Amazing Amurs of Nagaland

After the international arrival, the first night is spent at a comfortable airport hotel before the early onward journey to Nagaland. For travelers starting in the United Kingdom, the published plan currently identifies the 09:45 Air India service from London Heathrow, arriving at 22:50, as one possible connection.

The journey to Dimapur connects through Kolkata and is scheduled to reach Nagaland shortly after midday. From the airport, the route continues by road to Khonoma. A homestay outside the sanctuary serves as the base for the following three nights.

Khonoma has a long hunting history; one account says Angami hunters took up to 300 Blyth’s Tragopans over the course of a week. The community changed direction in 1998, prohibited hunting and founded the Khonoma Nature Conservation and Tragopan Sanctuary. Two full days are allocated to protected habitat around the village and nearby Dzuleke at about 1,400 metres. Possibilities include Grey Sibia, Crested Finchbill, Rusty-capped Fulvetta, Mrs. Gould’s Sunbird and Striated Prinia. The search also covers Naga Wren-Babbler, Mountain Bamboo Partridge, Spot-breasted Scimitar Babbler and Moustached, Assam, Brown-capped and Striped Laughingthrushes.

A final morning session at Khonoma precedes the long drive north to Pangti. The planned arrival is timed to allow an initial view of Amur Falcons streaming toward their roost.

The day is centered on the Amur Falcon staging area at Doyang Reservoir. Depending on the season’s movement, counts may reach tens or hundreds of thousands; some autumn estimates have suggested a million or more birds. The falcons pause here while migrating from eastern Russia and China toward southern Africa. This gathering came to wider attention alongside reports that an estimated 140,000 falcons had previously been killed each autumn. Hunting has since stopped, and local communities now protect the birds and host visitors. Away from the principal spectacle, Yellow-throated Laughingthrush is a difficult restricted-range possibility. Flavescent Bulbul, Crested Finchbill, White-tailed Robin and Buff-chested Babbler may also occur, together with Black-throated Prinia and Green-billed Malkoha.

An early departure takes the route north into Assam for afternoon birding at Hoollongapar Gibbon Sanctuary. Tea plantations have replaced much of the surrounding semi-evergreen forest, while this protected remnant retains valuable low-elevation habitat. Possible birds include Ruby-cheeked Sunbird, Scarlet-backed Flowerpecker, Pale-chinned Flycatcher, both necklaced laughingthrushes, Beautiful and Long-tailed Sibias, Large Niltava and Mountain Tailorbird. Collared Treepie, Sultan Tit, Great and Oriental Pied Hornbills, Green-billed Malkoha and Red-headed Trogon are further possibilities. The sanctuary is also an important site for Western Hoolock Gibbon, India’s only ape species. Bengal Slow Loris and Capped Langur also occur, alongside Rhesus, Assamese, Stump-tailed and Pig-tailed Macaques. The night is at a nearby heritage tea-estate bungalow, positioned for another short session the next morning.

A brief final birding session at Hoollongapar comes before the group divides according to the chosen itinerary. Travelers finishing the tour continue to Jorhat for the flight to Delhi and an overnight stay. Those taking the Mishmi Hills and Namdapha extension instead travel northeast to Tinsukia.

Depending on the international departure, local birding around Delhi may be possible. The currently published flight plan lists an Air India service at 02:30 for the United Kingdom, arriving at 06:35; that schedule leaves no time for birding before departure. It also notes a 14:45 service, then about £100 more expensive, which could leave the morning free for Sultanpur National Park or a visit to Okhla Bird Sanctuary. All flight details and prices require reconfirmation.