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Nepal Nepal Ramsar wetland

Gokyo Lakes

67 bird species recorded; the most in October.

JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec46at the peak
Species recorded in each month · tap a month

Vyacheslav Argenberg · CC BY 4.0

This month here

8 species in January.

The birds you are most likely to see in the month you choose, those that come for the season first. It opens on today's month.

Ruddy Shelduck
Ruddy ShelduckTadorna ferrugineaWinter visitorDavidvraju · CC BY-SA 4.0
Alpine Accentor
Alpine AccentorPrunella collarisWinter visitorUnknown author · CC BY-SA 3.0
Brown Dipper
Brown DipperCinclus pallasiiWinter visitorImran Shah from Islamabad, Pakistan · CC BY-SA 2.0
Bearded VultureNT
Bearded VultureGypaetus barbatusWinter visitorFrancesco Veronesi from Italy · CC BY-SA 2.0
Carpodacus rubicilloidesCarpodacus rubicilloidesWinter visitor
Tibetan Snowcock
Tibetan SnowcockTetraogallus tibetanusResidentMckaysavage on Flickr · CC BY 2.0
Robin Accentor
Robin AccentorPrunella rubeculoidesResidentFabrice Stoger · CC BY-SA 4.0
Himalayan Monal
Himalayan MonalLophophorus impejanusResidentAJIT HOTA · CC BY-SA 4.0
  • Resident all year
  • Summer visitor comes to breed
  • Winter visitor comes for the winter
  • Passage migrant in spring and autumn

In numbers

67 species, counted.

46out of 100

Our own rating, from the records only: species (50 points), threatened species (20), migrants (20) and protected status — Ramsar, IBA, SPA, observatory (10).

  • 67Speciesrecorded more than once
  • 34Migrantssummer, winter or passage visitors
  • 1ThreatenedVulnerable, Endangered or Critically Endangered (IUCN)
  • 793Recordsopen records within 6 km
  • 5,055 mAltitudeabove the sea
  • 7Raptors
  • 2Waders
  • 6Ducks & geese
  • 1Herons, ibises & grebes
  • 45Songbirds
  • 6Other birds

From open records (eBird and others, through GBIF, licensed for any use). More birdwatchers mean more records: a quiet place may have more birds than it shows.

The checklist

All 67 species.

By group, with the year in twelve cells: the darker the cell, the more often the bird is recorded that month.

Raptors7 species
JFMAMJJASOND
  • Gyps himalayensisGyps himalayensis
  • Common KestrelFalco tinnunculus
  • Bearded VultureGypaetus barbatusNT
  • Golden EagleAquila chrysaetos
  • Upland BuzzardButeo hemilasius
  • Steppe eagleAquila nipalensis
  • Peregrine FalconFalco peregrinus
Waders2 species
JFMAMJJASOND
  • Green SandpiperTringa ochropus
  • Solitary SnipeGallinago solitaria
Ducks & geese6 species
JFMAMJJASOND
  • Ruddy ShelduckTadorna ferruginea
  • GadwallMareca strepera
  • Bar-headed GooseAnser indicus
  • Northern PintailAnas acuta
  • Tufted DuckAythya fuligula
  • Baer's PochardAythya baeriCR
Herons, ibises & grebes1 species
JFMAMJJASOND
  • Great Crested GrebePodiceps cristatus
Songbirds45 species
JFMAMJJASOND
  • Alpine ChoughPyrrhocorax graculus
  • Robin AccentorPrunella rubeculoides
  • Alpine AccentorPrunella collaris
  • ChoughPyrrhocorax pyrrhocorax
  • Large-billed CrowCorvus macrorhynchos
  • Eurasian WrenTroglodytes troglodytes
  • Brown DipperCinclus pallasii
  • White-winged RedstartPhoenicurus erythrogastrus
  • Brandt’s Mountain FinchLeucosticte brandti
  • White-winged GrosbeakMycerobas carnipes
  • Spotted Great RosefinchCarpodacus rubicilla
  • Black RedstartPhoenicurus ochruros
  • Northern RavenCorvus corax
  • Plain Mountain-FinchLeucosticte nemoricola
  • Blue-fronted RedstartPhoenicurus frontalis
  • GrandalaGrandala coelicolor
  • Rufous-breasted AccentorPrunella strophiata
  • White WagtailMotacilla alba
  • Rosy PipitAnthus roseatus
  • White-throated DipperCinclus cinclus
  • Yellow-billed Blue MagpieUrocissa flavirostris
  • Long-tailed MinivetPericrocotus ethologus
  • Red-fronted RosefinchCarpodacus puniceus
  • Altai AccentorPrunella himalayana
  • Southern NutcrackerNucifraga hemispila
  • WallcreeperTichodroma muraria
  • White-capped Water-redstartChaimarrornis leucocephalus
  • Himalayan Beautiful RosefinchCarpodacus pulcherrimus
  • Carpodacus rubicilloidesCarpodacus rubicilloides
  • Northern NutcrackerNucifraga caryocatactes
  • Common RosefinchCarpodacus erythrinus
  • White-throated RedstartPhoenicurus schisticeps
  • Blue Whistling ThrushMyophonus caeruleus
  • Rufous-vented TitPeriparus rubidiventris
  • Grey WagtailMotacilla cinerea
  • Black-winged SnowfinchMontifringilla adamsi
  • Tickell's Leaf WarblerPhylloscopus affinis
  • Bronzed DrongoDicrurus aeneus
  • Spot-winged GrosbeakMycerobas melanozanthos
  • White-browed RosefinchCarpodacus thura
  • Eurasian Tree SparrowPasser montanus
  • Yellow-breasted GreenfinchChloris spinoides
  • Black-faced LaughingthrushTrochalopteron affine
  • Plumbeous Water RedstartPhoenicurus fuliginosus
  • Shore LarkEremophila alpestris
Other birds6 species
JFMAMJJASOND
  • Tibetan SnowcockTetraogallus tibetanus
  • Snow PigeonColumba leuconota
  • Himalayan MonalLophophorus impejanus
  • Eurasian HoopoeUpupa epops
  • Snow PartridgeLerwa lerwa
  • Blood PheasantIthaginis cruentus

