Kathmandu Bird Watching

In the surrounding forested hills of Kathmandu, more than 500 species of birds have been recorded.Therefore, the travelers staying in Kathmandu cities can make an amazing combination of heritage tour with jungle walk.The Green patch of lush vegetation around the busy city often triggers curiousity and indeed it is so close from the city that you can make an interesting jungle walk for bird watching in a couple of hours.

Kathmandu valley, situated at the elevation of 1400 meter from the sea level, is surrounded by serene Deciduous Monsoon Forest.Therefore, the outskirt of Kathmandu is already a popular destination for day walk and hiking. If you are in Kathmandu valley, you also have a good opportunity to enjoy bird watching in the pristine jungle. After just an hour's walking or a few minute's driving, you will soon forget the cacophony of the cities. Suryabinayak is an hour's walk from Bhaktapur.Godawari, Phulchowki and Chandragiri is half an hour drive from Patan.Similarly, from Kathmandu it is another half an hour drive to Nagarjun and Shivapuri jungle where you can spend a day for rare bird watching.

In the area you can easily spot the birds like:Indian Pond Heron, Cattle Egret, Black Kite, Oriental Turtle Dove, Spotted Dove,Rose-ringed Parakeet, Asian Koel, Common Cuckoo, Spotted Owlet, White Throated Kingfisher,Blue Throated Barbet, Great Barbet, Black Drongo, Longtailed Shrike, Long tailed RedBilled Blue magpie,Large Billed Crow, Red- vented Bulbul, Barn Swallow, Common Tailorbird, Common Myna,Jungle Myna, Eurassian Tree Sparrow, Oriental Magpie Robin,  Wood Pecker, Wedge-tailed Eagle, Falcon etc.  

--Hari Sharan Bhuju