Over 850 bird species have been recorded in Vietnam. Many are common and easy to see in the wild, while others are rare and difficult to find.
If you are interested in Bird watching we can provide you with all you need to mount successful Bird watching Day Trips and Expeditions:-
Trained Guides
We provide trained local guides. They are experienced in exploring the areas where the birds live and now the habits of the birds. Our guides will get you close to the birds so you can study and photograph. Some of our more experienced Guides can actually imitate bird calls so well they can attract the birds, an old Highland Hunting technique now used for more ecologically friendly purposes!.
Bird Species Identification
Identification used to be a real problem for us; the Local Guides only knew the Vietnamese names for the birds, now thanks to Bird Life International Vietnam www.birdlifeindochina.org we can accurately identify the birds you will see on our trips. On all of our trips the guides carry the Bird Life Vietnam Species Identification book, a highly comprehensive and informative book charting all major bird species in Vietnam.
Specialist Equipment,
We can provide specialist equipment to help enhance your Bird Watching daytrip or expedition. We can provide Binoculars, Waterproof Cameras and Tents etc. Basically, everything you might need to mount a long expedition in to the forest.
Maps & Logistics
We have an extensive map collection of the remote areas of Vietnam that we conduct our day trips and expedition tours. This combined with specialist local knowledge means we know where we are at all times, even in the remote forests of Daklak and Yak Don. We can provide all of your transport requirements to get you too and from the bird watching sites.
River, Coastal & Remote Area Exploration
We know Nha Trang and the Central Highlands very well. We have specialist equipment to help you get close to the birds in remote River, Coastal and Highland Areas. Our specialty is inflatable boats; we use the boats to access remote wetland areas in the Highlands and along the coasts. Our small 2 man inflatable kayaks for getting up close to the birds. We can also arrange larger boats for river and coastal exploration.
Permissions to enter Restricted Areas
Much of the best bird watching in Vietnam is to be found in remote and restricted areas such as the Cai River Valley in Nha Trang & the Yok Don National Park in Daklak. We know what areas are open for tourism and exploration. We also have contacts with all the right Government agencies to organize permissions to enter the restricted areas.
Friend of the Bird Life International Vietnam Organization www.birdlifeindochina.org. We recently learned about this Hanoi based Environmental NGO. They are great! Especially their communication Expert Ms. Hanh! Birdwatch Indochina is a non profit organization committed to protecting Vietnamese birds and the environments in which they live. Please help and support this organization….do not let Vietnam turn into another Taiwan!
Day Trips and Expeditions
Our main areas of operations are in the Cai River Valley Nha Trang and the Yak Don National Park area in The Central Highlands. We can also offer logistical support for bird watching expeditions in the form of equipment and guides in most of Central Vietnam. Here are some of the birds you will see.
Bird watching in the Cai River Valley Nha Trang Day Trip
The Cai River Valley is a beautiful upland river valley only 1 hours travel from Nha Trang. This ‘Happy Valley’ has only recently being opened up for tourism. We use inflatable kayaks to explore the river and discover its birds. On a typical trip you will see Hornbills, Cranes, Kingfishers and birds of prey such as Eagles and Hawks. We often see the Kingfishers diving for and catching fish right in front of the boats. Using inflatable kayaks we can get very close to the birds so you can photograph.
Bird watching in Yok Don National Park & the Serapok River Day trip and expeditions
We can organize bird watching trips & expeditions into the forests and waterways of the Yak Don National park, a world recognized bird watching paradise close to the Cambodian border.
Yok Don National Park is located in western Dak Lak province in the Central Highlands. To the west, the site borders Cambodia. The site is characterised by a relatively flat, lowland landscape dominated by dry dipterocarp forest studded with seasonal pools. Semi-evergreen forest can also be found, along watercourses and on the few low-lying hills. Yok Don is bisected by the Srepok River, a major tributary of the Mekong River. The national park contains numerous small (and often seasonal) tributary streams of the Serapok River.
Birding highlights: Green Peafowl, Lesser Adjutant, Woolly-necked Stork, woodpeckers and Mekong Wagtail.
Bird fauna: Yok Don National Park supports a diverse bird community, including a particularly rich dry dipterocarp forest avifauna. The large tracts of dry dipterocarp forest with seasonal pools are important for large waterbirds in particular. Yok Don is the only known site for the critically endangered Giant Ibis in Vietnam and supports the last known breeding Sarus Cranes in the country. Both species are very rare at the site, however, and the localities where they occur are off-limits to visitors. Yok Don supports a globally significant population of Green Peafowl, estimated to number at least 400 individuals. Larger permanent waterways support small but nationally important populations of White-winged Duck, Masked Finfoot, Lesser and Grey-headed Fish Eagles. Yok Don is also one of a handful of sites in Vietnam with recent records of White-rumped and Red-headed Vultures. However, most of these records have been from the western part of the park, close to the Cambodian border, which is closed to visitors.
Other features: Dry dipterocarp forest, elephant rides, whitewater rafting & fishing trips.
Transportation: Car, flight. There is a airport at Buon Ma Thuot, about 40 km from the park headquarters. From the headquarters, visitors can hire elephants or enter the park on foot.
Accommodation: There is a guesthouse at the park headquarters. Visitors can also stay at the Banmeco Tourism Area, just 2 km from the headquarters.
Permission: Visitors are allowed to visit the eastern part of the park, which is zoned for tourism.
