The island of Palawan is a treasure trove for birders, with 27 endemic species unique to this island off the west of the Philippines archipelago, it is a must visit for any serious world listers, as well as a great introduction to the birds of the Philippines. The island is unique amongst other islands in the Philippines, with a good mixture of species from the Malay-peninsula, making it an unique birding experience.
Day 1 -
14 guests joined us for a 7 days birding tour, guided by Kenneth Lam, James Kwok and myself, we flew out of Hong Kong on 12th of October. The transfer from T3 to T2 went smoothly and we landed on Palawan at around 2:30pm, where local guide Totic and Marcon met us. After checking in at the comfortable Pincesa Garden where we will be based for the week ahead, birding started almost immediately with a Spotted Wood Owl perching out for everyone to get great looks inside the resort grounds, what a bird to start the tour! Endemic subspecies wekeipi is darker on the belly.
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| Spotted Wood Owl - race wekeipi |
A quick ride in the van saw us at the roosting site of the critically endangered Philippine Cockatoos, they used to roost at the Princesa Garden as well, but have since shifted to another resort nearby. We had excellent close views of this Philippine endemic, where they were feeding on a tree relatively low down. Even a flock of Pied Imperial Pigeons flew by right above us, a relatively uncommon bird on mainland Palawan!
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| Philippine Cockatoo - a Philippine endemic |
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| Pied Imperial Pigeon - very uncommon on mainland Palawan |
Just before the sunset we added our first endemic in form of a Palawan Crow, an endemic species of crow with a very distinctive call. We had dinner to round up a successful first afternoon of birding.
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| Palawan Crow |
Day 2 -
After a nice breakfast at the hotel, we headed to first to a flowering tree near Randy’s Place for a quick stop, where numerous Palawan Sunbirds danced around in the morning sun. We waited for the Purple-throated Sunbird there but had no luck. A few Asian Glossy Starlings came through nearby.
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| Palawan Sunbird - male |
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| Asian Glossy Starling |
Irawan Eco Park was up next, the bird hides there provided good chance for some of the endemics, especially the usually secretive Palawan Flycatcher and White-rumped Shama, both can be found there with relative ease. Palawan Bulbuls also came in occasionally.
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| Palawan Flycatcher |
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| White-vented Shama |
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| Palawan Bulbul |
A few from the group opted to first try their luck at the Stork-billed Kingfisher hide and was rewarded with very close views of this impressive looking kingfisher! Other members who came in later only got good views of the usually difficult Palawan Blue Flycatcher as consolation.
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| Stork-billed Kingfisher |
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| Palawan Blue Flycatcher - male |
In the garden outside, the Lovely Sunbird showed quite well for everyone. Totic suddenly told us a Blue-eared Kingfisher came in at the hide, many of us ran back in there and got excellent views. It was a shame that the Philippine Pitta that showed there before was nowhere to be found, Totic stated it hasn’t been seen since late August.
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| Lovely Sunbird - male |
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| Blue-eared Kingfisher - immature female |
There were quite a few Grey-streaked Flycatchers around the garden, a few Palawan Drongos also came by. We also spotted the endemic Palawan Gliding Lizard, as well as an incredible looking Emerald Swallowtail.
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| Grey-streaked Flycatcher |
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| Palawan Drongo |
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| Palawan Gliding Lizard |
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| Emerald Swallowtail |
We headed back to the hotel after lunch for some rest, on the way back to our rooms a Palawan Monitor ran past us along the footpath, it just shows you that there are wildlife to be seen everywhere!
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| Palawan Monitor |
After resting during the midday heat, we went out later in the afternoon for another birding session, the car park at Badjao gave us a few common Philippine endemic species, such as the Philippine Pied Fantail and Pygmy Flowerpeckers. The endemic Ashy-fronted Bulbul came through briefly.
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| Philippine Pied Fantail |
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Pygmy Flowerpecker - male
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| Pygmy Flowerpecker - female |
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| Ashy-fronted Bulbul |
Other common birds present were Black-naped Monarch, Pied Triller and a few Common Ioras. The Copper-throated Sunbirds were nowhere to be seen.
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| Black-naped Monarch - female |
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| Pied Triller - male |
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| Common Iora - male |
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| Common Iora - female |
Since some members of the group wanted another go for the Spotted Wood Owls, we went back and spent a little bit more time photographing them, this time round one of them showed extremely well and gave even lower and closer views than the previous day!
