A Maroon Oriole seeks nectar on the slope of Doi Inthanon. Photo: Jon Dunn
Thailand is one of the most fascinating and ornithologically exciting countries in Asia. A wide variety of habitats and an extensive park and sanctuary system support a huge number of resident bird species and a rich array of Palearctic migrants. Our tour samples habitats from the marshy plains, mangrove coastline, and salt pans around Bangkok to the beautiful forest national park at Khao Yai and the cool mountains near the northern capital of Chiang Mai. In the Thaton Highlands we’ll visit mountainous regions in the country’s extreme northwest, where a number of new species await us.
The 2013 edition of this popular tour includes a five-day extension south of Bangkok that focuses on the remarkable diversity of shorebirds found in the Gulf of Thailand, including hopefully seeing one or more of the critically endangered Spoon-billed Sandpiper. We will also visit nearby Kaeng Krachan National Park, whose forests harbor many species that don’t occur at Khao Yai.
This tour can be taken in conjunction with our tour Thailand: The South.
Day 1: The trip begins at 6:00 p.m. in Bangkok. Night near Bangkok’s International Airport.
Day 2: We’ll begin in a small marshy area near the old Bangkok airport where we might find a variety of wintering warblers, including Black-browed Reed, Dusky, Oriental Reed, Yellow-browed, and with very good luck Pallas’s Grasshopper (we should at least hear it). We may see Siberian Rubythroat, Bluethroat, and Eastern Yellow, White (the white-faced leucopsis subspecies), and possibly Citrine Wagtails as well, and we should find White-breasted Waterhens and Ruddy-breasted Crakes lurking among the reeds.After a mid-morning snack and drink we’ll drive to Ayutthaya, stopping en route to examine concentrations of feeding Asian Openbills in marshy fields. We’ll have lunch at a riverside restaurant in Ayutthaya, the former capital of Old Siam, where among the ruins we’ll find a variety of chiefly garden birds, including Coppersmith and Lineated Barbets, Common Iora, Scarlet-backed Flowerpecker, and perhaps Small Minivet. Wintering species should include both Taiga Flycatcher and Yellow-browed Warbler, and we often find our only Thick-billed Warbler of the trip here. On our way to Khao Yai National Park we’ll visit limestone karst country to search for the very local Limestone Wren Babbler. We’ll arrive at Khao Yai in the afternoon, perhaps in time for birding around our hotel or in the near reaches of the park. This and the next three nights will be spent in a comfortable resort amid the spectacular cliffs and woodlands at Khao Yai’s northern gate. Night near Khao Yai National Park.
Days 3–5: We’ll spend three full days exploring the densely forested hills, clear rivers, and waterfalls at Khao Yai, one of the best-preserved tracts of tropical evergreen forest in all of Indochina. Khao Yai is noted for larger forest birds, among which we’ll be looking for three or four species of hornbill, including the magnificent Great Hornbill; Orange-breasted and Red-headed Trogons; Banded Kingfisher; Banded and Long-tailed Broadbills; and Sultan Tit. In addition we can expect a variety of raptors, pigeons, barbets, woodpeckers, leafbirds, bulbuls, laughingthrushes, babblers, warblers, sunbirds, and flowerpeckers. Red Junglefowl and Siberian Blue Robin haunt the undergrowth, and there is a chance of finding other, scarcer ground birds such as the elegant Siamese Fireback, Silver Pheasant, and the elusive Coral-billed Ground-Cuckoo or Blue Pitta. At dusk we’ll look for Great Eared-Nightjars, and we’ll make a nocturnal excursion for Brown Boobook, and perhaps other nightbirds, on our hotel grounds. Khao Yai is especially rich in mammals, including Pig-tailed Macaque, monkeys, gibbons, Black Giant Squirrel, civets, Sambar and Barking Deer, and Asian Elephant. Nights near Khao Yai National Park.
Day 6: After a final morning’s birdwatching in Khao Yai, we’ll return to Bangkok in time for an afternoon flight to Chiang Mai. Night in Chiang Mai.
Day 7: The avifauna of northern Thailand differs markedly from that of the central region, and we’ll begin to see many Himalayan birds. Our visits over the following week to a succession of habitats, from open plains to forested mountain slopes, will bring us a wealth of new species, including numerous new barbets, bulbuls, and babblers, among many others. This is also one of the most exciting parts of the country for wintering Palearctic birds, including Eyebrowed and other thrushes, Olive-backed Pipit, and Common Rosefinch.
