[17 Days] birding tours in Central and South Vietnam – Highly Recommend

BIRDS HIGHLIGHT FOR [17 Days] Birding Tours in Central and South Vietnam

Cat Tien national park is located in South Vietnam; it is one of the best birding sites with the most accessible site in South Annam for Orange-necked Partridge and lots of birders wanted birds.

Most Wanted birds in Cat Tien

Orange-necked Partridge; Germain’s Peacock-Pheasant; Green Peafowl; Great Slaty, Pale-headed, Black-and-buff, Heart-spotted, and White-bellied Woodpecker; Wreathed Hornbill; Great Hornbill; Orange-breasted Trogon; Blue-bearded Bee-eater; Stork-billed Kingfisher; Banded Kingfisher; Blyth’s Frogmouth; Great-eared Nightjar; Grey-headed Fish-eagle; Lesser Fish-eagle; Woolly-necked Stork; Lesser Adjutant; Blue-rumped, Bar-bellied, and Blue-winged Pitta; Black-and-red, Dusky and Banded Broadbill; Golden-crested Myna; Grey-faced Tit-babbler.

Dalat Plateau is located in the Central highland (C Annam), it is an EBA that has a natural evergreen forest and coniferous forest that is home to six endemic bird species and also supports several subspecies.

Most Wanted birds in Dalat:

Black-hooded, White-cheeked, Orange-breasted, and Collared Laughingthrush; Bar-backed Partridge; Silver Pheasant; Red-vented Barbet; Black-browed Barbet; Red-headed Trogon; Long-tailed Broadbill; Wedge-tailed Green Pigeon; Mountain Imperial Pigeon; Black Eagle; Rufous-bellied Eagle; Jerdon’s Baza; Rusty-naped and Blue Pitta; Burmese Shrike; Indochinese Green Magpie; Eurasian Jay; Slender-billed and Maroon Oriole;  White-throated Rock Thrush; Green Cochoa; Rufous-browed, Blue-and-White, Mugimaki , Snowy-browed and Little Pied Flycatcher; Large Niltava; Lesser Shortwing;  White-tailed Robin; Spotted Forktail; Yellow-billed Nuthatch; Yellow-cheeked and Grey-crowned Tit, Grey-bellied Tesia;  White-spectacled, Chestnut-crowned  Warbler; White-browed Scimitar Babbler; Streaked , Eye-browed, Pygmy  Wren-Babbler; Rufous-capped Babbler; Vietnamese Cutia; Clicking shrike-babbler; Blue-winged Minla; Black-crowned, Indochinese Fulvetta; Grey-crowned Crocias; Rufous-backed, Black-headed Sibia, Black-headed Parrotbill; Gould’s Sunbird; Streaked Spiderhunter; Vietnamese Greenfinch.

Yok-don National Park is located in Dak Lak province, Central Highland Vietnam. It is dominated by a mosaic of deciduous forest and semi-evergreen (mixed deciduous) forest (Dry open forest).

Most Wanted birds in Yok Don National park:

Mekong Wagtail; White-rumped Falcon; Collared Falconet; Black-hooded Woodpecker and other woodpeckers; Chestnut-bellied Nuthatch; Alexandrine, Grey-headed, Blossom-headed Parrakeets; Yellow-footed Green Pigeon

Mang Canh forest and Ngoc Linh National Park are also located in Kom Tum Province, Central Highland Vietnam, it is one of the recently recognized EBA (Endemic Birds Area) in the World. Kom Tum EBA is perhaps the least known avifauna to both scientists and birders. As it is located in a “politically sensitive” area, most people who want to visit here have to obtain a complicated permit to access the remote forests.

Most Wanted birds in Mang Canh forest and Ngoc Linh National Park

Pale-capped Pigeon; Northern Brown Hornbill; Stripe-breasted Woodpecker; White-winged Magpie; Ratchet-tailed Treepie; Pale Blue Flycatcher; Grey-crowned Tit; Rufous-faced Warbler; Grey-headed Parrotbill; Indochinese Wren-babbler; Grey-faced Warbler; Himalayan Cutia; Green Shrike-Babbler; Black-crowned Barwing; Chestnut-eared Laughingthrush; Golden-winged Laughingthrush, Red-tailed Laughingthrush.