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| Spotted Wood Owl - second round |
Before dinner we went looking for Palawan Frogmouth, it is helpful that Totic knows which spots are active. We stationed along the road and waited, after a while we finally heard the call from within the thickets, as I forgot to bring my infrared camera, we used the old fashioned method of following the sound and shining our torch at it, sure enough I found the bird sitting quite low down. It stayed there for as long as we wanted, where everyone had fantastic views of this very charismatic endemic.
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| Palawan Frogmouth - no doubt one of the star bird of Palawan |
Day 3 -
This morning we headed to the new 'Birdwing Site', the name they call the bird hide for the Palawan Peacock Pheasant. Since the drive was slightly longer, and we had to get there a bit earlier, we ordered packed breakfast from the hotel. We arrived around 7am, having met the caretaker Beth who gave us a briefing of the site rules, we walked down the slippery forest path down towards the bird hide. The hide is similar to the other bird hides I have been into around south east Asia. Once everyone settled down, the waiting began. It didn't actually take that long for a Palawan Peacock Pheasant to appear! It was however a juvenile male according to Totic, lacking the colourful plumage, but it was still an incredible bird to see.
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| Looking out from the bird hide |
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| Palawan Peacock Pheasant - juvenile male |
The bird hide provided good views to several endemic species, including the usually skulking Ashy-headed Babbler, the noisy Palawan Bulbuls, the elegant White-vented Shama and a pair of Palawan Blue Flycatchers.
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| Ashy-headed Babbler |
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| Palawan Bulbul |
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| White-vented Shama |
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| Palawan Blue Flycatcher - male |
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| Palawan Blue Flycatcher - female |
The only none endemic bird there were the numerous Asian Emerald Doves. Palawan Treeshrews and Southern Palawan Tree Squirrels both came in to feed at the bird hide, both endemic to the island.
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| Asian Emerald Dove |
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| Palawan Treeshrew |
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| Southern Palawan Tree Squirrel |
We waited till 12pm, and no male peacock pheasant came. While waiting for our lunch, we observed a few Palawan Birdwings flying around. A few Fiery Minivets came along. A Rufous-tailed Tailorbird didn't make itself easy to photograph.
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| Palawan Birdwing |
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| Fiery Minivet - male |
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| Fiery Minivet - female |
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| Rufous-tailed Tailorbird |
A Lovely Sunbird came down quite low for everyone to get a good look. A few Palawan Flowerpeckers came out to feed on the Papayas on offer, allowing decent views.
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| Lovely Sunbird - male |
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| Palawan Flowerpecker - male |
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| Palawan Flowerpecker - female |
Most guests didn't fancy waiting in the bird hide any longer, most of us chose to do some roadside birding along Napsan Road instead. Only 2 people along with James decided to do the afternoon session in the bird hide. Along Napsan Road, things were quiet to begin with, only a few Pin-striped Tit-babblers were seen, they were not particularly friendly, only gave brief views. Many Green Imperial Pigeons flew past overhead.
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| Pin-striped Tit-Babbler |
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| Green Imperial Pigeon |
Marcon led us to a spot by the road and told us to wait, it didn't take long for a pair of Falcated Wren-babbler to call back. Soon enough, everyone was photographing this highly sought after endemic of Palawan! This is no doubt my favourite Palawan endemic, and one that I probably won't get bored of seeing! While this species is generally reclusive and shy, with the right knowledge of their territorial habits from our local guides, birders have a very good chance to see them well.
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| Falcated Wren-Babbler - one of the top Palawan endemic to get no doubt! |
Back on the road we added two more endemic species, first with a few Palawan Tits, although they were too high up for any good photos, soon after we had a few Yellow-throated Leafbirds, they showed slightly better but still quite high up.
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| Palawan Tit - female |
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| Palawan Tit - male |
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| Yellow-throated Leafbird |
We spotted two Crested Goshawks in the afternoon, first a juvenile and the second an adult. The endemic race palawana is a lot smaller than those we get in Hong Kong.
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| Crested Goshawk - juvenile |
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| Crested Goshawk - race palawana |
It was exciting to spot a family group of Palawan Hornbills next to the road, while a fairly common endemic, close views are not always guaranteed. We had fantastic views of a juvenile being particularly clingy to it's mother, a wonderful sight to observe in the wild.
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| Palawan Hornbill |
As we headed back to the Birdwing Site to pick up our remaining guests, a Blue-naped Parrot perched out on a dead tree for everyone to get a good look, this is a near endemic species that can mainly be found in the Philippines.
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| Blue-naped Parrot |
That evening we tried our luck for the Palawan Scops Owl along Napsan, while we heard one calling close by, it was reluctant to show. In the end I only saw the bird through my infrared, but it was too far in the thickets that the torch simply cannot penetrate. That evening we enjoyed a lovely bowl of Bulalo as consolation.
