Nepal Ramsar wetland
Phoksundo Lake
62 bird species recorded; the most in December.
Mala Deep Upadhaya · CC BY-SA 4.0
This month here
0 species in January.0 species in February.0 species in March.17 species in April.0 species in May.25 species in June.18 species in July.0 species in August.6 species in September.33 species in October.0 species in November.39 species in December.
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.
No records for this month.
No records for this month.
No records for this month.
No records for this month.
No records for this month.
No records for this month.
- Resident all year
- Summer visitor comes to breed
- Winter visitor comes for the winter
- Passage migrant in spring and autumn
In numbers
62 species, counted.
Our own rating, from the records only: species (50 points), threatened species (20), migrants (20) and protected status — Ramsar, IBA, SPA, observatory (10).
- 62Speciesrecorded more than once
- 14Migrantssummer, winter or passage visitors
- 1ThreatenedVulnerable, Endangered or Critically Endangered (IUCN)
- 341Recordsopen records within 6 km
- 3,614 mAltitudeabove the sea
- 5Raptors
- 1Ducks & geese
- 50Songbirds
- 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 62 species.
By group, with the year in twelve cells: the darker the cell, the more often the bird is recorded that month.
Raptors5 species
JFMAMJJASOND
- Gyps himalayensisGyps himalayensis
- Bearded VultureGypaetus barbatusNT
- Eurasian Black VultureAegypius monachusNT
- Black KiteMilvus migrans
- Red-headed VultureSarcogyps calvusCR
Ducks & geese1 species
JFMAMJJASOND
- Bar-headed GooseAnser indicus
Songbirds50 species
JFMAMJJASOND
- Large-billed CrowCorvus macrorhynchos
- Eurasian Tree SparrowPasser montanus
- Rufous-vented TitPeriparus rubidiventris
- Rock BuntingEmberiza cia
- Common RosefinchCarpodacus erythrinus
- Northern RavenCorvus corax
- Coal TitPeriparus ater
- GoldcrestRegulus regulus
- White-browed RosefinchCarpodacus thura
- Yellow-breasted GreenfinchChloris spinoides
- White-capped Water-redstartChaimarrornis leucocephalus
- Robin AccentorPrunella rubeculoides
- Streaked LaughingthrushTrochalopteron lineatum
- Green-backed TitParus monticolus
- Tickell's Leaf WarblerPhylloscopus affinis
- Black-throated BushtitAegithalos concinnus
- Black BulbulHypsipetes leucocephalus
- Brown AccentorPrunella fulvescens
- Brown DipperCinclus pallasii
- Variegated LaughingthrushTrochalopteron variegatum
- Blue Whistling ThrushMyophonus caeruleus
- WallcreeperTichodroma muraria
- Himalayan BulbulPycnonotus leucogenys
- Greenish WarblerPhylloscopus trochiloides
- Himalayan Beautiful RosefinchCarpodacus pulcherrimus
- Eurasian WrenTroglodytes troglodytes
- Plumbeous Water RedstartPhoenicurus fuliginosus
- Alpine ChoughPyrrhocorax graculus
- Red-throated ThrushTurdus ruficollis
- White-crested LaughingthrushGarrulax leucolophus
- Striated LaughingthrushGarrulax striatus
- Plain Mountain-FinchLeucosticte nemoricola
- White-throated BushtitAegithalos niveogularis
- White-throated DipperCinclus cinclus
- Blue-fronted RedstartPhoenicurus frontalis
- Black RedstartPhoenicurus ochruros
- White-tailed RobinMyiomela leucura
- Red-billed Blue MagpieUrocissa erythroryncha
- White WagtailMotacilla alba
- Passer cinnamomeusPasser cinnamomeus
- Long-tailed MinivetPericrocotus ethologus
- Bar-tailed TreecreeperCerthia himalayana
- Rufous-naped TitPeriparus rufonuchalis
- White-collared BlackbirdTurdus albocinctus
- Grey-headed Canary-FlycatcherCulicicapa ceylonensis
- Grey-backed ShrikeLanius tephronotus
- Large-billed Leaf-warblerPhylloscopus magnirostris
- Himalayan BluetailTarsiger rufilatus
- Blue-capped RedstartPhoenicurus coeruleocephala
- White-browed WagtailMotacilla maderaspatensis
Other birds6 species
JFMAMJJASOND
- Hill PigeonColumba rupestris
- Oriental Turtle DoveStreptopelia orientalis
- Snow PigeonColumba leuconota
- Eastern Spotted DoveSpilopelia chinensis
- Chukar PartridgeAlectoris chukar
- Eurasian HoopoeUpupa epops
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 December.
