The Philippines has a whole bunch of endemics; combining this trip with Taiwan you are sure to leave with many special species that are found nowhere else. You will leave with a real flavor of the Phillippines, collect a haul of endemic birds, as well as at least one of the Philippines’s own endemic family-the Rhabdornises. This tour concentrates on the endemic-rich islands Luzon and Palawan, and will be done in comfort.

Day 1: Arrival. Following your arrival in the Philippine capital you will be picked up and transferred to a 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 likePhilippine Falconet and Philippine Pygmy-Woodpecker. In addition to forest birding, we will visit some wetlands loaded with waterbirds like the rare Philippine Duck, Pheasant-tailed Jacana, and Barred & 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 this mountain, that borders the chilled out university campus at Makiling, the grounds of which also hold some special birds like Spotted Buttonquail (a Luzon endemic). Others include the crazy-looking Scale-feathered and Red-crested Malkohas. Other special birds there include the well-named Luzon Bleeding-heart and Ashy Ground-Thrush. After a day birding the mountain we will return to Los Banos.

Day 5: Mount Makiling and back to Manila. Most of the day will be available to carry on birding the mountain searching for other species like Indigo-banded Kingfisher, Spotted Wood-Kingfisher and another Luzon endemic, Gray-backed Tailorbird, before we head back to Manila for the night.

Days 6-7: Palawan and St. Paul’s National Park. We’ll take a short flight to Puerto Princesa, the capital of the lush forested island of Palawan. After our flight we will drive to St Paul’s that can offer surprisingly easy birding, and we should find many of the island endemics including Blue Paradise-Flycatcher, Palawan Tit, Palawan Hornbill and Palawan Blue Flycatcher. Others may require some more work like the dazzling Palawan Peacock-Pheasant and Falcated Ground-Babbler.

Day 8: St. Paul’s to Puerto Princesa. After a final morning in the park we return to Puerto Princesa for the night.

Day 9: Puerto Princesa and Rasa Island. A morning will be spent birding our way to Narra, the port for access to Rasa Island, searching for more Palawan specialties like Palawan Flowerpecker and Yellow-throated Leafbird. Later we board a boat to the tiny island of Rasa, where the critically endangered Philippine Cockatoo still comes to roost from the mainland in late afternoon.

Day 10: To Puerto Princesa and Manila. We leave 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.