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| Bulalo - a philippine dish of beef bone broth with rice |
Day 4 -
After another big breakfast at the hotel, the group headed out towards Zig-zag Road, another well known birding spot near Puerto Princesa. It didn't take long for Totic and Marcon to find us a Mangrove Whistler, this rather non-descriptive grey bird can be found along the coastal forests throughout Sout East Asia, but the endemic race plateni found on Palawan is peculiar in that they don't inhabit mangroves as its name suggests, and are more often found in the forest.
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| Mangrove Whistler - race plateni |
Things picked up slightly when we finally encountered our first woodpecker of the trip! A pair of Spot-throated Flamebacks made an appearance along the road, showing beautifully! Everyone managed some cracking views before they moved on, and another endemic in our bag!
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| Spot-thraoted Flameback - juvenile male |
A few Thick-billed Flowerpeckers came by, endemic race affinis is part of the endemic Philippine group, also known as the Striped Flowerpecker. A family group gave wonderful close views for everyone.
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| Thick-billed Flowerpecker - race affinis |
Along the road, we kept scanning the sky for raptors and other birds, we added Crested Serpent Eagle, Changeable Hawk-Eagle and a few distant Brown-backed Needletails.
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| Crested Serpent Eagle - race palawanensis |
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| Changeable Hawk Eagle |
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| Brown-backed Needletail |
Some small birds came through in form of Common Ioras and a female Blue-and-White Flycatcher, a migrant here. The group also had brief views of a few Palawan Babblers, but I didn't manage any photos.
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| Common Iora |
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| Blue-and-White Flycatcher - female |
Another addition to our growing list of endemics was a fabulous male Palawan Fairy-Bluebird, a species split from the more widespread Asian Fairy-Bluebird based on mtDNA as well as morphological differences. It is also an important species for anyone wanting to complete the trio of Fairy-bluebirds in the world. The male showed very nicely and everyone managed some good photos of this lovely looking bird.
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| Palawan Fairy-bluebird - male |
After lunch, we headed over to Randy's Place. Birding never stops even when we were waiting for the van to arrive, around the hotel grounds I had a very nice looking Palawan Sunbird feeding on the flowers, a few Chestnut Munias coming to the fountain to bathe, and a very nice looking Hawaiian Garden Spider.
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| Palawan Sunbird - male |
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| Chestnut Munia |
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| Hawaiian Garden Spider |
At Randy's Place, we connected with a few more species we haven't seen during the trip, including our final endemic Nectariniidae of Palawan in form of the Pale Spiderhunter. A pair of Mangrove Blue Flycatchers were again showing well here, along with a few Philippine Pied Fantails. A few Brown-throated Sunbirds and a pair of Copper-throated Sunbirds also came in. We waited for the Blue Paradise Flycatcher to come by but had no luck.
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| Pale Spiderhunter |
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| Mangrove Blue Flycatcher - male |
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| Philippine Pied Fantail |
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| Copper-throated Sunbird - male |
Before dinner, we headed to Cana Island, a tiny island situated in the middle of Puerto Princesa Bay. A short boat trip saw us landing on the island in the dark, and it didn't take very long before we were feasting our eyes on a Mantanani Scops Owl, an island specialist that can only be found on small islands off the coast of eastern Philippines and Sabah, making it quite a range restricted species. After this exhilarating encounter we headed for dinner.
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| Boat heading to Cana Island |
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| Mantanani Scops Owl - always fun to see |
Day 5 -
Since Sabang was quiet for birds according to Totic, we opted to head back towards Napsan Road for the morning, to hopefully get a few birds we are still missing. A Pygmy Flowerpecker showed well early on by the roadside. A flock of Blue-naped Parrots also gave great views by the road at close range, we later saw 36 birds flew by above us, quite a sizeable group!
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| Napsan |
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| Pygmy Flowerpecker - female |
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| Blue-naped Parrot |
A few more Palawan Hornbills came by for a good look, they seem to be quite regularly sighted along Napsan Road. Further on we found a fruiting tree with upwards of over 20 individuals of Black-chinned Fruit-Doves feeding on it, A big congregation of this sometimes difficult to connect species!
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| Palawan Hornbill |
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| Black-chinned Fruit Dove - good views of this Philippine near endemic |
We got another chance for the Palawan Babbler, and this time they showed as well as we could ever hoped for. This drab looking species have a very melodic song, hence they are also known as the Melodious Babbler.
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| Palawan Babbler - showing well |
At the rain shelter outside Birdwing site, we added a Bar-bellied Cuckooshrike, male of race difficilis lacks any barrings below. A few Lesser Short-nosed Fruit Bats were seen at the rain shelter.
