Chitwan National Park Bird Watching

Chitwan BirdingThe Chitwan National Park was established as the country’s first national park in 1973. The park is a valley with an area of 972 km2 in the country’s central lowland Terai. The park’s vegetation consists predominantly of Sal (Shorea robusta), a hardwood tree. Small areas of grasslands, tropical and pine forests are also found. The Lami, Tamar and Devi Tals are the most prominent among the several lakes and ponds in the floodplains of the three rivers that run through the park. The majority of threatened species of Nepali birds, about 59 percent, depend on forests for their survival. This makes Chitwan a bird haven, given that it is the largest tract of lowland forest in the country. Over half of Nepal’s total bird species are found in Chitwan, numbering 540 species. This number includes about two-thirds of the country’s globally threatened bird species. Several of the birds of Chitwan are found nowhere else in Nepal. The endangered grassland species, the Bengal Florican is a resident bird of Chitwan. The Grey-crowned Prinia, Slender-billed Babbler and the Lesser Adjutant inhabit the Chitwan grasslands. The park is the only known place in Nepal where the Slender-Billed Babbler is found and is believed to contain the largest population of the species in the Indian sub-continent. Understandably, in 1983 the Chitwan National Park was declared a World Heritage Site by UNESCO. The Indian Spotted Eagle, an endangered species breeds in Chitwan. The park also holds the highest number of Nepal’s near-threatened bird species – 15 out of 22. These include Ferruginous Pochard, Great Hornbill, Black-bellied Tern, Grey-headed and Lesser Fish Eagles, White-tailed Eagle, Cinereous and Red-headed Vultures, Pallid Harrier, Laggar Falcon, Darter, Painted and Black-necked Storks, Rufous-rumped Grassbird and Yellow-breasted Bunting. Other birds include Sarus Crane, Bengal and Lesser Floricans, Indian Skimmer, Pallas’s Fish Eagle, Jerdon’s Babbler and curlews. The Bar-headed Goose, a trans-Himalayan migrant, is seen near the Narayani river.

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