Species recorded in each month, with the usual temperature and rain.
- Jan-5°/-17°21 mm
- Feb-4°/-16°30 mm
- Mar0°/-12°29 mm
- Apr4°/-7°30 mm
- May8°/-4°70 mm
- Jun12°/0°169 mm
- Jul12°/3°301 mm
- Aug12°/2°225 mm
- Sep10°/0°136 mm
- Oct5°/-6°41 mm
- Nov2°/-10°4 mm
- Dec-2°/-14°8 mm
- Bar: species recorded that month.
- Temperature: average maximum / minimum (NASA, 1991–2020).
- Rain: monthly total.
The place
Phoksundo Lake.
Lake in Dolpa District, Nepal
Phoksundo Lake is a wetland of international importance (Ramsar) in Nepal, 3,614 m above the sea.
62 bird species have been recorded here more than once, in 341 open records.
The most recorded are the Large-billed Crow, the Hill Pigeon and the Eurasian Tree Sparrow.
10 species come for the summer, 0 for the winter and 4 only pass through.
1 are threatened worldwide, including Red-headed Vulture.
The most species are recorded in December.
Get there and watch
- Shepherds Campcampsite · 2.3 km · 16 within 10 km
- New tourist Guesthouseplace to stay · 3.3 km · 13 within 10 km
- Pokhara Domestic Airport (PKR)nearest airport with scheduled flights · 150 km in a straight lineCar hire at KTM airport (Kathmandu)Discover Cars · sponsored link↗
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.
Around, in OpenStreetMap
- 1observation towers within 6 km
- 2marked trails within 4 kmUpper Dolpo Circuit, Jomsom to Dolpo
- 4viewpoints within 5 km
- 16campsites within 10 kmShepherds Camp, Ringmo, Lower Forest Camp and 13 more
- 13places to stay within 10 kmNew tourist Guesthouse, Shey Phoksundo Hotel view point, Mount Kailash Guesthouse and 10 more
- bird hides within 6 km
- visitor centres within 6 km
- car parks within 3 km
- restaurants and cafés within 3 km
Counted in OpenStreetMap, the map anyone can edit. A low number may just mean nobody has mapped it yet.
In our other atlases
Around Phoksundo Lake.
The lakes, beaches, islands, rivers and mountains around this place, and its night sky, in the family's atlases.
Darkskyas1 dark-sky places within 30 kmPhoksundo LakeBortle 2 · this place
Figures from the sister sites' databases (Wikidata, HydroATLAS, GeoNames, OpenStreetMap). Links open when each site is online.
Photographs
The place, as people saw it.
Other places nearby.
Phoksundo Lake
Nepal
- 41Birdyas Score
- 62Species
- 14Migrants
- 1Threatened
Where these figures come from
| Name and type | Wikidata (Q3215132) · CC0 |
|---|---|
| Birds | 341 open bird records within 6 km (GBIF, CC0 and CC BY 4.0 only; mostly eBird, Cornell Lab of Ornithology) |
| See these records | gbif.org |
| Species | GBIF Backbone Taxonomy · CC BY 4.0; Wikidata (CC0); Wikimedia Commons |
| Altitude | Copernicus DEM GLO-30 · © DLR e.V., © Airbus Defence and Space GmbH, Copernicus/ESA |
| Temperature and rain | NASA POWER (CERES SYN1deg, 2001–2020; MERRA-2) |
| What is around | © OpenStreetMap contributors · ODbL |
| Images | EOX Sentinel-2 cloudless 2016 · CC BY 4.0; Wikimedia Commons |
| Sister atlases | Lakeyas, 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.
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mountains
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Every island from the sea up: size, sea temperature, ferries and 3D.Visit 
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Every river from source to sea: the journey, the flow and the basin in numbers.Visit 
canyons
Every canyon cut to scale: depth to the floor, rim and floor temperatures, trails and viewpoints.Visit 
caves
Every cave with its real depth and length: the rock above, the temperature inside all year, and how to visit.Visit dark skies
Where the night is still dark: the sky of every place, the Milky Way month by month, the Moon, eclipses and auroras.Visit 
viewpoints
Every viewpoint with its real 360° panorama: the peaks you can name, how far you see and where the sun sets.Coming soonVisit 
birdwatching
Every bird sanctuary and wetland with the species recorded month by month: who is resident, who comes for the summer, who only passes through.You are here
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Every forest with its land-cover rings, what grows and lives in it, and the best months to walk it.Coming soonVisit