Vast landscapes of mountains, farmland, stony plains, semi-desert and steppe have been the backdrop for the last few weeks in Kazakhstan where the birds have been superb in some amazing settings incredible for their scale. Before the trip I was asked if we would see many raptors on this birding tour of Kazakhstan and it proved that we did, not only good numbers of them, but a wide range of species were seen too. Black-eared Kites were the most numerous species over the course of the trip although Common Kestrel was the only raptor species seen every day. Spectacular views of Steppe Eagle, Long-legged Buzzard, Lesser Kestrel, Red-footed Falcon, Pallid Harrier and Lammergeier were very memorable but it was also good to see Upland Buzzard, Golden Eagle, Cinereous Vulture, Egyptian Vulture and many others as part of a superb Kazakhstan birding tour.

If you would like to join me on a birding trip in Kazakhstan take a look at the dates, itinerary and all the details of my next tour – Central Asia Birding Tour.

The most abundant and widespread large raptor that we saw in Kazkahstan was Black-eared Kite. Most taxonomic authorities deal with this as the lineatus subspecies of Black Kite but it is easy to separate from the nominate subspecies which we also saw on the trip.

Black-eared Kite

One of the raptor sightings I enjoyed the most was when we visited a cemetery where a colony of Lesser Kestrels were nesting alongside a few Common Kestrels. Not only was it good to see Lesser Kestrel at close range but it was nice to be able to compare the two species, particularly the females which seemed more distinctive than field guides suggest.

Male Lesser Kestrel

Male Common Kestrel

In the mountainous regions we saw a good range of species of raptor, although here they were hard to photograph due to the distance. However, it was good to see birds that included several Golden Eagles, a single Himalayan Griffon Vulture, 3 Cinereous Vultures, Eurasian Sparrowhawk, a nice Upland Buzzard that we were able to study at length as well as plenty of Steppe Buzzards.

Steppe Buzzard

With large distances to travel we were always vigilant from the van as we were driving and in this way we spotted a lot of raptor species including the only Montagu’s Harrier of the trip. We also stopped the van along the way for incredible views of a Steppe Eagle and a flypast of the only Egyptian Vulture of the tour.

Steppe Eagle

Egyptian Vulture

One day we had a breakdown, so we just went birding along the road while the problem was resolved. We were stranded for a bit longer than we had expected but it did give us the time to find both Eastern Marsh Harrier and Shikra. A more scheduled raptor was Red-footed Falcon which was easily found in good numbers in small trees along the road outside of Nur Sultan (Astana). Seeing these handsome falcons at close quarters was really great with both male and female being stunning birds in their own way.

Male Red-footed Falcon

Female Red-footed Falcon

The same stretch of road provided us with lots of superb male Pallid Harriers and plenty of Western Marsh Harriers, a species we saw in a number of wetland sites throughout the country.

Western Marsh Harrier

Another unscheduled stop was to photograph Rosy Starlings in a small village set among vast plains surrounded by rocky mountains. In this setting a raptor sighting seemed inevitable and just as we were preparing to leave we were treated to a pale morph Booted Eagle.

Booted Eagle

Those in our group who were serious raptor experts were very pleased to see a small flock of migrating Oriental Honey-buzzards at lake Sorbaluk. The light was quite difficult to deal with at the time but the photographs brought out the plumage details with a little help from Photoshop! We had to consult our copies of Raptors of the World to check if any of the birds we saw was Western Honey-buzzard, but the answer was no!

Oriental Honey-buzzard

Another superb raptor that we saw a lot of was Long-legged Buzzard and as this photo shows we had no trouble with light for this sighting with the plumage details and colours lighting up in the sunshine. This particular bird was seen feeding three chicks in a nest to make it one of the most memorable raptor sightings of the whole tour; just wonderful.

Long-legged Buzzard

Long-legged Buzzard Chicks

Watching these chicks in their nest was definitely the best raptor sighting of the tour for me as it was something that is rarely witnessed in birding. Others, however, named Steppe Eagle as their favourite raptor while some preferred Pallid Harrier, Lammergier or Shikra showing that birding is a personal thing and one of the good things about birding in Kazakhstan is that it provides a wide variety of species and experiences that will excite all types of birders.

The full list of raptors seen on the 2019 Kazakhstan birdwatching tour is: Golden Eagle, Booted Eagle, Steppe Eagle, Lammergeier, Cinereous Vulture, Himalayan Griffon, Egyptian Vulture, Eurasian Hobby, Red-footed Falcon, Eurasian Kestrel, Lesser Kestrel, Eurasian Sparrowhawk, Shikra, Western Marsh Harrier, Eastern Marsh Harrier, Pallid Harrier, Montagu’s Harrier, Black-eared Kite, Black Kite, Steppe Buzzard, Long-legged Buzzard, Upland Buzzard, Oriental Honey-buzzard.

I can’t wait until I lead the next Kazakhstan birding tour; check out the full itinerary – Central Asia Birding Tour - hope to see you there.