By special arrangement we’ll visit the summit of Doi Pui, an area of open oak and pine forest and cypress plantations at over 5,000 feet. It is ideal for wintering and resident birds and always seems to produce a surprise or two. We’ll focus on flycatchers, chats, thrushes, Phylloscopus warblers (including both resident White-tailed and wintering Hume’s Leaf Warblers), and perhaps Chestnut Bunting, along with such resident species as Blue-throated Barbet, Gray-chinned and Long-tailed Minivets, and Yellow-cheeked Tit. We may also encounter a Hume’s Pheasant or a Scaly Thrush. After a picnic lunch on the mountain we’ll visit open scrub and grassland on the western outskirts of Chiang Mai to search for Rufous-winged Buzzard, Burmese Shrike, Ashy Woodswallow, Indochinese Bushlark, and a variety of other birds. Night in Chiang Mai.
Day 8: We’ll visit the Huai Hong Khrai Royal Development Project, a fine area of low rolling hills covered with deciduous forest and scattered with lakes. Here we’ll be looking for one of the most elusive and threatened large birds in Asia, Green Peafowl, which has recently recolonized this area after being accorded greatly improved protection. We may also visit lowland paddy habitats to look for Oriental Skylark, Pintail Snipe, Gray-headed Lapwing, Bluethroat, and Siberian Rubythroat, and perhaps, if we’re very lucky, we’ll find Small or Yellow-legged Buttonquail. After lunch we’ll travel to Doi Inthanon, where we’ll spend three nights in a pleasant resort at the foot of the mountain. Late in the afternoon we’ll search for Blossom-headed Parakeet and Rufous Treepie, which are often present nearby. Night at Doi Inthanon Highland Resort.
Day 9: We’ll spend the day exploring the huge range of habitats on 8,400-foot Doi Inthanon, Thailand’s highest mountain. Habitats range from open deciduous dipterocarp woodland on the lower slopes, to a succession of pine, open woodland, and deforested open country, to moist, broad-leaved evergreen forest.
Our first morning on the mountain will be spent around the summit, which supports an abundance of gorgeous flowering rhododendrons and orchids. A visit here is certain to reveal a multitude of brightly colored small birds, including Chestnut-tailed Minla, Rufous-winged Fulvetta, Yellow-bellied Fantail, and the stunning Gould’s and Green-tailed Sunbirds. As we follow a boardwalk around a sphagnum moss bog, we’ll look for ground-skulkers such as Rufous-throated Partridge, White-browed Shortwing, Dark-sided and Gray-sided Thrushes, Red-flanked Bluetail, Snowy-browed Flycatcher, and Chestnut-crowned Laughingthrush. Retiring Ashy Wood Pigeons can often be found roosting on branches in the early morning, and wintering flocks of Speckled Wood Pigeons are frequently seen just below the summit. After a picnic lunch we’ll begin our descent, searching for additional birds as we go, notably at the military checkpoint and the park headquarters in a quiet valley of cultivated land and regenerating forest. Here we hope to see Brown-cheeked Fulvetta, Blue-throated Flycatcher, and perhaps even Black-tailed Crake. Night at Doi Inthanon Highland Resort.
Day 10: We’ll start the day on the lower slopes of Doi Inthanon, where our main target will be Collared Falconet. Many species are found in this dry deciduous habitat, but most of them are difficult. These include Black-hooded Oriole, Blue-throated Flycatcher, and a variety of woodpeckers, such as White-bellied and Black-headed. In the past we recorded White-rumped Falcon on several occasions, but not in recent years. Later we’ll continue up to the middle elevations to look for such birds as Omei Spectacled Warbler, Brown-cheeked Fulvetta, Rufous-bellied Niltava and with good luck maybe a Black-tailed Crake. Night at Doi Inthanon Highland Resort.
Day 11: We’ll spend our last day on Doi Inthanon exploring the loftiest and most species-rich forest at elevations between 5,000 and 6,000 feet. Among the many birds we’ll be seeking are Maroon Oriole, Short-billed Minivet, Brown-throated Treecreeper, White-necked Laughingthrush, Silver-eared Mesia, Spectacled Barwing, Rufous-backed Sibia, Chestnut-crowned Warbler, Slaty-bellied Tesia, and Large Niltava. There is also a slim possibility of finding Green Cochoa. Heading back down the mountain, we’ll check along the cascading streams for White-capped and Plumbeous Redstarts and perhaps the striking Slaty-backed Forktail. We’ll return to Chiang Mai in the late afternoon. Night in Chiang Mai.
