Tips on Birding in South East Asia

Since I started this site I have received many emails with all sorts of queries about travelling and birding in Asia. In the last ten years I have been on over 30 overseas trips, all but a handful of them to Asia, and prior to that I lived in Japan for four years, so I hope that by now I am fairly well placed to give a bit of advice. I know that many veterans of travel in Asia may read this page and any suggestions on how to improve this advice are most welcome.

Birding - best techniques.

One of the most important things to do prior to embarking on your trip is research. First, research the country you are going to and what you are going to do. Have a flexible plan if you are travelling independently. The best thing to do is set out an itinerary of where you would like to go, but leave it a bit flexible so that you can add a day here or there if you have missed anything along the way. Work out what birds you are likely to see where and, most importantly, study the field guide until you know every bird back to front. This will ensure a rewarding trip. Also, try to time your trip for the best birding season.

One of the most important skills to learn in Asia is patience! This will help you with regard to logistics and birding. Logistics can be frustrating and getting angry will not help your cause. Anger is considered to be boorish and rude throughout Asia, at best you will simply be ignored and any further attempts at communication will be thwarted. You will certainly gain no respect! Try to make your point with a smile on your face. It will work wonders.

Birding in South East Asia can be very slow. The problem is the high canopy (the rainforest trees of SEA are taller than those of South America and Africa) and the low bird densities. It is possible to walk in the rainforest for hours without seeing anything and then suddenly have a mixed feeding flock descend upon you. These flocks can sometimes consist of 20 or more species and at first it is hard to know which way to look. Don't get over excited or you will miss everything. Don't be distracted; concentrate on one species at a time. If you have done your research well you should be able to identify most of what you see. And of course skills will improve as you spend more time in the field. Walk quietly and softly in the forest as many of the special birds in SEA are ground-dwelling skulkers. A fruiting tree can represent a real bonanza with bulbuls, barbets, pigeons, hornbills and other frugivores all feeding together. Needless to say, it is worth spending time sitting, watching and waiting.

Clothing - how to stay comfortable and still see the birds.

If you haven't birded in the tropics before be prepared for a new experience. I love the heat and humidity, which may be one reason I keep going back for more. Even so I always follow a couple of rules in order to make the experience less onerous! 

My first tip is to avoid T-shirts. The material acts like a sponge and does not wick away any of the copious amounts of sweat you will produce. By the end of the day you will not only be uncomfortable, you will stink! Far better are 100% cotton or cotton blend lightweight shirts. Jeans should be avoided. Quick-drying clothing is useful in humid conditions. Short sleeved shirts and shorts are fine but cool, long-sleeved shirts and trousers are recommended to avoid mosquito bites, scratches and stings. A lightweight jumper or thermal top is useful for the montane areas where it is often cool at night but warm during the daylight hours. Polartec fleece jackets are really good because they are warm but pack down very well. For my feet I use Thorlo coolmax socks. They are expensive but exceptionally comfortable and really keep your feet dry. My preference is for good quality, lightweight and breathable walking boots. There is a good chance that at some stage you will get wet feet and heavy leather boots can take a very long time to dry. Rain is another important consideration in the tropics. At some stage it will inevitably rain. Gortex raincoats can become very hot and sweaty in tropical conditions so I prefer a cheap rain poncho or fold-up umbrella. It is worth taking a gortex jacket for places like north Vietnam in winter when it can get fairly cold or for high altitude areas such as Mount Kinabalu in Borneo. 

If you are using Doxycycline for your malaria prophyllaxis beware that this can induce photosensitivity and you should take extra care to avoid sunburn. The ozone layer is still pretty much intact over the equator so the risks are otherwise lower. And of course, if you are birding in the rainforest the tree cover will provide all the protection you need. 

Health & Safety

The main piece of advice I'd like to offer here is to consult a doctor who is familiar with travel medicine. Many doctors are not really up to date with many of the hazards you could potentially encounter in tropical countries. This is an important consideration when you realise that the prophyllactic treatment of malaria differs greatly from region to region depending on the resistance of the malaria parasite. There are some useful websites with information about malaria. These include: the Malaria Foundation International, RBM (Roll Back Malaria), the World Health Organisation and the National Center for Infectious Disease (this last is a really excellent American site with lots of useful info).

If you are travelling to remote areas and staying in basic accommodation take a mosquito net (they also deter rats from jumping on your bed!). Soaking the net and your clothing in pyrethrum is also worthwhile. This is a commonly found gardening product that repels not only mosquitoes but chiggers as well - so, useful for your clothing.

Another useful thing to take is leech proof socks. These will definitely assist you in maintaining your good health in the tropics. See leeches for details. If there hasn't been much rain around you may be lucky and avoid these menaces but it is more likely that you will encounter lots of them in tropical Asia.

With regard to innoculations and other vaccinations, I will not make specific comments here as I am not qualified. That said, I would strongly suggest that you make sure your tetanus regime is up to date and that you be vaccinated for all forms of hepatitis.

My last point concerns personal safety. Recently South East Asia has received some bad press mainly as a result of the bombings in Bali. While this was a truly tragic and awful event, this type of thing has happened and will happen again in most parts of the world including North America and Europe. In fact, South East Asia has been (apart from war zones in Cambodia and Laos) exceptionally safe for visitors for the last 30-odd years. In my opinion, Australia is a far more dangerous destination for travellers than Indonesia! I believe strongly that birders can contribute so much to the conservation of wildlife in many of these countries merely by visiting their national parks and reserves. I can honestly say that through all my travels in the region I have only ever encountered the most friendly and warm people. Of course, you should always take care of your valuables (apart from your binoculars, passport and cash almost anything can be replaced!) especially in crowded areas, markets and so on but don't become paranoid. It is not necessary and it will not contribute to your enjoyment of your travels. And violent crime is extremely rare. One last word - beware of traffic! This is by far the biggest risk you will encounter.