Birding Tours – Day Tours
Indonesia birding day tours, which we run at any time!
Our bespoke Bali bird tours offer something for everyone, whether you are looking for a full-blown Bali birding tour with expert guides, or something to include within your Bali vacation for half a day or longer.
Bali is a province of Indonesia, a vast and sprawling archipelago in Southeast Asia. The island sits on the edge of the Greater Sunda region just east of Java and is the westernmost of the Lesser Sunda Islands. Known as “The Islands of the Gods”, Bali is Indonesia’s most important in terms of tourism, along with other islands such as Flores/Komodo Island (think Komodo Dragon!), Lombok Island (home to an endemic owl), and the Raja Ampat Islands with its birds-of-paradise and incredible reef life.
The provincial capital, Denpasar, is the most populous city, and the mid-elevation town of Ubud is considered Bali’s cultural center and is a popular destination for anyone interested in temples, rice terraces, art, great food, yoga, and spirituality. Beach and nightlife tourism is popular around the coast, particularly at Jimbaran, Seminyak, Kuta, and Canggu, and surfing is also a big draw. Coastal towns further away such as Amed offer something quieter, while it is possible to go dolphin-watching at such sites as Lovina.
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Bali is the only Hindu-majority province in Muslim-majority Indonesia. Balinese Hinduism is renowned for its intricate art, dance, painting, sculpture, and metalwork, which provide color and flair in everything one sees while traveling around the island. Furthermore, Bali is steeped in its historic past, such as its ancient confederation of kingdoms comprising ten royal Balinese houses that originate from a time before Dutch colonization.
Bali is shaped like an inverted triangle. It has a volcanic central and eastern mountain range in which the highest peak is Gunung Agung (Mount Agung), an active volcano reaching 9,944 feet (3,031 meters) high. There are several other peaks over 6,600 feet (2,000 meters) high and many of these are cloaked in forest. The volcanic slopes are exceptionally fertile, and this is where much of Bali’s rice, vegetables, flowers and coffee is grown. Located just west of the Wallace Line, Bali’s fauna is more Asian in character than adjacent Lombok, which has more of an Australasian influence. The abundance of mountains and plentiful rain during the rainy season (October to April) results in many rivers and waterfalls in remote areas which are popular tourist attractions.
Following International Ornithological Congress (IOC) taxonomy, v13.2 (December 2023), the Bali bird list is considered to stand at 436 bird species. Our guides have found and documented several first and second records for the island in recent years (e.g. Nordmann’s Greenshank, Black-browed Reed Warbler, and Common Ringed Plover)! Bali has just one endemic species (the Critically Endangered Bali Myna), while over twenty species are considered globally threatened.
A small island, there are substantial pressures (often tourism-related) on the birds and other wildlife in Bali. Despite this, the Bali Barat National Park area is home to many wonderful birds, while the mountains in the north also support a diverse range of species. With local knowledge it is possible to find a great assortment of birds in many other areas of Bali and these are accessible for anyone who has a little time to spare, no matter how short that might seem.
For everyone who books through our company we offer bespoke Bali birding tours that are catered for you. We will devise a schedule to suit your interests, level of experience and where you are staying in Bali. Just let us know what you have in mind and our experienced Bali birding guides will advise accordingly. Our Bali birding trips could include walking through rice paddies in Ubud with a knowledgeable local guide to point out the birds for you, visible migration watching, spending time photographing pittas, kingfishers, and waterbirds, or perhaps targeting some of the really special birds in Bali, just let us know what you want.
The big target bird in Bali is of course Bali Myna, however there are many other possible highlights on a Bali birding tour, such as Green Junglefowl, Javan Pond Heron, Cave Swiftlet, Sunda Teal, Javan Hawk-Eagle, Javan Owlet, Sunda Scops Owl, Beach Stone-curlew, Javan Plover, Aleutian Tern, White-tailed Tropicbird, Javan Banded Pitta, Javan Kingfisher, Cerulean Kingfisher, Rufous-backed Dwarf Kingfisher, Flame-fronted Barbet, Yellow-eared Barbet, Javan Cuckooshrike, Hair-crested (Javan Spangled) Drongo, Scarlet (Javan) Minivet, Javan Bush Warbler, Aberrant (Sunda) Bush Warbler, Ruby-throated Bulbul, Orange-spotted Bulbul, Brown-cheeked Bulbul, Sunda Warbler, Mountain Leaf Warbler, Kamchatka Leaf Warbler, (Javan) White-crowned Forktail, Javan Whistling Thrush, Sunda Thrush, Scaly (Horsfield’s) Thrush, Black-winged (Grey-rumped) Myna, Narcissus Flycatcher, Crescent-chested Babbler, Javan Scimitar Babbler, White-capped Munia, White-headed Munia, Javan Munia, and Java Sparrow, but there’s far more to see beyond these few great birds.
Check out the Bali birding tour ideas below or contact us if you have any questions about birding in Bali.
Indonesia day tours