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| Bar-bellied Cuckooshrike - male race difficilis |
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| Lesser Short-nosed Fruit Bat |
The afternoon session was most disappointing, we saw very little at Irawan Eco Park. We waited for nightfall to try for the Palawan Scops Owl again, although we didn't find any. Using my infrared, I successfully found a roosting Rufous-backed Dwarf-Kingfisher. And a little later on, one of our main target of the trip, a male Blue Paradise Flycatcher! It was great to be able to see this species roosting, allowing prolonged views, at one point the bird even yawned and opened its beak, showing the distinctive lime green mouth.
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| Rufous-backed Dwarf Kingfisher |
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| Blue Paradise Flycatcher - male |
Having no luck with the Palawan Scops Owl, we decided to cut our loses and headed back into the city to try for Long-tailed Nightjars. It didn't take long before everyone got great views of one hawking for insects from a dead branch.
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| Large-tailed Nightjar |
Day 6 -
This was our last full day to try and complete our endemic list, by now all that remains are the Blue-headed Racquet-tail, Red-headed Flameback and for some of the group the Sulphur-bellied Bulbul, which only gave us fleeting views the day before. Totic decided to try an area lower down from Zig-zag Road, it was again quiet at first, we only added a few Thick-billed Green Pigeons. Things got slightly more excited when a flock of Asian Glossy Starlings came through, I quickly scanned the flock and found a few Chestnut-cheeked Starlings! A species I have not seen for many years!
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| Thick-billed Green Pigeon - male |
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| Chestnut-cheeked Starling - a lovely surprise! |
Along the road we finally connected with a family group of Great Slaty Woodpeckers, although they were quite far away, this largest woodpecker in the world gave us quite good flight views.
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| Great Slaty Woodpecker - female |
As Totic and Marcon stopped by the roadside to look for Red-headed Flamebacks, I decided to try and look for other birds along the road. Kenneth and I both heard a call of a parrot nearby and looked at each other, surely that couldn't be the Blue-headed Racquet-tail? I played a burst of playback, and out flew a male Racquet-tail right above my head! I ran back towards the van and told everyone to get out as quickly as possible. Luckily, the bird remained vocal, and we soon relocated it sitting on top of tree! It later flew off and moved to an even better tree with no obstructions, where everyone got great views and some lovely photos of this often difficult endemic.
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| Blue-headed Racquet-tail - candidate for bird of the trip! |
With the Racquet-tail now in the bag, our focus shifted solely to getting the Red-headed Flameback. We bumped into a good stretch with lots of birds, here we were able to get good views of a Sulphur-bellied Bulbul for everyone, nailing all the trio of endemic bulbuls! A Lovely Sunbird also came in close.
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| Sulphur-bellied Bulbul |
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| Lovely Sunbird - male |
Further excitement when Totic shouted from up the road that he got a few Great Slaty Woodpeckers, everyone ran towards him and was rewarded with fabulous views of three massive woodpeckers! This species is no doubt one of the most peculiar looking woodpecker, prehistoric is probably a good description for this iconic species.
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| Running birders! |
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| Great Slaty Woodpecker - incredible views! |
With rain fast approaching, and we made good use of the remaining time to look for birds. We were watching a pair of Palawan Fairy-bluebirds and Spot-throated Flameback when Marcon suddenly shouted "Red-headed!", and soon after I saw the bird on a dead tree behind a house. I tried to get people onto the bird but it flew off too soon! For the next 15 minutes we tried to relocate the bird, and luckily, we finally found it on a dead tree far away for everyone to get a good look! And with that we completed our final endemic species that is possible around Puerto Princesa!
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| Spot-throated Woodpecker - male |
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| Red-headed Flameback - male |
Heavy rain sets in for the rest of the afternoon, we didn't manage any birding in the torrential rain. Despite the fact that we didn't get to see the Flying Fox spectacle due to the rain, we still celebrated our success with the birds that evening with a brilliant seafood dinner.
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| Celebratory feast! |
Some of us opted for an optional herping outing near Zig-zag Road after dinner. We explored the streams there, and actually saw quite a few birds. Including numerous Rufous-backed Dwarf-Kingfishers, two Western Hooded Pittas, an Ashy-headed Babbler, a Ventriloquist Oriole and a few Palawan Bulbuls.
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| Ashy-headed Babbler |
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| Western Hooded Pitta |
We didn't manage to find any snakes along the stream unfortunately, but we did have an Asian Leaf Turtle. A sleeping Green Crested Lizard gave close views.
