Bach Ma national park **
Bird fauna - birding
Around 330 bird species have been recorded at Bach Ma National Park. Most notable is a recent record of the globally endangered Edwards's Pheasant close to the park. However, extensive loss of forest at low elevations means that it is unlikely that the park itself supports a significant population of this species, and the chances of seeing this bird at there are virtually nil. There are, however, plenty of other galliforms to attract birders, including Annam Partridge, Rufous-throated Partridge and the beli subspecies of Silver Pheasant. Bach Ma is most famous for its population of Crested Argus, although this species is more often heard than seen. In addition, the abundant and diverse forest avifauna of Bach Ma provides visiting birders opportunities to observe many other birds, such as Blyth's Kingfisher, Brown Hornbill, Ratchet-tailed Treepie and Short-tailed Scimitar Babbler.
Most highlights
Rufous-throated Partridge, Annam Partridge, Silver Pheasant, Crested Argus, Red-collared Woodpecker, Red-vented Barbet, Brown Hornbill, Red-headed Trogon, Blyth's Kingfisher, Coral-billed Ground Cuckoo, Blue-rumped Pitta, Bar-bellied Pitta, Long-tailed Broadbill, Silver-breasted Broadbill, White-winged Magpie, Indochinese Green Magpie, Ratchet-tailed Treepie, Orange-headed Thrush, Siberian Thrush, Japanese Thrush, Sultan Tit, Masked Laughingthrush, White-crested Laughingthrush, Lesser-necklaced Laughingthrush, Black-throated Laughingthrush, Short-tailed Scimitar Babbler, Grey-throated Babbler, Spot-necked Babbler, Grey-faced Tit Babbler, Black-browed Fulvetta, Fork-tailed Sunbird.
Birding routes
Bach Ma offers a range of trails for visitors. Each trail takes less than one day and many small trails can be explored from the road to the summit. Visitors can get details from the park visitor centre.
Rhododendron Trail: begins at the summit road, about 2 km below the summit, and passes through montane forest to the top of a waterfall. From there, a steep path with 689 concrete steps leads to the bottom of the cliff, 300 m below. From the bottom, visitors can retrace their steps or continue to the Five Lakes Cascade Trail.
Pheasant Trail: starts 5 km from the park entrance and leads through lowland evergreen forest to a series of waterfalls. As the name suggests, several galliform species can be found along this trail, including, with a lot of luck, the elusive Crested Argus. Brown Hornbill and White-winged Magpie are among the other interesting species that can be seen along the Pheasant Trail as well as the rare Blyth's Kingfisher on the river.
Good birding is also possible from the main road 2-3 km downhill from the park headquarters, past Khe Su village. This area, within the park's buffer zone, is a known site for Annam Partridge. The surfaced road from the park headquarters to the summit can also yield many species, and the area around the summit guesthouses is particularly good for Long-tailed and Silver-breasted Broadbills, Sultan Tit and Short-tailed Scimitar Babbler.
Transportation
Car or motorbike. Bach Ma National Park is 40 km from Hue city, which can be reached by train, bus or scheduled flights from Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City. The park headquarters are located 3 km from Cau Hai town on National Highway 1A. It is easy to take a taxi or motorbike from Hue to the park headquarters, from where transport to the summit of Bach Ma, mountain 20 km away, can be arranged.
Accommodations
Bach Ma National Park has six guesthouses. Two guesthouses, providing 10 rooms, are close to the park entrance, and four guesthouses (Bach Ma, Saola, Do Quyen and Kim Giao), with a total capacity of 26 rooms, are situated near the summit, at an altitude of 1,250 m asl.
