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    • Photograph of White-rumped Pygmy-falcon

    White-rumped Pygmy-falcon at Tmatboey by Dubi Shapiro.

  • Where to watch birds and wildlife in
    • CAMBODIA

    Photograph of Giant and White-shouldered Ibises

    A Giant Ibis and a White-shouldered Ibis in the same tree at Tmatboey by Dubi Shapiro.


    Best Birds and other wildlife in Cambodia

    Birds
    The lists below are for the northern winter.

    Endemics 3
    Chestnut-headed Partridge (Cardamom and Elephant Mountains), Cambodian Tailorbird and Cambodian Laughingthrush.

    Near-endemics

    Cambodia and Vietnam 4
    Orange-necked Partridge, Germain’s Peacock-pheasant, Dalat (White-browed) Shrike-babbler and Black-headed Parrotbill.

    Cambodia, Vietnam and Laos 6
    Giant Ibis, Red-vented Barbet, Annam Barbet, Grey-crowned (Black-throated) Tit, Grey-faced Tit-babbler and White-cheeked Laughingthrush.

    Cambodia, Vietnam, Laos and Kalimantan (Indonesia) 1
    White-shouldered Ibis.

    Cambodia, Vietnam, Laos and Thailand 2
    Coral-billed Ground-cuckoo and Mekong Wagtail.

    Cambodia and Thailand 3
    White-tailed (Davison’s) Leaf-warbler, Cambodian (White-tailed) Blue Robin and Cambodian (Fire-breasted) Flowerpecker.

    Other Specialities
    Green Peafowl, Siamese Fireback, Spot-billed Pelican, Greater Adjutant, White-rumped Pygmy-falcon, Bengal Florican, Sarus Crane (sharpie), Black-headed and Pale-headed Woodpeckers, Bar-bellied and Blue-rumped Pittas, and Green Cochoa. Also a chance of Milky Stork, Red-headed, Slender-billed and White-rumped Vultures, and White-browed (Manchurian) Reed-warbler.

    Others
    Green-legged (Scaly-breasted) Partridge, Chinese Francolin, Comb Duck, Cotton Pygmy Goose, Oriental Darter, Cinnamon and Yellow Bitterns, Chinese Pond-heron, Black-headed Ibis, Asian Openbill, Asian Woollyneck (Woolly-necked Stork), Painted Stork, Lesser Adjutant, Pied Harrier, Brahminy Kite, Grey-headed Fish-eagle, Rufous-winged Buzzard, Black Baza, Grey-headed (Purple) Swamphen, Bronze-winged and Pheasant-tailed Jacanas, Oriental Pratincole, Orange-breasted and Yellow-footed Green-pigeons, Blossom-headed and Red-breasted Parakeets, Banded Bay Cuckoo, Green-billed Malkoha, Crested Treeswift, Brown-backed Needletail, Orange-breasted and Red-headed Trogons, Banded, Black-capped, Pied and Stork-billed Kingfishers, Blue-bearded and Chestnut-headed Bee-eaters, Indochinese Roller, Great, Oriental Pied and Wreathed Hornbills, barbets, White-browed Piculet, woodpeckers including Black-and-buff and Great Slaty, Brown-rumped Minivet, Burmese Shrike, Red-billed Blue Magpie, Racquet-tailed Treepie, Velvet-fronted Nuthatch, bulbuls, warblers including Lanceolated and Pallas’s Grasshopper, Hainan Blue-flycatcher, Siberian Rubythroat, White-rumped Shama, Blue Rock-thrush (mostly philippensis), White-crested Laughingthrush, babblers, White-browed Scimitar-babbler, White-browed Shrike-babbler, Golden-crested Myna, starlings, Blue-winged and Golden-fronted Leafbirds, Asian Fairy-bluebird, sunbirds, Little and Streaked Spiderhunters, Asian Golden and Baya Weavers, and Red Avadavat.

    Also a chance of Red Junglefowl, Black Bittern, Black-necked Stork, Greater Spotted Eagle, Collared Falconet, White-browed Crake, Watercock, Small Pratincole, Oriental Plover, Greater Painted-snipe, Pale-capped Pigeon, Brown Fish-owl, Brown Wood-owl, Banded and Long-tailed Broadbills, Siberian Blue Robin, White-throated Rock-thrush and Forest Wagtail.

