Birds of Assam & Mishmi Hills

Itinerary

Day 0: Arrive Tinsukia

This tour starts from Tinsukia so if you are joining it directly as opposed to coming from Kaziranga on our main Northeast Highlights tour, you should arrive at Dibrugarh airport and we will arrange pick up from the airport and transfer to our hotel.

Day 1: Dehing Patkai Wildlife Sanctuary

Assam’s lowland wet forests provide excellent birdwatching and we will enjoy a brief taste of this on our Mishmi Hills tour: the area is worthy of an entire tour of its own! There are various options here which we will decide on at the time. We may spend our morning in the Jeypore or Soraipong areas of Dehing Patkai Wildlife Sanctuary where some key targets include White-winged Duck, Austen’s Brown Hornbill and Pale-capped Pigeon. Other possibilities include White-cheeked Partridge, Thick-billed Green Pigeon, Square-tailed Drongo Cuckoo, Black-winged Cuckooshrike, and Blue-throated and Pale-chinned Blue Flycatchers.

Day 2: Tinsukia to Roing

Subject to permissions, we will bird the morning inside the Digboi Oilfields complex where the excellent lowland forest hosts the localised Chestnut-backed Laughingthrush, as well as Collared Treepie, another bird difficult to find elsewhere.

After our morning here we drive north-east, across the Brahmaputra on the new Dhola–Sadiya Bridge, the longest bridge in India, to the town of Roing at the base of the Mishmi Hills. The Brahmaputra branches near where we cross, and the northern tributary, the Dibang river, provides access to extensive swampy grasslands. We will spend some time birding these areas, near Jia or Nijamgarh, in particular looking for Bengal Florican. Always difficult to find due to their secretive habits, our best chance is often for a bird flying over the grassland or, with luck, from a small watchtower constructed by enterprising locals. Lesser Coucal, Yellow-bellied Prinia, Spotted Bush Warbler, Jerdon’s, Chestnut-capped, Marsh and Striated Babblers, and Black-breasted Parrotbill, are all key birds to look for here.

Day 3: Mishmi Hills: Roing to 12th Mile, Tiwari Gaon, Mayodia

The grasslands from yesterday may well beckon us again this morning. Otherwise we will concentrate on spent birding the lower elevations of the Mishmi Hills, such as at Sally Lake and further up the Mishmi Hills road including Baramile ‘12^th mile’. This area, which includes the Mehao Wildlife Sanctuary, may produce species such as White-browed Piculet, Pin-tailed Green Pigeon, Red-headed Trogon, Long-tailed Broadbill, White-throated Bulbul, Slaty-backed Forktail, Spot-throated Babbler, Beautiful and Long-tailed Sibias, Hill Blue Flycatcher, Sultan Tit, Coral-billed Scimitar Babbler, Red-faced Liocichla and Silver-eared Mesia.

We then head up in altitude, birding the middle elevations, particularly around the small hamlet of Tiwari Gaon. Birdlife varies considerably with altitude, and here we may see Blyth’s Shrike-Babbler, Chestnut-crowned Warbler, Grey-bellied Tesia, Mountain Tailorbird, Chevron-breasted Babbler, Long-billed Wren-Babbler, Rusty-fronted Barwing, Beautiful Nuthatch, both Purple and Green Cochoas, White-gorgeted Flycatcher, Large Niltava and White-tailed Robin.

Days 4 – 5: Mishmi Hills: Mayodia Pass

The Mayodia Pass at 2,666 m is the highest point on the road in this part of eastern Arunachal Pradesh. Sclater’s Monal is a very rarely encountered species in India, with the few records usually coming from near the Mayodia Pass. Other good species here include Blyth’s Tragopan, Himalayan Owl, Slender-billed Scimitar Babbler, Ward’s Trogon, Grey-sided and Spotted Laughingthrushes, Gould’s and Rusty-bellied Shortwing, Fire-tailed Myzornis and, of course, Rusty-throated or Mishmi Wren-Babbler. This was known from just a single specimen collected in the 1940s until it’s rediscovery in 2004. It appears to be locally common although, as with all wren-babblers, we might need some luck to get clear views.

We have two full days to explore the higher elevations of the Mishmi Hills, from our base at the bizarre Mayodia Coffee House!

Day 6: Mishmi Hills to Tinsukia

Our day to leave Mishmi Hills and our birding plan will largely depend on what we have and haven’t managed to see over the past few days. We may spend more time at Mayodia Pass (maybe for a final attempt at Sclater’s Monal!) and will undoubtedly stop for a while at middle or low elevations. We can again try one of the grassland areas near Roing, or make progress to our base at Tinsukia to spend time at Maguri Beel or nearby.

Day 7: Dibru-Saikhowa National Park

Our final full day’s birding has some flexibility in the plan, but we will probably explore the alluvial flood plains of the Brahmaputra, in the Dibru-Saikhowa National Park. The landscape consists of wetland, grassland and small patches of forest, but it is likely to be the grassland we concentrate on, visiting by boat and on foot. A major target here, seldom seen elsewhere in India, is the declining Jerdon’s Bushchat. We’ll also be looking for the rare Swamp Grass-Babbler, previously treated as a subspecies of Rufous-vented Prinia, now split with both forms being recategorised much more appropriately. Baer’s Pochard is occasionally found on the wetlands here, whilst we may also find Black-breasted Parrotbill and Indian Grassbird.

Alternatively, we could head inland to the lowland forests of Dehing-Patkai Wildlife Sanctuary, which we definitely did not do justice do on our first day!

Day 8: Depart from Dibrugarh

This morning we will make our way to Dibrugarh airport where our tour ends, and from where we can catch flights to Delhi and onward as necessary.

Checklist

This checklist is the most accurate and useful checklist available for this area! Read more about our eBird-driven checklists.