Bach Ma National Park Birdlist
1. Chinese Francolin
2. Rufous-throated Partridge
3. Bar-backed Partridge
4. Annam Partridge*
5. Red Junglefowl
6. Silver Pheasant
7. Edwards's Pheasant
8. Siamese Fireback
9. Grey Peacock Pheasant
10. Crested Argus
11. Green Peafowl
12. Barred Buttonquail
13. White-browed Piculet
14. Grey-capped Pygmy Woodpecker
15. Greater Yellownape
16. Laced Woodpecker
17. Red-collared Woodpecker
18. Pale-headed Woodpecker
19. Bay Woodpecker
20. Red-vented Barbet
21. Green-eared Barbet
22. Black-browed Barbet
23. Coppersmith Barbet
24. Brown Hornbill
25. Red-headed Trogon
26. Dollarbird
27. Blyth's Kingfisher
28. Common Kingfisher
29. Banded Kingfisher
30. Stork-billed Kingfisher
31. White-throated Kingfisher
32. Black-capped Kingfisher
33. Crested Kingfisher
34. Pied Kingfisher
35. Blue-throated Bee-eater
36. Chestnut-headed Bee-eater
37. Chestnut-winged Cuckoo
38. Large Hawk Cuckoo
39. Indian Cuckoo
40. Eurasian Cuckoo
41. Plaintive Cuckoo
42. Asian Emerald Cuckoo
43. Drongo Cuckoo
44. Green-billed Malkoha
45. Coral-billed Ground Cuckoo
46. Greater Coucal
47. Lesser Coucal
48. Blossom-headed Parakeet
49. Red-breasted Parakeet
50. Germain's Swiftlet
51. Silver-backed Needletail
52. Brown-backed Needletail
53. Asian Palm Swift
54. Fork-tailed Swift
55. House Swift
56. Mountain Scops Owl
57. Collared Scops Owl
58. Collared Owlet
59. Asian Barred Owlet
60. Grey Nightjar
61. Spotted Dove
62. Red Collared Dove
63. Barred Cuckoo Dove
64. Emerald Dove
65. Pink-necked Green Pigeon
66. Orange-breasted Green Pigeon
67. Pin-tailed Green Pigeon
68. Yellow-vented Green Pigeon
69. Wedge-tailed Green Pigeon
70. White-bellied Green Pigeon
71. Mountain Imperial Pigeon
72. Slaty-legged Crake
73. Slaty-breasted Rail
74. White-breasted Waterhen
75. Ruddy-breasted Crake
76. Common Moorhen
77. Pintail Snipe
78. Common Snipe
79. Common Greenshank
80. Green Sandpiper
81. Wood Sandpiper
82. Common Sandpiper
83. Pheasant-tailed Jacana
84. Little Ringed Plover
85. Grey-headed Lapwing
86. Red-wattled Lapwing
87. Whiskered Tern
88. White-winged Tern
89. Black Baza
90. Oriental Honey-buzzard
91. Grey-headed Fish Eagle
92. Crested Serpent Eagle
93. Crested Goshawk
94. Besra
95. Black Eagle
96. Changeable Hawk Eagle
97. Mountain Hawk Eagle
98. Little Egret
99. Intermediate Egret
100. Cattle Egret
101. Chinese Pond Heron
102. Little Heron
103. Yellow Bittern
104. Von Schrenck's Bittern
105. Cinnamon Bittern
106. Black Bittern
107. Blue-rumped Pitta
108. Bar-bellied Pitta
109. Long-tailed Broadbill
110. Asian Fairy Bluebird
111. Blue-winged Leafbird
112. Orange-bellied Leafbird
113. Brown Shrike
114. Burmese Shrike
115. Long-tailed Shrike
116. White-winged Magpie
117. Indochinese Green Magpie
118. Racket-tailed Treepie
119. Ratchet-tailed Treepie
120. Large-billed Crow
121. Large Cuckooshrike
122. Black-winged Cuckooshrike
123. Grey-chinned Minivet
124. Scarlet Minivet
125. Bar-winged Flycatcher-shrike
126. White-throated Fantail
127. Black Drongo
128. Ashy Drongo
129. Bronzed Drongo
130. Lesser Racket-tailed Drongo
