Common Birds of Kathmandu

December 10, 2019

Common Birds of Kathmandu

As we all know that the outskirts of Kathmandu valley have are famous hiking and retreat spots for the city people. The places like Hattiban, Balthali, Kakani, ShivaPuri National Park, Godhawori Botanical Garden, Phulchowki hill, etc; have always been the go-to places to enjoy nature on a day trip. Among these places, Shivapuri National Park and Phulchowki Hill have also been recognized as Important Bird Area (IBA) by Birdlife International. Bird watching in these areas along with places like Taudaha, Raniban, etc; is steadily becoming one of the wildlife tourism activities.

However, before going on a birding day trip notice some of the birds that reside in the urban parts of Kathmandu City.

According to the first urban bird monitoring, 2016 has recorded a total of 13,749 individual birds from rural to urban gradients of Kathmandu Valley. Bird conservationists and researchers participated in the monitoring that was conducted by the Bird Conservation Nepal in January and June/July 2016. This number accounts for a total of 102 bird species. Of them, 85 species of birds with 6,496 individual birds were recorded in winter. 63 species of birds with 7,253 individual birds were recorded in summer.

According to the monitoring report; the common pigeon was the most common bird species based on the number of individual birds recorded. A total of 4,545 common pigeons were recorded, 2,339 in winters and 2,206 in summers. Similarly, the house sparrow was identified as the second most common bird in urban and adjacent areas with 2,327 individual birds of this species. Likewise, 2,147 house crows were recorded, 827 common mynas, 765 cattle egrets; 426 Eurasian tree sparrows, 360 barn swallows, 308 jungle mynas; 243 Red-vented bulbuls, and 159 black kites were recorded.

– A version of this article appears in print on January 01, 2017, of The Himalayan Times.

Watch out for these birds during your visit to urban forest covers of Pashupatinath, Swyambhunath, Gokarna, Taudaha Lake, and the banks of Bagmati River.

Common Birds of Kathmandu