Koshi Tappu Wildlife Reserve Bird Watching

Koshi Tappu Wildlife Reserve Bird WatchingBird watching in the Kathmandu valley is but a preview to Nepal’s extraordinary avifauna. The history of bird watching began in Kathmandu, but its presence in Nepal is in the Koshi Tappu Wildlife Reserve. The Koshi Tappu Wildlife Reserve is an assortment of habitats; its 17,500 hectares include grasslands or phantas, riparian vegetation, ox-bow lakes, marshes and sparse forests. To its south is the Koshi Barrage area, a seven kilometer by five kilometer strip of land, more than half of which is covered in water. This habitat is tailor-made for the migrating birds in Nepal. In 1987 the Koshi Tappu Wildlife Reserve became the first protected wetland in Nepal under the Ramsar Convention on Wetlands signed at Ramsar, Iran in 1971. The Koshi Tappu and Koshi Barrage areas are of international significance for birds and birders alike. More than 170 species of birds can be seen there in a day. The largest heronry in Nepal was recorded from the area, comprising of nearly 26,000 nests of 12 speciesof waders. There are records of 20 globally threatened species from the area. The Swamp Francolin, a globally endangered species has its highest numbers here. The area’s reputation as a bird haven is corroborated by the fact that it shelters 13 of Nepal’s 22 near-threatened bird species. A reading of ornithological journals and survey reports shows that the majority of new species of birds discovered in Nepal in the last ten years have been at Koshi Tappu. A week-long Bird Festival is organized annually by the people living around the reserve, commencing on the 2nd of February, which is the International Wetlands Day. During the festival indigenous cultural programs are organized along with bird watching trips that are free of cost for everyone, including tourists. A large number of Nepal’s birds, especially the ones in the country’s threatened list, are found in the lowlands. 55 percent of the country’s threatened species are found in the lowlands, within the altitudinal range of 75 to 1000 meters. Thus, the lowlands are inhabited by some of the rarest birds of Nepal.

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