BIRDS WATCHING IN NEPAL

              Nepal is paradise for birds lover with over 848 species almost 10% of the world
total of birds.The government officials probably have have not even heard of this past time.
With the exception of agencies that actually conduct bird-watching tour  they organize.

                      There are bird watching societies all over the world including Nepal.It is up
to the tour operators to tap them.Once more and more bird watchers arrive in Nepal they will go back
spread the world around.we never brother about the varied interests of westerners which we 
fail to understand .Gazing at birds and spending money in the process may not make
sense to us but for but for some people it is a passion.Birds watcher go around the
the world identifying birds and keeping records of species sighted.


                                                  KATHMANDU VALLY

                 The most popular bird watching spot is the Kathmandu valley ,where among them almost 600
are found.The surrounding hills after a varied ecology ranging from primary and secondary forests to
rhododendron,0ak and pine forests .In addition the wetlands and open fields inside the valley make
up a diverse habitat for  many species of birds.The most popular bird watching spot is the pulchoki hill over
265 species have been recorded to data.Birds seen in the area include babblers,warblers,title,thrushes,
mini vets,woodpecker,eagle and many migrant birds.

Gadavari,at the foot of phulchoki hill where the royal botanical garden is situated has recorded over 100 species of birds including  the lesser racket ailed drongo, Tibetan sis kin and the spotted fork tail.

              The shivapuri watershed and wildlife reserve situated 11 km to the north of Kathmandu,is another exciting location along with nagarjun royal forest on jamacho hill situated 5km from Kathmandu  on the ways to kakani from balaju among  the birds are blue magpies kallj pheasants bonellis eagles great Himalayan barbets to name but a few.

                  The high lights for birds sightings of the wetlands in the valley included the banks  of the manohara rivers on the way to bhaktapur and the bagmati rivers which flows into the valley from shivapuri hill exiting through chobhar gorge.

                        taudaha lake harbours over 40 species of birds mostly dependent on wetlands situated on the to dakshinkali it attracts flocks of migrant birds.

                                                       CHITWAN NATIONAL PARK

                        Chitwan national park has been  long one the country treasures of natural wonders .The park is situated in south central Nepal,covering 932sq.km.in the subtropical lowlands of the inner terai.formerly called chitwan national park it was established in 1973 and granted the status of a world heritage site in 1984.I n 2011chitwan forest and grass lands over 255 species recorded .There are many species of parakects other birds include blue-throat long-tailed Night jar,Indian peafowl,great bar bet,red-billed blue magpie and tick ell.red-breasted blue flycatcher.

                                            KOSHI  TAPPU  WILDLIFE  RESERVE

                       Koshi tappu wildlife reserve is renowned for being on of the best location for birding,It is a smallest 175 sq,km and easternmost reserve in Nepal just to the north  east of the convergence of the saptkoshi and trijuga khola rivers.During the monsoon the flow becomes torrential and covers most of the floodplain while during the dry seasons many flat sandy islands are exposed .The habitat is a combination of scrub grasslands and deciduous riverine forest with over 280 species of birds recorded  so far including 20 species of duck ibises ,stork ,swamp,partridges,herons,egrets,Bengal,floricans,and many other exotic and migratory waterfowl not found else where in Nepal.

                                                   BARDIA  NATIONAL  PARK

                              Bardia is also most popular destination for bird watching situated in the  far west for Nepal.It is an area of extensive jungle which is covered by Sal forest riverine and grasslands.a boat ride on the slow moving expanse of the karnali river provides plenty of birds including ruddy shelduck,darters,Brahminikites  ,brown headed gulls,cormorants oriental pied horn bills,night heron&majestic peacocks.

                                        THE ANNAPURNA CONSERVATION AREA

                        The Annapurna region is a conservation area is the largest and most protected region in the world covering around 7629 sq km towards the North -central region of Nepal.The Kali gandaki rivers runs north to south through this region through the world deepest gorge some 6000m below the Annapurna and Dhaulagiri massifs seven of these peaks are over 700m th highest at 8091m.A few facts and figures above ,but as you can imagine the Annapurna conversation area  supports a remarkable but delicate biodiversity,with 441 recorded species of birds including ,the only endemic species of Nepal,the spiny babbler, The bird habitat ranges from  the sub-tropical lowlands towards pokhara in the south of Annapurna conservation area to dry sub -alpine condition above  the tree -line towards the north.