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Pakistan

Coppersmith Barbet Megalaima haemacephala ŠLaurence Poh http://www.laurencepoh.com/

Pakistan is a country of diverse wild life in its Indus valley planes, fresh water lakes, ice capped mountains, deserts, plateaus, and its 1000 KM coastline. There is wide variety of bird species in this region.

Pakistan is not well equipped for birding activities in general. There are no regularly planned birding trips. The sites below are recommended for safe birding activities.

The ideal bird watching season is winter when a wide variety of birds visit the wetlands and planes of Pakistan from Siberia. However, during summer the high altitude mountain areas (from 5,000m to 8,000m) of Northern Pakistan can be visited for watching unique species of resident birds. Famous areas include: Chitral National Park, Gilgit Valley, Biltistan, Khunjrab National Park, Hunza Valley and Nanga Parbat tracking area. There are ample facilities for bird watching tourists in these areas.

Some other important areas are, among others: Chiltan National Park at Hazar Ganji, Ayubia National Park, Doesai National Park, and Kirthar National Park.

top sites

Hadeiro Lake

Hadeiro Lake is situated 5 km north of Haleji. It is a small lake famous for pelicans and flamingos.

Haleji Lake

It is Asia`s greatest waterfowl reserve. Haleji lake is situated about 70km from Karachi. During winter thousands of birds fly down to Haleji from Siberian colder areas. It is the largest bird sanctuary of Pakistan.

Kinjhar Lake

Kinjhar Lake is the largest fresh water lake of Pakistan. It is situated further 50km from Haleji near 2,500 years old civilization of Makli, Thatta and Bhambhore. It houses variety of tourist huts and boating facilities.

Lal Suharvara National Park

This Park is situated in Choolistan desert about 40km from Bahawalpur. It is a nice place for watching desert species. It houses tourists huts and watch towers.

Mai-Kolachi by-pass

This by-pass road is situated right in he heart of Karachi near 5-Star hotel complex off M T Khan road. It is a unique spot for watching flamingos in sea lagoons across the road even on a very short trip to Karachi.

Margalla Hills National Park

Margalla hills form the skyline of Islamabad. There are a variety of resident birds which can be seen there during a normal jogging trip on the hills or on a special birding trip.

Rawal Lake

Visitors to the lush green capital of Pakistan can enjoy birding in and around Rawal Lake area in the heart of Islamabad. It is famous for resident as well as visiting birds.

Ucchali Lake Complex

Ucchali Lake Complex consists of three small lakes. It is situated in the salt range plateaus in north-central Punjab. This area is famous for the regular winter visitor white-headed duck Oxyura Leucocephala.

contributor

T R Aashi
Secretary Pakistan Birdwatchers Association
traashi@yahoo.co.in

numbers

Number of bird species:709

useful reading

* Field Guides & Bird Song

For a comprehensive list of recommended titles covering Asia as a whole - please see the Asia page of Fatbirder - for guides etc. covering the Indian sub-continent please see the India page

A Field Guide to Birds of the Indian Subcontinent

Krys Kazmierczak, Ber van Perlo (Illustrator) Hardcover - 336 pages (30 May, 2000) The Pica Press
ISBN: 1873403798
Buy this book from NHBS.com

A Photographic Guide to Birds of India

[Including Nepal, Sri Lanka, the Maldives, Pakistan, Bangladesh & Bhutan] Bikram Grewal, Bill Harvey and Otto Pfister 512 pages, 850 col photos, 800 maps. Christopher Helm
ISBN: 0713664037
Buy this book from NHBS.com

Birds of Pakistan

Richard Grimmett, Tim Inskipp and Tom Roberts Helm 2007
ISBN: 0713688009
Buy this book from NHBS.com

Helm Identification Guides: Birds of the Indian Subcontinent

Richard Grimmett, Carol Inskipp, Tim Inskipp Hardcover - 888 pages (30 November, 1998) Christopher Helm
ISBN: 0713640049
Buy this book from NHBS.com

useful information

Proact

Coordinator: none (why not apply?) see http://www.proact-campaigns.net/coordinators
Members: 1
Join us at http://www.proact-campaigns.net/team

clubs

Birdwatchers Association of Pakistan

mailto:birdwatcherspk@yahoo.com
Address: TF-1, Usman Terrace (48-C); Shahbaz Commercial-II, DHA-VI, Karachi. Tele: 0092-21-5854766; 0092-300-2106929 Information Secretary: Azra Zahid e-mail: azrazahid@yahoo.com Secretary: T R Aashi - e-mail: traashi@yahoo.co.in traashi@hotmail.com

Ornithological Society of Pakistan

http://www.birdlife.org.uk/worldwide/national/pakistan/
Block D Near Farawa Chowk, PO Box 73, Dera Ohazi Khan, 32200. + 92 641 62339osp@mul.paknet.com.pk

reserves

Wetlands

http://www.ramsar.org
Pakistan presently has 19 sites designated as Wetlands of International Importance, with a surface area of 1,343,627 hectares...

trip reports

Travelling Birder
http://www.travellingbirder.com
The Travellingbirder.com birding trip report search engine guides you to 7,000+ birding trip reports on the Internet. You can search for trip reports from a specific country and time of year. Not all these reports are in English. So, if you cant find the trip report you want on this Fatbirder page give them a try!

tour operators

Birding Pal

http://www.birdingpal.org/Pakistan.htm
Local birders willing to show visiting birders around their area...

Bird Watching in Pakistan

http://www.transpakistan.com.pk/bird.htm
Two major Zoogeographical zones overlap along the length of Pakistan and even the third faunal zone, which is over Africa, has its influence in extreme southern Pakistan. Bird life is particularly rich because of the latitudinal zones of the mighty Himalayas, Karakoram and Hindukush ranges...