Bach Ma National Park is located in Hue province, Central Vietnam which is situated in the central Annamite Mountains, 2 hour-diver from Hue city. The national park lies at the southern extent of the Annamese Lowlands Endemic Bird Area and is known to support populations of at least four of the restricted range species found in this EBA: Annam Partridge, Crested Argus, Indochinese Wren Babbler, and Grey-faced Tit-Babbler. In addition, the national park supports a population of an endemic subspecies of Silver Pheasant.

Most Wanted birds in Bach Ma National Park

Rufous-throated Partridge; Annam Partridge; Silver Pheasant; Red-collared Woodpecker; Blyth’s Kingfisher; Coral-billed Ground Cuckoo; Silver-breasted Broadbill; Indochinese Green Magpie; Siberian Thrush; Japanese Thrush; Sultan Tit; Masked Laughingthrush; Lesser-necklaced Laughingthrush; Black-throated Laughingthrush; Short-tailed Scimitar Babbler; Grey-throated Babbler; Spot-necked Babbler; Grey-faced Tit-Babbler; Black-browed Fulvetta…

Shamu pass is a new birding spot near Laos which Ho Chi Minh trails across this site, it is home to Rufous-cheeked Laughingthrush (a near-endemic bird)

Most Wanted birds in Shamu pass:

Rufous-cheeked Laughingthrush; Indochinese Wren Babbler; Moustached Barbet; Yellow-billed Warbler…

Phong Nha-Ke Bang National Park is located in Quang Binh province, Central Vietnam, close to the international border with Laos. This is situated in one of the largest areas of contiguous limestone karst in Indochina, which also includes Hin Namno National Protected Area in Laos. The limestone massif is located in a transitional zone between the northern and central Annamite Mountains.

Most Wanted birds in Phong Nha-Ke Bang National Park:

Chestnut-necklaced Partridge; Red-collared Woodpecker; Brown Hornbill; Sooty Babbler; Indochinese wren-babbler…

You could also lear about Vietnam BIRDs –  A Naturalist online field guide [update 2023]

Summary Itinerary: [17 Days] Birding Tours in Central and South Vietnam

Day 1: Arrival in Ho Chi Minh City, where you’ll be picked up from your hotel or the airport and driven to Cat Tien National Park. After lunch and a rest, you’ll begin your birdwatching tour.

Days 2-3: You’ll spend two full days birdwatching in Cat Tien National Park.

Day 4: In the morning, you’ll continue birdwatching in Cat Tien before leaving for Dalat in the afternoon. You’ll have a chance to do some birdwatching in the area later in the day.

Days 5-6: You’ll spend two full days birdwatching in Dalat.

Day 7: You’ll have a morning birdwatching session in Dalat before driving to Buon Me Thuot for the night.

Day 8: After a morning birdwatching session in Yok-don National Park, you’ll drive to Mang Den for more birdwatching.

Day 9: You’ll spend a full day birdwatching in Mang Canh forest.

Day 10: You’ll have a short morning birdwatching session in Mang Den before driving to Tu-M-Rong.

Day 11: You’ll spend a full day birdwatching in Ngoc Linh National Park, in search of the Golden-winged Laughingthrush.

Day 12: You’ll have a morning birdwatching session in Ngoc Linh National Park before driving to Da Nang for the night.

Day 13: You’ll drive to Bach Ma National Park and do some birdwatching at the top of the mountain.

Day 14: You’ll spend a full day birdwatching in Bach Ma National Park.

Day 15: You’ll have a morning birdwatching session in Bach Ma before driving to Quang Tri Province, where you’ll do some birdwatching at Shamu Pass.

Day 16: You’ll have a morning birdwatching session at Shamu Pass before driving to Phong Nha-Ke Bang National Park, where you’ll do some birdwatching in the late afternoon.

Day 17: You’ll have a morning birdwatching session in Phong Nha-Ke Bang National Park before leaving for the airport to catch your flight (depending on your flight time).