Day 12: We’ll leave early for the Mae Taeng Irrigation Project, partway to Chiang Dao District. The open country, where a shingle river descends from the steep mountains to the west, should produce a fine variety of birds, including Green Sandpiper, breeding Little Ringed Plover, Wire-tailed Swallow, Chestnut-capped Babbler, Chestnut-tailed Starling, and Crested Bunting. Siberian Rubythroat is often found here, and we’ll hope for views of this living jewel. We’ll also look out for Rufous-winged Buzzard and Baikal (Spotted) Bush Warbler, among other species.
We’ll have lunch en route and drive on to our accommodations at Ang Khang Nature Resort, which lies close to the prime birding areas on Doi Ang Khang at around 5,000 feet elevation. There may be some time for afternoon birding in scrub, cultivation, and plantations. Night at Ang Khang Nature Resort.
Days 13–14: We’ll spend two full days exploring Doi Ang Khang, a rugged and scenic mountain perched on the Thai-Burmese border. The mountain is home to a Chinese population (remnants of some of Chiang Kai-shek’s armies who settled here following the Chinese Revolution) as well as to Shan, Lahu, and Palong tribespeople. The Thai government has established watershed protection and upland agriculture projects to help conserve the environment. Though forest cover is much reduced, a great diversity of forest birds remains. Open oak-pine forests support Long-tailed Minivet, Slender-billed Oriole, and a few Giant Nuthatches, although this last species is very hard to find.
Among the specialties we may expect to see are Brown-breasted Bulbul, Rusty-cheeked Scimitar-Babbler, White-browed Laughingthrush, Red-faced Liocichla, and with good luck Spot-breasted Parrotbill. Buff-throated and Chinese Leaf Warblers. We’ll also be looking for difficult species such as Mountain Bamboo Partridge, Black-breasted and Scaly Thrushes, Gray-winged Blackbird, Crested Finchbill, and Black-browed Parrotbill, and there is another chance to see Hume’s Pheasant. At times the airspace above teems with Pacific Swifts that nest and roost in a cave on the mountain, and there is always the possibility of seeing something unexpected—perhaps a rare thrush, bunting, or finch. The proximity of our accommodations to the prime birding areas means that we’ll be able to return to the hotel after lunch and have a relaxing midday break. Nights at Ang Khang Nature Resort.
Day 15: After a final morning birding on Doi Ang Khang we’ll leave in the late morning for Tha Ton Riverview Resort in the extreme northern plains. Along the way we’ll stop at Mae Fang National Park Hot Springs for White-capped and Plumbeous Redstarts and possibly Slaty-backed Forktail. We’ll also have the chance to add a few more forest species, perhaps including Pin-tailed Pigeon, Yellow-bellied Warbler, Crimson Sunbird, or Spot-winged Grosbeak. If there is time, we might bird a bit in the Tha Ton paddies, a location we’ll bird again on day 16. Night at Tha Ton Riverview Resort.
Day 16: We’ll make a very early start for Doi Lang, where a steep blacktop road takes us above 6,500 feet in elevation. On the way we’ll briefly stop by some paddies where in 2010 we found a pair of the rare and localized Jerdon’s Bushchats and some perched Oriental Turtle Doves. We’ll be birding mostly along the roadside forest edge, which allows for spectacular views over the steep scarp that slopes away across the border into the Burmese hills. Crested Finchbills, scarce on Doi Ang Khang, usually abound on Doi Lang. Other species we’ll hope to find include Crimson-breasted Woodpecker, Black-throated Tit, Whiskered Yuhina, White-bellied Redstart, and if we’re very lucky, Red-tailed Laughingthrush, Golden Bush Robin, Fire-tailed Sunbird, and Scarlet Finch. We’ll spend the entire morning on the summit and then bird our way down after lunch, looking especially for red-flowering trees, which attract such species as Gray Treepie, Orange-bellied Leafbird, and Slender-billed Oriole. Night at Tha Ton Riverview Resort.
Day 17: We’ll have time for early morning birding in the marshy plains around Tha Ton, where we’ll search carefully for up to four species of wintering buntings. Wintering raptors might include Pied Harrier, and we have at least a decent chance of finding Oriental Turtle Dove. We’ll then check out of our accommodations and drive three-plus hours to Chiang Mai, looking diligently for Crested Treeswift en route before catching our late-afternoon flight to Bangkok. Night near Bangkok’s International Airport.