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| Asian Leaf Turtle |
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| Green Crested Lizard |
There were quite a few frogs, including a Palawan Spadefoot Toad, many Culion Frogs and Philippine Toads. Also a a few tree frogs that I am not entirely sure of the ID, but most likely Dark-eared Tree Frogs.
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| Palawan Spadefoot Toad |
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| Culion Frog |
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| Philippine Toad |
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| Dark-eared Tree Frog - I think |
Day 7 -
Our final morning was spent relaxing slightly at the resort, part of the group originally wanted to head back to Randy's Place for another photo session, but the rain in the morning deterred everyone. Many joined Kenneth and I to walk around the resort for some birds, where we added a few more common species that we haven't photograph on this trip, such as Ashy Minivet and Edible-nest Swiftlets.
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| Ashy Minivet - female |
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| Edible-nest Swiftlet |
Both Collared Kingfisher and a Stork-billed Kingfisher showed well, although the Stork-billed was perched further away, but many who missed it on the first day was able to get at least a record shot of this species.
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| Collared Kingfisher |
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| Stork-billed Kingfisher |
A few Golden-bellied Gerygones finally decided to come in closer for everyone to get a good look, while a Blue Rock Thrush was seen briefly on top of the house. Philippine Pied Fantails were ever present.
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| Golden-bellied Gerygone |
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| Blue Rock Thrush - male |
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| Philippine Pied Fantail |
In the distant trees we added a few more Chestnut-cheeked Starlings! A few Pink-necked Green Pigeons also came by.
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| Chestnut-cheeked Starling |
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| Pink-necked Green Pigeon |
A pair of Copper-throated Sunbirds came in close and was being particularly photogenic. The male even displayed to the female and put on quite a show for us!
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| Copper-throated Sunbird |
With that, we headed for lunch and to the airport. It was a smooth journey all the way from Palawan back to Hong Kong where we landed just before 11pm in the evening. All in all, a very fruitful trip and lots of great moments! Even though birding was tough at times, a bit of perseverance allowed us to record all possible endemics near Puerto Princesa, most of the group got photo records of all the endemics with the exception of the Palawan Scops Owl which was a heard only. I will like to thank each of our guests for their support, and for making this such an enjoyable journey. A big thanks to Derek from EcoTravel for helping out on the administration. A heartfelt thanks to our bird guides Totic and Marcon, they are top guides who knows the birds in Palawan very well. Also a thank you to my co-leaders Kenneth and James, it was a pleasure to work with them again. Hopefully, we will have another wildlife adventure elsewhere very soon.
Endemics Recorded:
1. Palawan Peacock Pheasant - juvenile male seen at Birdwing site, adult male seen briefly in the background by some.
2. Palawan Frogmouth - one bird seen very well just north of Puerto Princesa, another heard along Napsan Road.
3. Palawan Scops Owl - up to two birds heard along Napsan Road, one seen through infrared briefly.
4. Palawan Hornbill - several groups seen.
5. Red-headed Flameback - one male seen near Napsan Road.
6. Spot-throated Flameback - four seen in total at Zig-zag Road and Napsan Road.
7. Blue-headed Racquet-tail - one heard at Napsan Road, a male seen enroute to Napsan Road.
8. Palawan Drongo - seen on a few occasions, Irawan Eco Park and Napsan Road.
9. Blue Pardise Flycatcher - one seen roosting at Irawan Eco Park, two more along Napsan Road.
10. Palawan Crow - common throughout.
11. Palawan Tit - a few seen along Napsan Road.
12. Palawan Bulbul - fairly common in forest area.
13. Ashy-fronted Bulbul - common throughout.
14. Sulphur-bellied Bulbul - two seen near Birdwing site, another seen along Napsan Road.
15. Palawan Babbler - pairs seen along Zig-zag Road and Napsan Road.
16. Ashy-headed Babbler - very common at Birdwing site.
17. Falcated Wren-babbler - a pair seen along Napsan Road.
18. White-vented Shama - fairly common in forest areas.
19. Palawan Blue Flycatcher - a male seen at Irawan Eco Park, another pair at Birdwing site.
20. Palawan Flycatcher - very confiding individual at Irawan Eco Park.
21. Palawan Flowerpecker - common throughout.
22. Palawan Sunbird - common throughout.
23. Lovely Sunbird - common in forest area.
24. Pale Spiderhunter - one along Napsan Road, two more at Randy's Place.
25. Palawan Fairy-Bluebird - one along Zig-zag Road, another pair along Napsan Road.
26. Yellow-throated Leafbird - seen on several occasions at Zig-zag Road and Napsan Road.
Full eBird trip report: https://ebird.org/tripreport/417950
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