Wildlife & Nature

Nepal Has 915 Bird Species — Nearly a Tenth of the World's (2026)

One of Asia's great birding countries hides above and below the treks.

By Maya Rai · Aug 27, 2026

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Nepal is known the world over for its mountains, but look down from the ridgelines and you find something almost as staggering: one of the richest bird lists on Earth crammed into a country the size of a single mid-sized nation. From steamy lowland jungle at…

Travel Himalaya Nepal · News

Why such a small country holds so many birds

The answer is altitude. Nepal spans a vertical range of more than 8,000 metres, and each band of elevation carries its own community of birds. The tropical Terai in the south shares species with the plains of India; the middle hills hold subtropical and…

Travel Himalaya Nepal · News

The Danphe: a national bird you can actually meet

Few countries have a national bird as spectacular as Nepal's. The Danphe, or Himalayan monal, is a pheasant the size of a small turkey, and the male is almost implausibly coloured — a metallic green crest, coppery neck feathers, and a white rump that flashes…

Travel Himalaya Nepal · News

Where and when to go

Nepal's birding hotspots are spread the length of the country, and each rewards a different season. The single greatest wetland site is Koshi Tappu Wildlife Reserve in the far south-east — a Ramsar-listed floodplain of the Sapta Koshi river and an Important…

Travel Himalaya Nepal · News

The trek-plus-birding combination

Here is the part most visitors miss: you do not need a specialist birding tour to enjoy Nepal's birds. A gentle foothill trek is itself a birding trip. Walk the Ghorepani Poon Hill route in spring and the rhododendron forest is loud with birdsong before the…

Travel Himalaya Nepal · News

Plan a birding-and-trekking trip

Nepal is one of the few places on Earth where you can watch tropical kingfishers in the morning and be among Himalayan pheasants within the same week. If you would like to build a trip that pairs a foothill trek with a lowland wildlife stay — or simply want a…

Travel Himalaya Nepal · News

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