New species
Between 1996 and 1999,
BirdLife discovered three bird species new to science: Golden-winged
Laughingthrush, Black-crowned Barwing and Chestnut-eared laughingthrush.
Golden-winged Laughingthrush was discovered on Mt Ngoc Linh, the highest mountain in the Western Highlands of Vietnam. The species is known only to occur in montane evergreen forest above 2,000 m. In 1998, as a result of work by BirdLife and the Forest Inventory and Planning Institute (FIPI), Ngoc Linh (Kon Tum) Nature Reserve was established, protecting forest on the western face of Mt Ngoc Linh. In 1999, BirdLife and FIPI completed a feasibility study for the establishment of Ngoc Linh (Quang Nam) Nature Reserve, the boundaries of which include forest on the eastern slopes of the mountain. It is hoped that this nature reserve will soon be established, and that the habitats and species on Mt Ngoc Linh will receive the protection they deserve.
Black-crowned Barwing was also discovered on Mt Ngoc Linh but has since been found at nearby sites in western Kon Tum province in Vietnam and on the Dakchung plateau in Laos. All the known localities of this species in Vietnam are located within Ngoc Linh (Kon Tum) Nature Reserve.
During a field survey of Mt Kon Ka Kinh, in 1999 Chestnut-eared laughingthrush was discovered. Efforts to conserve this newly discovered species were given a boost when Kon Ka Kinh Nature Reserve was established in 1999. This species, together with Golden-winged laughingthrush, was also recorded in Kon Plong district, Kon Tum province, during survey in 2000.
Birdlife Indochina…….a hard job…..please support…..protect Vietnams Birds and their Environment
Welcome to Vietnam
Introduction to Vietnam
The Socialist Republic of Vietnam (331,000 km2) is situated in the South Eastern
margin of the Indochinese Peninsula, spread over 16,000 km. The population of
Vietnam is over 80 million, about 87 percent of which are the Viet (Kinh) people
and the remaining belong to 53 other ethnic minority groups who mainly live in
the mountainous areas of the country. 75 percent of the Vietnamese population
live in rural areas. Vietnam is still a developing country with 29% of
households living under international poverty line (2002). The annual income per
capita is USD485 (2003). Thus, the highest priority of the Government is poverty
reduction and social development. In recently years, the country has been highly
appreciated for their success in poverty alleviation.
Vietnam is rich in culture, history and biological diversity. The country has a
long history that dates back about three thousand years ago and famous for its
hard-working and intelligent people. However, in its contemporary history, the
country has undergone several prolonged wars which have had devastating impacts
on the economy as well as the environment.
Basic geophysical description
Vietnam’s varied topography and hydrology account for its rich biological
diversity. Three quarters of Vietnam is hilly or mountainous. Montane areas in
Vietnam fall into three distinct regions: the Hoang Lien Mountains in the
north-west, a mountain region in the north-east which represents a southern
extension of the South China Platform and the Truong Son or Annamite Range in
central Vietnam which extends for nearly 1,200km from the north to the south
along the Vietnamese border with Laos and Cambodia. Other distinct regions of
the country include the vast Red River Delta in the north, the Mekong River
Delta in the south and a number of small coastal plains in central Vietnam.
In terms of climate, Vietnam lies totally in the monsoon tropics. In the northern part of the country, there are four separate seasons; spring, summer, autumn and (cold) winter. In the south of the country, there are two distinct wet and dry seasons.
Environmental context
Vietnam, given its tropical location and diversified topography, is one of the
global biological hotspots. However, the devastation of wars in the past and
currently the pressures of population and economic development have seen the
ecosystems in Vietnam heavily degraded. Main threats to biodiversity loss
include conversion of forestland to agriculture, wetlands to aquaculture, poor
land use planning, weak regulatory enforcement, logging, hunting and wildlife
trading. In addition to that, the high population density and relatively high
population growth place extra pressures on the use of forests for livelihoods.
Operational context
The origin of the protected area system in Vietnam dated back to the 1960s,
however, there are still numerous gaps, and weaknesses in the natural resource
and biodiversity conservation management in the country. Currently, the
protected area system (or Special Used Forests) covers about 2.4 million
hectares or over 7% of the country’s land area, which mainly comprises
terrestrial forest sites. Wetlands habitats are considerably under-represented.
There are not yet any decreed marine protected areas even though Vietnam has
over 3,000 km of coastlines. Institutionally, the country is still struggling to
deal with a lack of technical capacity and financial resources, a lack of
integration of biodiversity conservation objectives in its overall
socio-economic development plans and weak conservation regulatory enforcement.
Key government policies on biodiversity
Over
the past 40 years, the Vietnamese government has increasingly recognized the
need for management and protection of natural resources and biodiversity
conservation in sustainable development. Their efforts are reflected in major
legal/strategic documents such as the Law on Forest Protection and Development
and the National Biodiversity Action Plan. Vietnam also participates in four of
the five global conventions related to biodiversity and the management of
protected areas and wildlife species: the Convention on Biological Diversity
(CBD), the Convention on Wetlands (the Ramsar Convention), the Convention on
International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) and
the World Heritage Convention (WHC). However, investment by the Vietnamese
government on biodiversity conservation is limited. The donor community for
biodiversity conservation is diversified in scope and origin. Funds come from a
variety of organisations, unilateral and multilateral agencies and governments.
What is the global conservation significance of Vietnam?
BirdLife's global conservation priority-setting process has placed Vietnam among
the top ten countries in the world in terms of levels of biodiversity and
numbers of threatened bird species.