In addition to the main goals: pittas, when coming to Vietnambirds’ 7-day eco-tour, you will get beautiful pictures of other colorful tropical birds?
There are many stories to tell, future visitors of Vietnambirds, today tour guide Andy will tell you a story about the beauty of broadbill birds in Vietnam.
The list of broadbill species in Vietnam includes Black and Red broadbill, Banded broadbill, Dusky broadbill long-tailed broadbill, and Silver-breasted Broadbill. All of them have beautiful colors, attracting all eyes. In addition to their cute appearance, their wide eyes and behavior also delight birdwatchers. It can be said that broadbill species are difficult targets to ignore in bird-watching tours in Vietnam.
Three of the five broadbill species mentioned above can be found in the lowlands, where humidity is high and daytime temperatures are hot, creating a sultry appearance common in tropical forests. To compensate for the unpleasant weather and the efforts of visitors, the cute birds, chubby appearance, and round eyes will delight visitors. When visiting Cat Tien National Park, visitors can meet Black and Red broadbill, Banded broadbill, and Dusky broadbill species. Black and Red broadbill birds always appear in pairs, they live all their lives together and rarely see Black and Red foraging alone, except when one of them has to incubate in the nest.
This bird’s behavior is also indicative of love, when there is a strange call (usually from the instructor’s playback), instead of the male “hunting” for the stranger, the female will stay put. Like many other birds, Black and Red species have different behavior, they go to a place where there is a strange call, then look, listen, listen, then, they cuddle, a pair of birds rub their beaks. Their cyan blue oversized bulky looks like they’re kissing, and the male also intentionally makes gestures to cuddle the female. They do so from branch to perch as if to discourage the stranger from an indivisible fidelity.
A little more difficult to approach is the Banded Broadbill, which has a slightly more aggressive appearance than the Black and Red, with a larger bill, darker cyan, and oversized round blue-gray eyes. like cartoon birds. This is a beautiful bird with a light violet color mixed with a light pink color on the overall plumage. Above the wings, there are yellow dots that create attractive splashes of color.
However, it is not easy to photograph all of these beauties, as this bird often perches on tall trees, most of which appear only in dense foliage in primeval forest areas. The only thing to identify the existence of the banded broadbill species is their loud calls, when they appear, usually in a group, of 3 to 5 animals, the leader has a Wheooo Wheooo call, and the others. the rest take turns taking on characteristic chorus sounds, and always immediately followed by a loud, rising, rapid insect-like trill including up to 100 notes and lasting 5–9 seconds,…
You will have a hard time difficult to see them without a few tricks of the eye. We will be confused when we hear the sound is very loud and clear, but we look and look forever, but there is no bird at all! That difficulty is partly due to the color of this bird as it blends into the surrounding dry yellow leaves, another thing is that they often perch on high places where the foliage blocks most of the light, and they perched almost motionless, only shaking their heads to observe and utter loud, territorial cries.
The third broadbill species, Dusky-broadbill, also occurs in flocks of 3 to 7 individuals, preferring areas of open forest, with deciduous forest such as Dipterocarpus interspersed with bamboo. Their appearance is easily recognizable by the noisy sounds like the broadbill races, however, they also rarely down low, only perching on high branches.
This bird has the least colorful plumage of the family but derives its beauty from its huge pink beak, which is flat and slightly curved like the lips of the models. Above the wings, there are 2 prominent white patches on the wing primary, the throat of this bird rises and falls according to the loud calls it emits, each time, you will find them very beautiful with a pale yellow color.
Leaving the area of Cat Tien National Park, visitors come to the next destination, Nui San Pass, Dilinh plateau. Where the altitude is from 800m-1100m, the climate is cooler, the humid tropical forests left after a long time being invaded by humans to create agricultural land gradually appear. This is where birdwatchers can meet the other two broadbill species: the Long-tailed Broadbill and the Silver breasted Broadbill.
While Long-tailed broadbill is usually noisier, Silver breasted is quieter. But the long-tailed birds often perched on high branches, rarely falling, silver-breasted appeared in the middle, closer to the ground.
Silver-breasted birds are more passive birds, they rarely overreact or squirm to unfamiliar sounds. When parked, they often standstill in a secluded place and observe, there are calls to signal their territory, then continue to observe, after a while they continue to find another place nearby without flying far. This is a bird that usually occurs in pairs rather than in flocks. The male is silver-gray, like the female, and it has a very noble necklace. When looking at the back, the wings will appear with beautiful silver, light blue patches.
The long-tailed broadbill looks like a tiny pilot due to the “helmet” it has. The black patch on the head separates it from the green neck and body. It is the blackhead with 2 pale yellow streaks on the ears, creating the feeling that the bird is wearing a helmet. In front of the face are clear gray-blue eyes and an ivory-white beak. When there is the appearance of strangers, this bird usually repels by gathering in a flock of 4 to 8 birds, they move continuously in a circle around the place of the stranger on the tall branches.
Visitors’ journeys are still full of other colorful and attractive birds at attractive bird watching spots throughout southern Vietnam such as Bidoup Nui Ba National Park, Yokdon National Park, Ngoc Linh Nature Reserve…
Vietnambirds hopes that our enthusiastic, attentive service and experience in organizing bird watching tours always bring satisfaction to visitors. Each customer who comes to us is an experience of nature, people, local living habits, and cultural and culinary characteristics…
Visit for more:
Contact in facebook, please click on my name
Call or Message by Whatsapp, viber with the same number: +84982928482
Email: [email protected]