The Philippine archipelago comprises of over 7,000 islands that have been geographically isolated from mainland Asia for a long period of time. These islands stretch across a huge area within the South China and Pacific seas. Subsequently, the Philippines is a country of huge avian importance, being an area of extremely high endemism. Out of almost 600 species, a third are unique to the Philippines. First time visitors therefore leave there with heaps of new birds. Aside from the fact that it is loaded with endemics, it contains a varied bunch of birds, with some islands like Palawan showing a strong relationship with Southeast Asian birds, while the southern islands like Mindanao show stronger ties in their avifauna with some Indonesian areas to the south. Despite a bewildering array of islands with many, many spectacular birds, thankfully it is only necessary to visit just a few of the larger islands to get a good bird list and a haul of endemics. Along with the more familiar bird families like some flashy endemic Hornbills, breathtaking Pittas, striking Kingfishers, and a whole host of endemic nightbirds; the Philippines also has its own unique bird family – the frankly weird Philippine Creepers or Rhabdornises.

We offer two very different tours to the Philippines a shorter introductory tour that can be linked with an equally short trip to the endemic rich island of Taiwan; and a longer endemic-hunting tour to three of the Philippines’s principal islands, focusing on areas where many of the most spectacular of the country’s unique birds occur. This longer trip is described below:

Day 1: Arrival. Following your arrival in the Philippine capital you will be picked up and transferred to a comfortable hotel in Manila.

Day 2: Candaba Marsh and Subic Bay, Luzon. We visit some lowland areas on the Philippines´s largest island searching for Luzon specialties like Green Raquet-tail, White-lored Oriole, and other more widespread endemics like Philippine Falconet and Philippine Pygmy-Woodpecker. In addition to birding the forest, we will visit some wetlands loaded with waterbirds like the rare Philippine Duck, Pheasant-tailed Jacana, Yellow & Cinnamon Bitterns, and Barred and Buff-banded Rails.

Day 3: Subic Bay to Los Banos. We have a full morning birding the naval base at Subic, giving us further time to search for Luzon´s lowland species like Rufous Coucal, Yellow-breasted Imperial Pigeon and White-fronted Tit. In the afternoon we travel to Los Banos, our base for exploring the nearby mountain of Makiling.

Day 4: Mount Makiling. Some of the best-looking birds in the Philippines can be found on the flanks of this mountain, that borders the chilled-out university at Makiling. The campus itself holds some special birds, like the Luzon endemic Spotted Buttonquail. Others include the crazy-looking Scale-feathered and Red-crested Malkohas. Other great looking birds there include the well-named Luzon Bleeding-heart and Ashy Ground-Thrush. After a day birding the mountain and surrounding campus we will return to Los Banos for the night.

Day 5: Mount Makiling and back to Manila. We’ll have most of the day to continue scouring the mountain for other species like Indigo-banded Kingfisher, Spotted Wood-Kingfisher, and another bird confined to Luzon, Gray-backed Tailorbird. Later, we head back to Manila for another night’s stay.

Day 6: Fly to Mindanao to Bislig, Mindinao. We depart Manila early and fly to Davao (Mindanao), from there then heading south to the town of Bislig. There will be time for some birding in late afternoon searching for Grass Owl, Black Bittern, Blue-breasted Quail, and Philippine Duck.

Days 7-9: PICOP. We have three full days to explore the forest patches owned by the Paper Industry Corporation of the Philippines (PICOP), which despite much recent logging, continue to hold some of the top targets in the Philippines like the stunning Steere’s Pitta, Silvery Kingfisher, Rufous and Mindanao Tarictic Hornbills, and Short-crested Monarch.

Day 10: PICOP to Davao. We have a final morning at PICOP searching for Philippine Leafbird, Writhed Hornbill, Little Slaty Flycatcher, and others before we return to Davao for the night.

Days 11-13: Mount Kitanglad. We’ll spend the morning traveling to Mount Kitanglad, one of the most important sites in the Philippines and our base for the next three nights. We will begin birding the mountain in the afternoon searching for Mindanao specialties like Apo Sunbird, McGregor’s Cuckooshrike, Mindanao Raquet-tail, and a whole bunch of other new birds The next two days we look for one of the world’s rarest raptors, the monstrous Monkey-Eating Eagle, which competes with South America’s Harpy for position as the world’s largest eagle. There are plenty of other great birds at Kitanglad, like Blue-capped Wood-Kingfisher, Rufous-headed Tailorbird, Black-and-Cinnamon Fantail, Cinnamon Ibon, and Apo Myna. Nights will be spent camping and birding on the mountain where there will be time to search for Giant Scops Owl and the recently described Bukidnon Woodcock.

Day 14: Mount Kitanglad to Luzon. A final morning will be spent on Kitanglad, before we drive to Cagayan de Oro to catch an afternoon flight back to Manila on Luzon for another night’s stay.

Days 15 -16: Palawan and St. Paul’s National Park. After a short flight to Puerto Princesa, the capital of the lushly forested island of Palawan, we drive to St Paul’s. Here the birding can be surprisingly easy , and we should find many of the island endemics including Blue Paradise-Flycatcher, Palawan Tit, Palawan Hornbill, Sulphur-bellied Bulbul, and Palawan Blue Flycatcher. Others may require more work, like the dazzling Palawan Peacock-Pheasant and Falcated Ground-Babbler.

Day 17: St. Paul’s to Puerto Princesa. After a final morning in the park we’ll return to Puerto Princesa, for the night.

Day 18: Balsahan Trail and Rasa Island. A short drive from our hotel will bring us to the Balsahan trail, where we will have further chances at some of the specialties like Palawan Flowerpecker and Yellow-throated Leafbird, and Melodious Babbler, an endemic that is absent from St Paul’s. Later in the day we drive to Narra where we will board a boat to the tiny island of Rasa. A small population of the critically endangered Philippine Cockatoo still comes to roost here from the mainland in late afternoon. The night will be spent in the pleasant coastal town of Narra.

Day 19: To Puerto Princesa and Manila. We depart Narra early to head back to Puerto Princesa, leaving enough time to make an important stop en route for the extremely localized Palawan Flycatcher and last looks at other Palawan specialties. From Puerto Princesa we will take the short return flight to Manila to connect with international flights home.

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TRIP CONSIDERATIONS

CLIMATE: Warm and humid in the lowlands, cool in the mountains.

DIFFICULTY: Easy to moderate. Early starts are required in many places, but the walking is usually not strenuous.

ACCOMMODATION: Generally good, but the accommodation at Kitanglad is in a dormitory with sleeping bags.