Day 18: The tour concludes this morning in Bangkok.
Asian Shorebird and Kaeng Krachan National Park Extension
Day 18: We’ll leave early, before Bangkok traffic becomes too dense, for the brackish and saltwater habitats (mudflats, sandflats, mangroves, and salt pans) in the western sectors of the Gulf of Thailand in Phetchaburi Province. There we’ll search for 40 or more shorebird species, including Red-necked and Long-toed Stints, Great Knot, Broad-billed and Marsh Sandpipers, and Greater and Lesser Sand Plovers. If we’re lucky, we may see Spoon-billed Sandpiper (the world population is now no more than 300 pairs and likely far fewer, but there were at least six or seven individuals here in 2012) and the threatened Nordmann’s Greenshank. We should also find Brown-headed and possibly Pallas’s (Great Black-headed) Gulls, Brahminy Kite, and Black-capped and Collared Kingfishers, among many other species. In the past several years one or two White-faced Plovers (Charadrius dealbatus) have wintered on the sand spit at Laem Phak Bia, and we’ll search for that species and for the more numerous Malaysian Plover. We’re also likely to see Chinese and Pacific Reef Egrets and Great Crested Tern here. The White-faced Plover was actually first collected in 1861 by Swinhoe, who described it as a new species in 1870—after which it was forgotten! Night at a lovely and relaxing beachfront resort near Laem Phak Bia.
Day 19: In the early morning we’ll visit a freshwater marsh (a Royal Project) near Laem Phak Bia and search for a variety of marsh birds, such as Yellow Bittern, both Slaty-breasted Rail and Ruddy-breasted Crake, Watercock, Bronze-winged Jacana, Pintail Snipe, and a variety of warblers, including Oriental and Black-browed Reed. Then we’ll travel to some open country an hour or so away that is particularly good for raptors. Among the many wintering Black Kites we’ll be looking for eagles: Greater Spotted and Booted are the more regularly encountered species, but we might see Imperial and Steppe too. Later we’ll have some time off before birding one of the wetlands near Laem Phak Bia late in the day, perhaps traveling a few miles north to Bang Khun Sai, where a marsh often supports multiple pairs of Painted Snipe. Another interesting feature of the town is its “swift apartments,” multi-story concrete structures built by Chinese investors to house wild Germain’s Swiftlet. Thousands of pairs nest in the most favored apartments, each with its own set of (human) managers and a speaker system that broadcasts swift calls at high volume in hopes of attracting additional recruits; the nests reportedly sell for upward of $2,500 per pound in Chinese markets. If there’s time, we’ll return to the Royal Project at dusk to watch hundreds of Black Drongos, starlings, mynas, and Blue-tailed Bee-eaters returning to their mangrove roosts; we may also witness the departure of hundreds of Flying Foxes as they head out for a night’s foraging. Night near Laem Phak Bia.
Day 20: We’ll leave quite early this morning for Kaeng Krachan National Park, where we’ll have two and half days to explore its various habitats. Many of the species are shared with Khao Yai to the north and east, but southern species from the Thai peninsula occur too. We hope to see a variety of broadbills and woodpeckers and will search for several localized Thai species such as Ratchet-tailed Treepie and Spot-necked Babbler, and with great good luck we may see a roosting White-fronted Scops Owl. Hornbills are found here too, and we’ll search for the distinctive tickelli subspecies of the Brown Hornbill, which many now treat as a separate species. Night near Kaeng Krachan.
Day 21: Our exact schedule will depend on our ornithological needs, but we’ll spend some time in a blind where a number of secretive species regularly visit. This list includes Kalij Pheasant, Bar-backed and Scaly-breasted Partridges, Large and White-browed Scimitar-Babblers, and Lesser and Greater Necklaced Laughingthrushes. A wide variety of mammals occur here as well including Asian Elephant, Serow (an old world goat), one or two species of languars, and possibly several cats, including leopard. Night near Kaeng Krachan.
Day 22: After a final morning in Kaeng Krachan we’ll slowly make our way back to Bangkok. Night near Bangkok’s International Airport.
Day 23: The tour concludes this morning in Bangkok.
Updated: 06 May 2012
Prices
- 2013 Tour Price Not Yet Available : *
- (2012 Main Tour Price $5650; with Extension $6550) :
Notes
Maximum group size 10 with one leader and local assistants.
* Tour invoices paid by check carry a modest discount. Details here.