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Mongolia is surely one of the last, most remote and most pristine frontiers on this planet. It is the home of Chinggis Khan. It is a vast country with breathtakingly beautiful landscapes, skyscapes and habitats, ranging from deserts (notably the Gobi) to alpine forests and mountains, from grasslands as impressive as the Serengetti in Africa to salt and fresh water lakes like Huvsgul (the headwaters for Lake Baikal in Siberia which holds 20% of the world's frest water). There is a rich flora and fauna, even though the country may seem to be a vacant desert to many people. Only 10% of the country is forested. Mongolia abounds in waterfowl, waders and raptors and small passerines which live in grasslands (larks & finches) and birds which are adapted to alpine terrain and to the taiga of Siberia. The wetlands of northeastern Mongolia (on the border of Russia) are the home of various species of nesting (and endangered) cranes, not to mention many species of geese, ducks and other waterfowl. The salt lakes south of Bayanhongor also have immense concentrations of waterfowl, including Whooper Swans and one of the rarest and least known birds in the world - the Relict Gull. The lakes (both salt and fresh water) in western Mongolia (in Khovd, Bayan-Ulgii and Uvs provinces) are equally rich in waterfowl. And, if you want to see a White-tailed Eagle or a Great Black Woodpecker or Black-throated Loons, try the Lake Huvsgul region. In the Gobi Desert, there are wonderful species such as the Lamergeier (Bearded Vulture); the Henderson's Ground Jay (like a Roadrunner in the US - running around sand dunes); the Saxaul Sparrow (like a brightly colored House sparrow but living in the unique Saxaul forests in the deserts) and all kinds of other species. And just west of the capital city of Ulaanbaatar, near the airport, are the gravel ponds. This is an area of extensive ponds, wetlands and grassland where one can easily see many of the common species found in Mongolia, and even some rare ones. It is great for a half-day outing and a picnic out of UB. There is an informal and loosely knit group of birders here who go out on Sundays to the gravel ponds when the water is open. Just last weekend (mid-April); the Citrine Wagtails arrived in force. Brilliant yellow birds, but they won't stay long. They'll be off to the tundra soon. |
Sheldon R Severinghaus
(ULAANBAATAR, MONGOLIA)
sheldorj@sbcglobal.net
Number of bird species: 404
* Field Guides & Bird Song
For a comprehensive list of recommended titles covering Asia as a whole - please see the Asia page of FatbirderBirds of Mongolia
Axel Braunlich Helm 2007ISBN: 0713687045
Buy this book from NHBS.com
Proact
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Mongolian Ornithological Society
WebsiteMongolian Ornithological Society - Ulaanbaatar 210646A, P.O.Box 537. MONGOLIA. Tel: 976-11-323970; 976-99180148, Fax: 976-11-320159 - info@mos.mn - The Mongolian Ornithological Society is one of the main bird research and conservation organizations in the country. The Society has intensively organized bird research and conservation activities in collaboration with the National University of Mongolia....
Mongolian National Bird Festival
InformationBy the initiation of NUM’s Ornithological Laboratory and Mongolian Ornithological Society, and with the support of Oriental Nomads LLC, Mongolian Ornithological Society, Mongolian State University of Agriculture and other organizations, the first annual Mongolian national bird festival was successfully organized on September 10th and 11th of 2011 in Ulaanbaatar city...
Wetlands
WebsiteMongolia presently has 6 sites designated as Wetlands of International Importance, with a surface area of 630,580 hectares...
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2004 [June] - Mark Van Beirs
Report...The bird of the trip was, without any doubt, the amazing Black-billed Capercaillie. Not only because we had to work hard to get to the haunts of this shy and little known denizen of the Siberian boreal forest, but mainly because of its close range magical prolonged performance in the scenic larch habitat it favours. We managed to obtain excellent scope views of a fantastic male of this very difficult to observe Palearctic bird. We recorded 225 species on this tour...
