Mishmi Hills Short Birding Tour

Our Mishmi Hills short birdwatching trip begins in Dibrugarh, an industrial city located in the north-eastern part of Assam, close to the state's border with Arunachal Pradesh. Our driver or representative meets you at the Dibrugarh airport and drives you to the town called Roing in Arunachal Pradesh. The 150-km cab ride takes about 3 to 4 hours and the road winds through a beautiful landscape replete with birding opportunities.

We make the most of this journey by stopping over at selected birding sites along the way and look for the first sights of the birds of Arunachal Pradesh. These are only short halts as we want to make it to Roing in time to squeeze in some evening birding in the day's schedule.

Roing is a small town situated at the foothills of Mishmi Hills. For someone travelling eastward along the length of Arunachal Pradesh, it is the last major town to India's north-eastern border with China. From a birding point of view, Roing is a good place to start our India Short Birding Tours of Arunachal Pradesh. After our arrival, we freshen up at a pre-booked resort and then step out for a short birding excursion in nearby areas. Dinner and overnight at the resort.

The subtropical evergreen forest of Mishmi Hills receives heavy rainfall every year and is a notable biodiversity hotspot for nature lovers to explore. We dedicate the whole day to birding in the lower areas of Mishmi Hills. There is an excellent birding trail that stretches up to a place called Tiwari Gaon, 20 km away. We drive up this trail and make regular stops to birdwatch.

Our targets for the day include Spot-breasted Babbler, White-bellied Erpornis, Blyth's Leaf Warbler, Blue-winged Minla, Small Niltava, Ashy Bulbul, Striated Yuhina, Black Bulbul, Nepal Fulvetta, White-naped Yuhina, Whiskered Yuhina, Pygmy Cupwing, Streaked Spiderhunter, White-capped Redstart, Black-throated Sunbird, Collared Treepie, Scarlet Minivet, White-crested Laughingthrush, Long-tailed Sibia, Rufous-necked Laughingthrush, Yellow-bellied Warbler, Vivid Niltava, Pigmy Wren Babbler, Scaly Wren Babbler, Green Cochua, Large Blue Flycatcher, White-gorgeted Flycatcher, Fulvous-breasted Woodpecker, Great Barbet, Golden-throated Barbet, Large Hawk Cuckoo, Wedge-tailed Green Pigeon, Mountain Hawk Eagle, Maroon Oriole, Grey-chinned Minivet, Lesser Shortwing, White-tailed Robin, Beautiful Nuthatch, Fire-capped Tit, Yellow-cheeked Tit, Sultan Tit, Black-throated Tit, Striated Bulbul, Ashy Bulbul, Black Bulbul, Brownish-flanked Bush Warbler, Mountain Tailorbird, Blyth's Leaf Warbler, Grey-hooded Warbler, Grey-cheeked Warbler, Lesser-necklaced Laughingthrush, Striated Laughingthrush, Blue-winged Laughingthrush, Red-faced Liocichla , Rusty-throated Wren Babbler, Pale-Headed Woodpecker and many more.

We wrap up the day's birding at Mishmi Hills by looking for Hodgson's Frogmouth in the evening. Later, we drive back to our resort in Roing for dinner and overnight.

After an early breakfast, we leave Roing for a 40-km drive to Mayodia Pass, which is a mountain pass and a popular tourist destination, particularly in the winters owing to its altitude of 2655 meters which gives stunning views of surrounding snow-capped peaks. Apart from scenic beauty, Mayodia is known as a bustling habitat of birds. Birders often tread the areas around Mayodia Pass for some special and rare avian sights.

We do the day's birding along the road to Mayodia Pass. We look out for the likes of Cachar Wedge-billed Wren Babbler, Mishmi Wren Babbler, Purple Cochua, Hill Partridge, Rufous-throated Partridge, Yellow-rumped Honeyguide, Chestnut-crowned Warbler, Black-faced Warbler, Red-faced Liocichla, Long-billed Wren Babbler, Eyebrowed Wren Babbler, White-browed Shrike Babbler, Black-eared Shrike Babbler, Blyth Tragopan, Rufous-capped Babbler, Golden Babbler, Silver-eared Mesia, Red-billed Leiothrix, Cutia, Rusty-fronted Barwing, Rufous-winged Fulvetta, White-naped Yuhina, Rufous-vented Yuhina, White-bellied Yuhina, Beautiful Sibia, Long-tailed Sibia, Fire-breasted Flowerpecker, Scarlet-backed Flowerpecker, Black-throated Sunbird, Fire-tailed Sunbird, and Streaked Spiderhunter among many others.

