Northern Cambodia Birding Sites | Wildtour
Summary
Northern Cambodia offers a network of complementary birding sites that can be combined with Tmatboey or Siem Reap. At Kratie and nearby Kampi, vegetated islands in the Mekong are well known for the Mekong Wagtail, while the same river stretch offers the additional attraction of Irrawaddy Dolphins. Around Kompong Thom, seasonally dry grasslands are important for Bengal Florican and wintering grassland passerines, with raptors also a feature of the open country.
Ang Trapeang Thmor is an accessible wetland and grassland reserve, particularly noted for Sarus Crane and a wide range of waterbirds. Prek Toal, on the Tonle Sap floodplain, provides a very different experience: seasonally inundated swamp forest supports major breeding and dry-season concentrations of cormorants, storks, pelicans, herons and other large waterbirds. Together, these sites give visiting birders a broad cross-section of Cambodia's key habitats—from the Mekong River and dry grasslands to crane wetlands and Tonle Sap waterbird colonies—and are best visited during the dry season when access and bird concentrations are most favourable.
Kratie
Kratie (Kampi village) with the small vegetated islands is home to the recently described Mekong Wagtail. An added attraction while searching for these birds is the small population of the critically endangered Irrawaddy Dolphin, which is resident in small numbers here, and we can hope to be entertained by several of these wonderful creatures. Other bird species could include the declining Grey-throated Sand Martin, Small Pratincole and Pied Kingfisher.
Kompong Thom
The grasslands in the Kompong Thom area are the Bengal Florican Reserve; it also holds many species of wintering passerines, including Manchurian Reed Warbler, which winters in the long grasses in small numbers around Kompong Thom. While searching for this species, we hope to come across a number of other winter visitors; Black-browed and Oriental Reed Warblers, Bluethroat, Yellow-breasted Bunting, Pallasís Grasshopper Warbler, Dusky and Lanceolated Warbler are all present. Large numbers of raptors also winter here, including Greater Spotted Eagle.
Ang Trapeang Thmor (ATT)
The entire 10,000 hectares of the protected area, ATT, is a good site for a day trip from Siem Reap, where we can see many waterbirds including Cotton Pigmy-goose, Lesser Whistling-duck, White-browed Crake, Bronze-winged and Pheasant-tailed Jacana, and especially Sarus Crane, as well as a chance for Black-necked Stork.
Prek Toal
Prek Toal is one of the three core areas on the Tonle Sap Lake, a Biosphere Reserve. Situated in Battambang Province, the village of Prek Toal lies at the mouth of the Sangke River. The area consists of seasonally inundated freshwater swamp forest with a high botanical diversity. Short tree shrub makes up most of the landscape, forming a dense understory with scattered large trees, which form the vital nesting ground for large water birds. Prek Toal is unmatched throughout Southeast Asia for the number and populations of endangered water birds it supports through the dry season. Large flocks of cormorants, storks and pelicans are almost guaranteed from January to May, along with herons, egrets and terns.
Transportation
Cambodia has developed its road system quite well. You can reach Tmatbouy by car from Phnom Penh (7 hours) and Siem Reap (3 hours). The new bridge near Stung Treng now lets you go from Kratie (5 hours).
Accommodation
Related tour
More information about the birding sites in Indochina