2005 [August] - Hanno Stamm
Report...We had a quick lunch in Ulaan Bator and hit the road for the 150 km to the Steppe Nomads tourist camp. On the way, we saw Common Raven, Black-eared Kites, and about 50 Daurian Jackdaws. The camp is located in Guen Galut Nature Reserve (http://www.argalipark.com/), and was certainly one of the nicer camps we had. The weather was gorgeous, but it was too late to get any more birding in (but did manage to get a few Dshinghis Beers in)...
2006 [June] - Chris Bradshaw
Report...we were soon seeing our first Mongolian birds. Familiar species included Little Ringed Plover, Northern Wheatear, Chough and Raven. However, proof that our long journey was going to provide more exotic fare was provided by sightings of Demoiselle Crane, Isabelline Wheatear, Thick-billed Warbler, Yellow-breasted Bunting and Pine Bunting. A showy Azure Tit delighted us at close range, whilst overhead there were flocks of Pacific Swifts and a displaying Booted Eagle. A great start...
2006 [June] - Mark Beaman
Report...This vast country, with just a few million people in a territory that would swallow Britain, France and Spain combined, is, as the Mongols say, the land without fences. Here you can wander, almost as free as a bird, and pitch camp wherever takes one’s fancy, whether amongst the high, snow-capped mountains, in the cool larch forests, out in the wide open steppe or beside a lake in the Gobi Desert. During our two and a half weeks in this marvellous country we recorded 216 bird species...
2009 [June] - Wouter Faveyets
Report...we had learned that this was an area to search for one of most highly sought-after birds of the trip: Mongolian Ground Jay! We fanned out to scan an area that looked good for the species. It was not an easy tick though, as it took as several hours before Machiel finally found a pair...
2010 [June] - Mark Van Beirs
Report...We recorded 223 species on this tour, including many Siberian specialties that occur as vagrants to European migration hotspots, and came away with finger-licking quality species like Swan Goose, Falcated Duck, Baikal Teal, Stejneger’s Scoter, Pallas’s Fish Eagle, White-tailed Eagle, Lammergeier, Amur and Saker Falcons, Black-billed Capercaillie, Altai Snowcock, Baillon’s Crake, White-naped and Demoiselle Cranes, Oriental Plover, Pallas’s and Relict Gulls, Pallas’s Sandgrouse, Eurasian Eagle and Ural Owls, White-backed and Eurasian Three-toed Woodpeckers, Mongolian Lark, Blyth’s Pipit, Kozlov’s Accentor, Siberian Rubythroat, Güldenstädt’s and Eversmann’s Redstarts, Hodgson’s Bushchat, Asian Desert Warbler, Azure Tit, Wallcreeper, Henderson’s Ground Jay, Saxaul Sparrow and Pine, Meadow and Pallas’s Reed Buntings...
2010 [June] - Max Berlijn
ReportDetailed annotated list with images etc...
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Birding Pal
InformationLocal birders willing to show visiting birders around their area...
Axel Braunlich - Birding Mongolia
BlogI have been living in Khovd, a small town at an altitude of 1400m in Khovd Aimag province, western Mongolia, since October 2005. Birding Mongolia is mainly devoted to birding my fabulous local spot here in the valley of the Buyant river at the foot of the Mongolian Altai Mountains. In addition, observations from other regions in Mongolia and conservation news will be included occasionally...
Birding Mongolia
WebsiteI have been birding regularly in Mongolia for more than 16 years now. From July 2005 to October 2007 I lived permanently there; mainly in Khovd near the Altai Mountai...
Birds of Mongolia
WebsiteWhat's so great about a list of bird names? After all, the names that men give are just a pale reflection of the birds themselves. Well, bird-lovers may rejoice in biodiversity, but in matters linguistic they tend to use common or garden English as a lowest common denominator. So, in the interest of 'lingua-diversity', here it is: aa list of bird species of Mongolia, with names in Mongolian, Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Russian, Kazakh, and Turkish...
Checklist for Mongolia
WebsiteMongolian Birds
WebsitePeter and I were both interested in birds, but Mike was a serious birdwatcher. He'd bought a good pair of binoculars but no field guide, however Chinzo luckily had a bird book that covered Mongolia...
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This site was last updated on Monday, 30th January 2012.
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