Saturday Bird Watching hiking - Shivapuri Nagarjun National Park

Shivapuri Nagarjun National Park is situated in the north side of Kathmandu valley. The park headquarters is located in Panimuhan village in the country's mid-hills on the northern fringe of the Kathmandu Valley. The headquarters is at 12 kilometers away from Kathmandu downtown. SNNP has three sector offices viz. Manichur, Dhakalchaur, and Nagarjun. SNNP was established in 2002 AD. The park is demarcated by stone and brick wall.

SNNP has two islands of forests namely Shivapuri and Nagarjun. The park area is surrounded by heavy sub-urban population. Geographically Shivapuri forest located within 27°45' to 27°52' N latitude and 85°16' to 85°45' E longitude and Nagarjun forest is located within 27°43' to 27°46' N latitude and 85°13' to 85°18' E longitude. It claims part of Kathmandu, Nuwakot, Dhading, and Sindhupalchowk districts of Nepal. The elevation range is 1350 masl to 2732 masl.

Birds are feathered bipeds. They belong to class Aves and subphylum Vertebrata. The most distinguishing character of birds is the possession of feathers and the forelimbs modified into wings. Birds descended 140 million years ago from the reptilian stock similar to that which produced dinosaurs, a bird-like creature, called Archaeopteryx.

I have captured some of awesome pictures of birds in Shivapuri Nagarjun National Park in the Saturday early morning birding trip.

Nepal has a sharp climatic variation from subtropical to alpine within the short span of less than 200km (from north to south). The altitude varies from about 60m above the sea level in the south lowland to 8.848m in the north. Nepal is rich in biodiversity. The country possesses a high biodiversity considering its size.

So far, 876 species of birds have been recorded in Nepal, which are about 8% of the total bird species found worldwide. A total of 35 globally threatened species, 19 near threatened species and 15 restricted-range species are recorded in Nepal. Spiny Babbler Turdoides nipalensis is the only endemic bird of Nepal known so far. Nine species of birds are listed under the protected species by Government of Nepal.

If you would like to get more information about birding in Nepal, please visit http://www.birdlifenepal.org/.