Bulgaria Birding Tours

Following International Ornithological Congress (IOC) taxonomy, Bulgaria has a bird list of 429 species (IOC v10.2 in September 2020), 23 of these species being globally threatened. Birding Ecotours is delighted to be able to offer two superb Bulgaria birding tours that take in this amazing country. To help maximize your European bird list and enjoy Bulgaria’s exceptional birdlife, we run these Bulgaria birding tours over two contrasting seasons and have listed some of the highlights below.

Our spring Bulgaria birding tour visits a huge variety of Bulgarian habitats and we will visit many of Bulgaria’s 114 Important Bird Areas (IBAs), listed by BirdLife International, including Pirin IBA (which is also a national park), Trigrad Gorge (within the Trigrad-Mursalista IBA), and Studen Kladenets IBA volcanic region. This Bulgaria bird-watching tour then heads towards the Black Sea before finishing in neighboring Romania, where we explore the mighty Danube River and its delta. This tour offers a huge variety of species with far too many to list here. Some are also found on our winter Bulgaria birding tours (details below) but notable additions include Ruddy Shelduck, Ferruginous Duck, a number of gulls and terns, a range of shorebird (wader) species (including Broad-billed Sandpiper, Spotted Redshank, and Collared Pratincole), an exciting array of raptors such as Egyptian Vulture, Griffon Vulture, Cinereous Vulture, Short-toed Eagle, Lesser Spotted Eagle, Booted Eagle, Eastern Imperial Eagle, Levant Sparrowhawk, Pallid Harrier, Red-footed Falcon, and more! Other sought-after species include European Roller, European Bee-eater, ten species of European woodpeckers (that is all of them except for Iberian Green Woodpecker – you need to join our Spain birding tour for that!), Eurasian Golden Oriole, Wallcreeper (the monotypic family), Western Rock Nuthatch, Common Rock Thrush, White-throated Dipper, and multiple exciting species from families such as shrikes, larks, warblers, flycatchers, wheatears, pipits, finches, and buntings. There are simply too many to list here so please read our detailed Bulgaria and Romania birding tour itinerary for a full range of target species.

Our winter Bulgaria birding tour covers the Black Sea coast, including Durankulak Lake IBA, Pomorie Lake IBA, and Kaliakra IBA, before visiting the stunning Vitosha Mountain National Park, which is also an IBA. On this tour we hope to discover huge numbers of the increasingly rare Red-breasted Goose along with other wildfowl such as Greater White-fronted Goose, Lesser White-fronted Goose, and White-headed Duck, plus Tundra (Bewick’s) Swan, Whooper Swan, and Smew. We also hope to find six woodpecker species, these being Middle Spotted Woodpecker, Lesser Spotted Woodpecker, Great Spotted Woodpecker, Black Woodpecker, European Green Woodpecker, and Grey-headed Woodpecker, plus raptors such as White-tailed Eagle, Long-legged Buzzard, Rough-legged Buzzard, and the globally threatened Dalmatian Pelican and Pygmy Cormorant. Passerines such as Spotted Nutcracker, Sombre Tit, Eurasian Penduline Tit, and Calandra Lark will also be targeted, again see the detailed itinerary for more target species.

There is obviously a vast array of amazing species in Bulgaria and we have listed some of the highlights above. Whichever of Bulgaria birding tours you decide to undertake you will get to enjoy the birds in Bulgaria along with the outstanding scenery, welcoming people, and fantastic local food the country has to offer. A visit to this fascinating country is always popular with tour leaders and clients alike and its extensive variety of avifauna is just one part of a truly brilliant part of Europe.