131. Spangled Drongo
132. Greater Racket-tailed Drongo
133. Black-naped Monarch
134. Asian Paradise-flycatcher
135. Common Iora
136. Great Iora
137. Large Woodshrike
138. White-throated Rock Thrush
139. Blue Rock Thrush
140. Blue Whistling Thrush
141. Orange-headed Thrush
142. Siberian Thrush
143. Scaly Thrush
144. Japanese Thrush
145. Eurasian Blackbird
146. Eyebrowed Thrush
147. Grey-streaked Flycatcher
148. Dark-sided Flycatcher
149. Asian Brown Flycatcher
150. Narcissus Flycatcher
151. Mugimaki Flycatcher
152. Red-throated Flycatcher
153. White-gorgeted Flycatcher
154. Snowy-browed Flycatcher
155. Verditer Flycatcher
156. White-tailed Flycatcher
157. Hainan Blue Flycatcher
158. Blue-throated Flycatcher
159. Tickell's Blue Flycatcher
160. Grey-headed Canary Flycatcher
161. Siberian Rubythroat
162. Bluethroat
163. Siberian Blue Robin
164. Orange-flanked Bush Robin
165. Oriental Magpie Robin
166. White-rumped Shama
167. Slaty-backed Forktail
168. Common Stonechat
169. White-shouldered Starling
170. Common Starling
171. Black-collared Starling
172. Crested Myna
173. Hill Myna
174. Velvet-fronted Nuthatch
175. Sultan Tit
176. Black-throated Tit
177. Dusky Crag Martin
178. Barn Swallow
179. Striated Swallow
180. Asian House Martin
181. Black-crested Bulbul
182. Red-whiskered Bulbul
183. Light-vented Bulbul
184. Sooty-headed Bulbul
185. Stripe-throated Bulbul
186. Puff-throated Bulbul
187. Grey-eyed Bulbul
188. Bright-headed Cisticola
189. Grey-breasted Prinia
190. Yellow-bellied Prinia
191. Japanese White-eye
192. Asian Stubtail
193. Japanese Bush Warbler
194. Lanceolated Warbler
195. Oriental Reed Warbler
196. Thick-billed Warbler
197. Common Tailorbird
198. Dark-necked Tailorbird
199. Dusky Warbler
200. Radde's Warbler
201. Yellow-browed Warbler
202. Arctic Warbler
203. Greenish Warbler
204. Pale-legged Leaf Warbler
205. White-tailed Leaf Warbler
206. Grey-cheeked Warbler
207. Striated Grassbird
208. Masked Laughingthrush
209. White-crested Laughingthrush
210. Lesser Necklaced Laughingthrush
211. Black-throated Laughingthrush
212. Abbott's Babbler
213. Buff-breasted Babbler
214. Scaly-crowned Babbler
215. Large Scimitar Babbler
216. White-browed Scimitar Babbler
217. Short-tailed Scimitar Babbler
218. Streaked Wren Babbler
219. Golden Babbler
220. Grey-throated Babbler
221. Spot-necked Babbler
222. Striped Tit Babbler
223. Grey-faced Tit Babbler
224. Chestnut-capped Babbler
225. White-browed Shrike Babbler
226. Rufous-throated Fulvetta
227. Brown-cheeked Fulvetta
228. Mountain Fulvetta
229. Striated Yuhina
230. White-bellied Yuhina
231. Yellow-vented Flowerpecker
232. Plain Flowerpecker
233. Ruby-cheeked Sunbird
234. Purple-naped Sunbird
235. Olive-backed Sunbird
236. Fork-tailed Sunbird
237. Black-throated Sunbird
238. Crimson Sunbird
239. Little Spiderhunter
240. Streaked Spiderhunter
241. White Wagtail
242. Yellow Wagtail
243. Grey Wagtail
244. Richard's Pipit
245. Olive-backed Pipit
246. Red-throated Pipit
247. White-rumped Munia
248. Scaly-breasted Munia
249. Yellow-breasted Bunting