    Mammals
    (Northern) Yellow-cheeked Gibbon, Black-shanked Douc Langur, Long-tailed (Crab-eating) and Northern Pig-tailed Macaques, Irrawaddy Dolphin, Eld’s Deer, Pale Giant Squirrel and Lyle's Flying Fox. Also an outside chance of Pileated Gibbon, Pygmy Loris and Gaur.

    Best Sites for Birds and other wildlife in Cambodia

    Best Times for Birds and other wildlife in Cambodia

    The best time to visit is during the dry season, between late October and May, especially mid-January to mid-March when roads are normally open and water levels are usually suitable for nesting waterbirds such as storks.

    Recommended Bird Books etc. for Cambodia

    Birds of South-East Asia by C Robson. Helm, 2014. (Second Edition)

    Birds of South-East Asia Concise Edition by C Robson. Helm, 2015.

    A Field Guide to the Mammals of South-East Asia by C M Francis. New Holland Publishers, 2008.

    A Field Guide to the Reptiles of South-East Asia by I Das. Bloomsbury, 2015.

    Where to watch birds in Asia by N Wheatley. Helm, 1996.

    Don’t know which country/countries/regions to visit in Asia? Then it may be worth considering taking a look at this book, written by this website’s author. It is many years old of course but it still provides a starting point, an overview and a guiding light to the best birds and the best places to look for them in the region, and could save hours of searching for similar information on the internet. However, it is important to check more up-to-date sources for sites which have been opened up, sites and species which have been discovered, lodges that have been built etc. since the book was published.

    Birding and Wildlife Trip Reports for Cambodia

    Many trip reports, some for Cambodia, are posted on the websites listed here. On some of these websites some reports are independent and some are posted by tour companies who organize tours to Cambodia. These tour companies and others also post their own reports on their websites, which are listed under 'Some Organized Tours to Cambodia' below.

    Local bird and wildlife guides and Tours in Cambodia

    The costs of organized tours partly reflect the quality of the tour leaders. Some leaders are certainly better than others and many companies claim their leaders are the best but even the best rely at least to some extent on the exceptional skills of the local guides they employ. If you are travelling independently, employing such local guides will greatly increase your chances of seeing the wildlife you wish to see.

    Accommodation for birders in Cambodia

    Some Organized Tours for birds and other wildlife to Cambodia

    There are many tour companies who organize tours to see mammals, birds, other wildlife and other natural wonders. The cost of these tours vary considerably according to such variables as the airlines used, the number of days the tours last, the number of sites visited, the number of people in the group (an important consideration if you wish to see such wildlife as rainforest mammals and birds), the number of tour leaders, the standard of accommodation and transport, and the percentage profit the company hopes to make. Generally, where the number of days tours last and the number of sites visited are similar, the cheapest tours are those that use the cheapest airlines, accommodation and local transport, that have the largest groups with the least number of leaders, and that make the least amount of profit. The most expensive tours tend to be those which are exceptionally long, use the most expensive accommodation (ridiculously lavish in some cases, even for single nights) and which make the most profit. Some tour costs partly reflect the quality of the tour leaders. Some leaders are certainly better than others and many companies claim their leaders are the best but even the best rely at least to some extent on the exceptional skills of the local guides they employ.

    While tour companies organize tours with set itineraries many also organize custom tours for individuals and private groups who instead of taking a tour with a set itinerary want to follow their own itinerary to suit their own personal tastes, whether it be mammals, birds, other wildlife, other natural wonders or even man-made attractions, or a mixture of them all. Many organized tours with set itineraries are also fast-paced and target as many species as possible, whether they are mammals, birds or other wildlife or everything, which usually leaves little time to enjoy the best sites and individual species, but on a custom tour those taking part can specify the pace and the sites and species they wish to concentrate on. Custom tours also suit people who like to travel with people they already know, rather than with a group of strangers, and people with partners with different interests. Individuals and small groups will almost certainly have to pay more than the price of an organized tour with a set itinerary but a large group of friends may be able to travel for less than the price quoted for a set tour.

    Tour companies who are running organized tours to Cambodia in the next couple of years include the following. Many of these also offer custom tours.