Monthly presence relative to all bird records that month, so a busy month does not inflate every species.

When to go

The most species in October.

Species recorded in each month, with the usual temperature and rain.

  1. Jan8-6°/-19°4 mm
  2. Feb2-4°/-18°7 mm
  3. Mar42-1°/-14°11 mm
  4. Apr332°/-9°19 mm
  5. May356°/-5°46 mm
  6. Jun110°/-2°70 mm
  7. Jul110°/1°164 mm
  8. Aug49°/1°144 mm
  9. Sep158°/-1°76 mm
  10. Oct463°/-7°19 mm
  11. Nov310°/-12°2 mm
  12. Dec40-3°/-16°2 mm
  • Bar: species recorded that month.
  • Temperature: average maximum / minimum (NASA, 1991–2020).
  • Rain: monthly total.

The place

Gokyo Lakes.

Lake

Gokyo Lakes is a wetland of international importance (Ramsar) in Nepal, 5,055 m above the sea.

67 bird species have been recorded here more than once, in 793 open records.

The most recorded are the Alpine Chough, the Tibetan Snowcock and the Robin Accentor.

8 species come for the summer, 20 for the winter and 6 only pass through.

1 are threatened worldwide, including Baer's Pochard.

The most species are recorded in October.

Gokyo Lake, Arakamtse, Cholatse, Nepal, Himalayas
Vyacheslav Argenberg · CC BY 4.0

Get there and watch

Plan the visit

A guided walk, a bed nearby, a car.

Some links above are affiliate links: if you book through them we may earn a commission, at no extra cost to you. It never changes what the data on this page says.

From above

The place and its surroundings.

The satellite image of the 6 × 6 km around the place, with the bird hides, towers and trails that OpenStreetMap shows.

Gokyo Lakes seen from above (Sentinel-2)
Seen from above: Sentinel-2 cloudless 2016 (EOX, CC BY 4.0), 6 × 6 km, north up. Points © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Around, in OpenStreetMap

  • 2marked trails within 4 km
  • 12viewpoints within 5 kmरेंजो ला, Everest viewpoint, Gokyo Ri and 9 more
  • 1restaurants and cafés within 3 km
  • 3campsites within 10 km
  • 40places to stay within 10 kmCho-Oyu View Lodge, Gokyo Resort, Cho La Pass Resort and 37 more
  • bird hides within 6 km
  • observation towers within 6 km
  • visitor centres within 6 km
  • car parks within 3 km

Counted in OpenStreetMap, the map anyone can edit. A low number may just mean nobody has mapped it yet.

Photographs

The place, as people saw it.

Everest Gokyo Valley Trek
Trekking Planner Nepal · CC BY-SA 4.0
Gokyo Lakes, Dudh Pokhari 2, Nepal, Himalayas
Vyacheslav Argenberg · CC BY 4.0
Everest region gokyo lake
Saf.all · CC BY-SA 4.0

Other places nearby.

Gokyo Lakes

Nepal

  • 46Birdyas Score
  • 67Species
  • 34Migrants
  • 1Threatened

Koshi Tappu Wildlife Reserve

Nepal · 152 km

  • 92Birdyas Score
  • 425Species
  • 255Migrants
  • 10Threatened

See the guide

Gosaikunda

Nepal · 124 km

  • 68Birdyas Score
  • 215Species
  • 128Migrants
  • 1Threatened

See the guide

Bishazari Tal

Nepal · 223 km

  • 91Birdyas Score
  • 404Species
  • 186Migrants
  • 12Threatened

See the guide

Where these figures come from

Name and typeWikidata (Q135524) · CC0
Birds793 open bird records within 6 km (GBIF, CC0 and CC BY 4.0 only; mostly eBird, Cornell Lab of Ornithology)
See these recordsgbif.org
SpeciesGBIF Backbone Taxonomy · CC BY 4.0; Wikidata (CC0); Wikimedia Commons
AltitudeCopernicus DEM GLO-30 · © DLR e.V., © Airbus Defence and Space GmbH, Copernicus/ESA
Temperature and rainNASA POWER (CERES SYN1deg, 2001–2020; MERRA-2)
What is around© OpenStreetMap contributors · ODbL
ImagesEOX Sentinel-2 cloudless 2016 · CC BY 4.0; Wikimedia Commons
Sister atlasesPeakyas, Darkskyas

Every figure is an average, an estimate or a count from a public dataset. Licences and methods: data sources.

The family

Do you prefer beaches, lakes, mountains, waterfalls, islands, rivers, canyons, caves, dark skies, viewpoints, birdwatching or forests?

Same idea, other landscapes: field atlases built on open data, in seven languages.