The large majority of birders visit Thailand in the dry season (November to April). Why is this?

Well, firstly, there is a far higher number of species present in the country during the dry season due to the visiting migrants from China and Siberia and the largely dry and sunny weather is an attraction for many people. However, it may also be because many books and websites have always labelled the dry season as the “best” time to be birdwatching in Thailand. But best for what?

The dry season is most certainly the time to visit Thailand for migrant species, particularly shorebirds and specifically Spoon-billed Sandpiper. However, for many of the resident species that live in forests, the dry season most certainly is not the best time for birding in Thailand.

Species such as broadbills, pittas, woodpeckers, forest kingfishers and others, are all far easier to find in the beginning and mid wet season, when they are breeding, than in the dry season.

Black-and-red Broadbill on a nest by Alex Vargas

On a recent 3 days trip to Kaeng Krachan we saw 6 species of broadbill, 12 species of woodpecker, 3 species of pitta, 2 species of trogons, Grey Peacock Pheasant, Kalij Pheasant, Banded Kingfisher, Oriental Dwarf Kingfisher, Ratchet-tailed Treepie and many other tough species – this collection of birds could not be expected during a dry season visit to Kaeng Krachan.

Very few birders head to northern Thailand outside of the dry season but a recent wet season visit I made turned up Giant Nuthatch, Spot-winged Grosbeak, Pygmy Wren Babbler, Eyebrowed Wren Babbler, Spot-breasted Parrotbill, Lesser Rufous-headed Parrotbill, Grey-headed Parrotbill, Lesser Cuckoo, Lesser Shortwing in abundance and many other hard-to-find birds.

It has to be admitted that the dry season is the best time for general bird abundance, migrants and certain target birds, but birdwatchers who have been to the region several times and are still looking for many of those tough forest species should consider making their trip in the period May-July when a lot of great birds can be found.

If you are a birder who is looking for difficult resident species contact me and I can let you know whether the wet season might be a better time to look for them than the dry – nickupton@thaibirding.com

This morning I was alerted (sadly too late) to the presence of a Sooty Gull, which had been photographed at Bang Poo. This is the third new species for Thailand that I have been recently been made aware of with the other additions being Sunda Pygmy Woodpecker which was photographed in Satun province on the Malaysian border and has long been expected to occur in southern Thailand, and Northern Boobook which was caught and ringed at Laem Pak Bia by Phil Round in April 2011; this is a recent split from Brown Hawk Owl.

Click the picture to watch Sunda Pygmy Woodpecker in Thailand on Youtube

With large parts of the country being underwatched or not watched at all, the lack of coverage of the seas around Thailand and the possibility of rare migrants turning up, there are undoubtedly more species to be added to Thailand’s growing bird list.

However, it should also be noted that Tawny Eagle and Pink-rumped Rosefinch have both been removed from the Thai list.

Alex Vargas recently took this photograph of a female Maroon-breasted Philentoma in the vicinty of Km 36 at Kaeng Krachan national park. He also saw the male well, through binoculars but only managed to obtain images of this female.

Maroon-breasted Philentoma is known from Kaeng Krachan but is very seldom seen, in fact it is seldom seen anywhere in Thailand – I have seen a pair just the once myself, at Krung Ching.

In this photo it is difficult to see the dark wash to the breast that field guides indicate the female should have, this may be down to the light conditions or the fact the field guides make more of this feature than is really visible.

Interestingly, Phil Round had this to say about the species;“The easiest place I know to see it, though, is (ironically) at its northerly known limit, at Phu Tho, Thongphaphum District, Kanchanaburi – a good 2 deg N latitude N of Kaeng Krachan. There there is some nice accessible evergreen forest at the base of limestone crags, which also holds Ferruginous Partridge and tons of other good birds. Nobody ever goes there these days since Kaeng Krachan was “discovered” some 20-plus years ago, but I visited the site last in May 2009 and saw a pair of philentomas just as easily as before.”

Alex has several more photographs of the bird here - Female Maroon-breasted Philentoma.