Bhutan

Limithang Road

Information

SITE RANK

11

HABITAT High mountain pass at 3,700 m, forest at all levels down to 650 m

KEY SPECIES Satyr Tragopan, Blood Pheasant, Snow Pigeon, Ward’s Trogon, Fire-tailed Myzornis, babblers including Bar-winged Wren-Babbler and Coral-billed Scimitar Babbler, parrotbills

TIME OF YEAR Best in spring (April to June)

Satyr Tragopan, so elusive throughout most of its limited range in the Himalayas, is comparatively easy to see in Bhutan.

Experienced tour guides have been coming out of recently-open Bhutan muttering about “pristine forests stretching to the horizon” and “birds dripping from the trees”. They recount the eerie tameness of the birds here, with shy creatures like pheasants keeping long in sight when, everywhere else in the world, they would disappear in an instant; and they marvel at the peaceful experience of visiting this Himalayan kingdom. Many have declared that Bhutan is simply the best birding and travelling experience of their careers.

So what is it about Bhutan that has made so many gnarled veterans so very enthusiastic? Well, there are plenty of bird species – nearly 700 have been recorded – but then, many other places in the world have similar diversity. No, it is Bhutan’s almost uniquely pristine state and gentle atmosphere that make a visit here so inspiring. This is no ordinary country. It has kept traditional ideas of development and prosperity at arm’s length, and instead has remained faithful to the tenets of Tibetan Buddhism, whereby hunting is forbidden and vast areas of wilderness are kept just as they are. Up until the 1960s Bhutan kept itself almost completely isolated, until the Chinese invasion of neighbouring Tibet woke it up to the realization that it would have to engage with the outside world. Nonetheless, television was introduced only in 1999, and tourism has only recently been encouraged – even now, you have to visit in a tour party, there is a high daily tariff, and numbers are controlled. There is only one major road in the whole country, and that was only begun in 1962. The government, moreover, remains resistant to outside influences; in 1987 the king declared, in response to criticism of Bhutan’s slow economic growth, that “Gross National Happiness is more important than Gross National Product”, and Bhutan still officially produces happiness indices. This country has recognized that its own land is a priceless treasure, especially in its preserved state.

In this outstanding landscape, the mountains reach the dizzy heights of 7,700 m (the loftiest mountain, Gangkhar Puensum, is the highest unclimbed mountain in the world and the 20th highest in all) near the northern border, yet the land plummets down to less than 100 m above sea level on the Indian border. In between, the country is dominated by high passes, steep slopes and valleys, rushing rivers and tall forests. Owing to the high rainfall, resulting from the monsoons that come up from the Bay of Bengal, the tree line is at an exceptionally high elevation – 4,000 m, one of the highest in the world – and this enables a high density of species even at this extreme altitude.

On the whole, forests in the Himalayas become more diverse as you go from west to east, and thus Bhutan’s top birding site is indeed located in the eastern half of the country. The Limithang Road, only ‘discovered’ by birders in the early 1990s and now one of the most celebrated birding sites in Asia, begins at Thrumsing La, a pass at 3,720 m elevation, east of the small town of Jakar. Working its way east the road plunges down to 650 m in the space of less than 100 km, allowing birders to get a vivid picture of how the birdlife changes as altitude drops. Throughout its length, this road passes through rich, pristine forest.

So what of the bird highlights on this breathtaking route? Well, near the pass itself the cool forests, mainly made up of hemlock with an understorey of colourful rhododendrons, host some high-altitude species. Normally a bird like the superb Blood Pheasant would make the headlines, the male mainly a delicate blue-grey streaked with white, but with blood-red crimson leaking from the breast and undertail coverts, but in this enchanted place it is trumped completely by the remarkable Satyr Tragopan. The plumage of the male is simply extraordinary: it is mainly brilliant crimson red, dotted all over with tiny dark-rimmed white spots, with some blue skin on the face and chin, and is quite a large bird, as large as a Common Pheasant. Tragopans are famously hard to find anywhere, but the Satyr Tragopan is actually common here, and more likely to be seen than not. Incidentally the Blyth’s Tragopan, never yet recorded by a commercial birding tour company, also occurs in eastern Bhutan and might turn up at this site.

Another very special bird found at this altitude, often feeding from the flowers of the rhododendrons, is the exquisite and much sought-after Fire-tailed Myzornis, like a cross between a babbler and a sunbird. Other birds found here at the top include the decidedly neat Snow Pigeon (a whited-out version of a Rock Dove) and both Maroon-backed and Rufous-breasted Accentors – classic high-altitude birds of the forest edge.

Following the steep slopes further down, the vegetation changes to warm broad-leaved forest, and the diversity of birds increases dramatically. This is reflected best among the babblers, one of Asia’s most characteristic bird families. Simply dozens of species occur at these levels, including rare or choice species such as the marvellous orange-and-grey Golden-breasted Fulvetta (which looks rather like a tit), the tiny green Yellow-throated Fulvetta, the incredibly smart Cutia (with a clean white breast boldly barred black) which behaves in nuthatch-like fashion, the sweet-tongued Red-billed Leiothrix and the fetching Rusty-fronted Barwing. There is also a superb range of colourful laughing-thrushes, all boldly patterned and distinctive on the one hand, but skulking on the other: species include the White-crested, Rufous-necked, Striated, Scaly, Grey-sided and the elusive Blue-winged – all as different from one another as any set of North American warblers or Australian honeyeaters. Birders will also be seeking out the various head-bobbing wren-babblers, including the very rare Bar-winged Wren-Babbler, and several scimitar babblers – especially the very local Coral-billed Schimitar Babbler– with their unusual curved bills.

The higher forests hold other gems besides babblers. Prime among these is the splendid plum-and-raspberry-coloured Ward’s Trogon, a species endemic to this part of the Himalayas. The fact that this was first recorded on a commercial birding tour in 1994 simply shows how recently the treasures of this forest have been discovered.

Further down, through the endless switchbacks, there is a subtle change to subtropical forest, where another set of birds awaits you. For example, these lower altitudes can be good for the splendid Rufous-necked Hornbill, in which the male is actually entirely rusty-coloured below and black above; this species is very rare and declining everywhere, it seems, except in Bhutan. In this warmer section, where the trees hang with orchids, several more typically lowland families appear, including drongos such as the Lesser Racket-tailed, and a range of flycatchers such as Little Pied, Pygmy and Ultramarine, but these are only a small fraction of the birds on offer. Yet another set of babblers occurs here, including a number of parrotbills in the stands of bamboo (Greater Rufous-headed and Black-throated Parrotbills, for example), plus various thrushes, woodpeckers, cuckoos, tits, owls, sunbirds and tree-haunting nuthatches and treecreepers. By then the diversity is such that, even in such a peaceful place, with the sweet smell of wildflowers and the luxuriant green of the forest, birders can begin to show signs of overstimulation. It’s the only way to get stressed in Bhutan.

There are hardly any roads in Bhutan, and only one major one. This waterfall near the village of Namling is known as the ‘death drop’.

A search of the rhododendron understorey in forest above 2,800 m may reveal the exquisite Fire-tailed Myzornis.