The day's birding ends with our arrival at Mayodia Pass. We check into a place called Coffee House for snacks, dinner and overnight.

Several birding trails around Mayodia Pass are worth exploring. A stroll deeper into the lower forests reveals a fascinating variety of bird species. The bamboo brakes that grow in profusion along the road surprise you with wonderful kind of birds. We head out to explore these birding sites right after breakfast.

Perseverance in these bird habitats rewards you with sights of Sclater's Monal, Blyth's Tragopan, Fulvous Parrotbill, Fire-tailed Myzornis, Pale-Capped Pigeon, Ward's Trogon, Dark-sided Thrush, White-crested and Blue-winged Laughingthrush, Green and Purple Cochoa, Rusty-Bellied and Gould's Shortwing, Beautiful Nuthatch, Mishmi Wren-Babbler, Slender-billed Scimitar-Babbler, Manipur Fulvetta, Fire-Tailed Myzornis, Scarlet- and Grey-Headed Bullfinch, Mountain Scops Owl, Black-throated Parrotbill, Darjeeling Woodpecker, Grey-sided, Spotted and Black-faced Laughingthrushes, White-browed and Rusty-bellied Shortwing. One of the prized sightings of the day could be that of the Leopard Cat.

The region so abounds with birds that we can continue birding well into the night and seek out Mountain Scops Owl and Himalayan Wood Owl.

We call it a day with simple but tasty dinner at Mayodia Pass. Overnight at Mayodia Pass.

We leave the heights of Mayodia Pass and drive back down to the lower areas of Roing town, which sits at the moderate elevation of 390 meters. The birding trails around Roing have tremendous potential and we give it a full day of our birding adventure of Arunachal Pradesh.

Scouring the lower and middle altitude areas of Mishmi Hills hereabout, we hope to see a wide variety of birds, including Red-headed Trogon, Large Hawk Cuckoo, Fork-tailed Swift, Collared Owlet, Asian Barred Owlet, Eagle/fish Owl, Barred Cuckoo Dove, Lesser Shortwing, Little Pied Flycatcher, Sultan Tit, Black-throated Tit, Striated Bulbul, Red-whiskered Bulbul , Ashy-throated Warbler, Yellow-browed Warbler, Blyth's Leaf Warbler, Grey-hooded Warbler, Grey-cheeked Warbler, Grey-headed Parakeet, Chestnut-crowned Warbler, Black-faced Warbler, Red-faced Liocichla, Long-billed Wren Babbler, Eyebrowed Wren Babbler, Scaly-breasted Wren Babbler, Pygmy Wren Babbler, Bar-winged Wren Babbler, Grey-throated Babbler, Silver-eared Mesia, White-browed Shrike Babbler, Black-eared Shrike Babbler, Chestnut-tailed Minla, Yellow-throated Fulvetta, Brown-throated Fulvetta, Streak-throated Fulvetta, Nepal Fulvetta, Sparrowhawk , Oriental Honey Buzzard, Orange-bellied Leafbird, Yellow-billed Blue Magpie, Common Green Magpie, Grey Treepie and many others.

Moving on to the birding trails in Roing grasslands, we aim to sight the likes of Golden-headed Cisticola, Paddyfield Warbler, Striated Grassbird, Himalayan Black Bulbul, Blyth's Leaf Warbler, Jerdon's Babbler, Black-breasted Parrotbill, Grey-throated Babbler, Marsh Babbler, Striated Babbler, Great Myna, Chinese Rubythroat, Siberian Stonechat, Scaly-breasted Munia and Rare Swamp Prinia. After a busy day of birding at Roing, we return to our resort for dinner and overnight.

We do an early morning birding excursion of Roing and return to our resort for breakfast. We then pack up and drive you for 3 hours to Dibrugarh. We drop you at the Dibrugarh airport for your onward journey. Our Mishmi Hills birding holiday comes to an end.