Nagaland Short Birding Tours

Our India Short Birding Tours of Nagaland begins in Dimapur, a densely populated city, which is also the gateway to Nagaland. Our driver or representative meets you at Dimapur airport and drives you to Chizami village right in the centre of Nagaland. It is a 150-km drive through mountainous terrain and takes up to 6 to 7 hours. Since we stop regularly to do birdwatching along the way, we may take 8 to 9 hours, if not more.

The route from Dimapur to Chizami runs in south-easterly direction and passes through several places with immense birdwatching potential. Kohima, the capital of Nagaland lies roughly halfway along the route, and we make a brief stop here as well before heading to Chizami.

What makes Chizami an attractive birdwatching hotspot of Nagaland is the laudable environment protection reforms and measures undertaken here for almost a decade. We reach Chizami in the evening and check into a homestay for dinner and overnight. If you wish, you may roam around the homestay to watch a few avian beauties.

From a birding perspective, Chizami is a curious place. Though large tracts of land here have been cleared for Jhum cultivation, there still exist pockets of woods and grasslands that host an excellent range of bird species.

It's these areas we focus on during our birding tour of Chizami. Our main targets are Yellow-throated laughingthrush, Moustached Laughingthrush and White-browed Laughingthrush. Though they aren't easy to sight, a bit of perseverance rewards us with good views of these stunners. Anyway, there are a lot of other birds to watch, such as Blue-throated Barbet, Long-tailed Minivet, Ashy Woodswallow, Bar-winged Flycatcher-shrike, White-throated Fantail, Green-backed Tit, Cinereous Tit, Black-throated Prinia, Black-crested Bulbul, Striated Bulbul, Himalayan Black Bulbul, Ashy Bulbul, Black-throated Tit, Stripe-throated Yuhina, Rufous-throated Fulvetta, Rusty-capped Fulvetta, Silver-eared Mesia, Blue-throated Flycatcher, Rufous-bellied Niltava, Fire-breasted Flowerpecker, Mrs. Gould's Sunbird, White-rumped Munia, and Little Bunting, apart from many more.

After a busy day of birdwatching, we return to our Homestay for dinner and overnight.

An early morning drive lasting 4 hours takes us from Chizami to Khonoma, which is the best birding hotspot of Nagaland owing to the presence of the Khonoma Nature Conservation and Tragopan Sanctuary.

This sanctuary has scripted a success story of bird conservation in the last decade. A ban on hunting – once rampant in this area – has led to the rise in numbers of Blyth's Tragopan, the state bird. Today, Khonoma is scoured by seasoned birders for a wide range of avian species like Brown-capped laughingthrush, Naga Wren Babbler, Spot-breasted Scimitar-Babbler, Streak-breasted Scimitar-babbler, Striped Laughingthrushes, Spot-breasted Laughingthrush, Flavescent Bulbul, Chestnut-vented Nuthatch and, of course, Blyth's Tragopan.

We hope to arrive at Khonoma well before noon so that we can spend the rest of the day watching some of the aforementioned winged stunners. We check into a Homestay and go out birding. We return in the evening for dinner and overnight.

For two days back-to-back, we explore the birding trails of Khonoma Sanctuary and look out for the likes of Blue-fronted Redstart, Slaty-backed Forktail, Silver-eared Mesia, Ashy-throated and Buff-barred Warbler, Blue-winged Minla, Blue-throated Barbet, Crested Finchbill, Black-throated Tit, Himalayan Buzzard, Olive-backed Pipit, Little Bunting, Fire-tailed Sunbird, Mrs Gould's Sunbird, Fire-breasted Flowerpecker, Grey Sibia, Orange-bellied Leafbird, Bar-throated Minla, Rufous-capped and Golden Babblers, Rusty-fronted Barwing, Striated Bulbul, Large Niltava, Rusty-capped Fulvetta, Beautiful Sibia, Chestnut-bellied Rock-thrush, Yellow-browed Tit, Green-tailed Sunbird, Pygmy Wren Babbler, Barred Cuckoo Dove, Blue-winged Laughingthrush, Yellow-cheeked Tit, Golden-throated Barbet, Eye-browed and Grey-sided Thrushes, Rufous-throated Hill Partridge, Chestnut-bellied Rock-thrush, Striated Bulbul, Assam Laughingthrush, Mountain Bamboo-partridges, Little Buntings, Red-faced Liocichla, Black-breasted Thrush, Himalayan Red-flanked Bush-robin, Fire-breasted Flowerpecker, Greentailed Sunbird, Blue-winged Leafbirds, Green Cochoa, Maroon Oriole, Black-eared Shrike-babbler, White-browed Shrike-babbler, and Red-tailed Minlas.

As our birding expedition continues we also seek out other avian species such as Plain-backed Thrush, Vivid Niltava, Golden Bush Robins, Black-throated Prinia, Crested Finchbill, Bar-winged Flycatcher-shrike, Striated Prinia, Black-throated Prinia, Lesser Shortwing, Common Rosefinch, Crimson-breasted Woodpecker, Bay Woodpecker, Blyth's Shrike-Babbler, Spot-throated Fire-breasted Flowerpecker, Hill Partridge, Rufous-winged Fulvetta, White-tailed Nuthatch, Ashy-throated Warbler, Grey-bellied Tesia, Eyebrowed Thrush, Scarlet Finch, Chestnut-crowned Warbler, Long-billed Thrush, Purple Cochoa, White-tailed Robin, Black-headed Shrike-Babbler, Golden-breasted Fulvetta, Black-throated Parrotbill, Stripe-throated Yuhina, Grey-sided Laughingthrush, Spotted Elachura ,Brown Bullfinch, Broad-billed Warbler, Slender-billed Scimitar-Babbler, Nepal Fulvetta, White-gorgeted Flycatcher, Snowy-browed Flycatcher, Little Pied Flycatcher, Rufescent Prinia, Striated Swallow, White-browed Laughingthrush and White-collared Blackbird.

On both days, we dine and overnight at the Homestay in Khonoma.

The final day of our Nagaland Short Birdwatching Tour begins with a few hours of birdwatching in and around Khonoma. We then pack up and drive you to the city of Dimapur about 80 km (4 hours) away. On the way, we stop at a few birding sites to tick off a few more birds in our checklist. Then we drop you at Dimapur airport for your onward journey. The tour ends.