OperatorKauntei Tour has been in the field operating special Interest Bird tours since 1991. Our special bird tours are carefully designed by professional and nature loving team. The only aim for operating the bird tours is to provide the best that is available and we continually make sure that each team member work hard to provide you with a memorable experience and great value for your money...
Rockjumper Birding Tours
Tour OperatorWith seemingly endless forests and arguably the most magnificent mountain scenery in the world, Bhutan is a thoroughly recommended and highly enjoyable destination. Our tour targets include Satyr Tragopan, Himalayan Monal, Blood Pheasant, Ibisbill, Rufous-necked Hornbill, Ward’s Trogon, Fire-tailed Myzornis, Beautiful Nuthatch and an astounding selection of wren-babblers and parrotbills.
Tashi Gongphel Tours
Tour OperatorThe natural habitat of Bhutan is home to more than six hundred species of birds. More birds are being discovered every year and special surveys are going on to identify the magnitude of bird life in the country. Experts tout Bhutan as a bird watcher’s paradise...
Bhutan - The Last Shangri-La
WebsiteThe Himalayas in general are an ornithological paradise: Nepal has more than 800 species, Sikkim and Bhutan more. Depending upon whose tally one adheres to, this compares favorably with the 1,200 to 1,800 species found in the entire Indian subcontinent. The abundance of birdlife reflects the extent of the diversity of life zones and habitats, as well as the central position of the Himalaya between two major biogeographical zones...
Bhutan Environmental Conservation
WebsiteIn 1988 Bhutan was identified by Norman Myers as one of the ten biodiversity hot spots in the world. It has also been identified as the centre of 221 global endemic bird areas. Bhutan`s ecosystem harbours some of the most exotic, endemic species of the eastern Himalayas. It has an estimated 770 species of birds, and over 50 species of rhododendron. The mountains brim with other exotic species like the blue poppy and different medicinal herbs. Animals like takins, snow leopards, golden langurs, tigers and elephants roam its forests.
Checklist - Birds of Bhutan
ChecklistThe Road Between Ura and Limithang in Eastern Bhutan
WebsiteBhutan has recently cracked its door ajar, permitting birders to sample some of its truly sumptuous avian delights...
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This site was last updated on Monday, 29th April 2013.