Plan

Where to go birding in October

Every destination is rated month by month, so you can travel when the birds are there. Pick a month, a continent or a habitat.

51 destinations rated good or best in October

Nepal Koshi Tappu Wildlife Reserve Floodplain grassland and the Koshi barrage: Nepal's best wetland birding and a Ramsar site.

JJanuary: Best
FFebruary: Best
MMarch: Good
AApril: Good
MMay: Poor or no data
JJune: Poor or no data
JJuly: Poor or no data
AAugust: Poor or no data
SSeptember: Poor or no data
OOctober: Good
NNovember: Best
DDecember: Best

South Africa Kruger National Park Classic safari birding with over 500 species and easy self-drive roads.

JJanuary: Best
FFebruary: Best
MMarch: Best
AApril: Good
MMay: Good
JJune: Good
JJuly: Good
AAugust: Good
SSeptember: Good
OOctober: Good
NNovember: Best
DDecember: Best

Kenya Lake Naivasha and the Rift Valley lakes Freshwater and soda lakes with fish eagles and, at times, flamingo flocks.

JJanuary: Best
FFebruary: Best
MMarch: Poor or no data
AApril: Poor or no data
MMay: Poor or no data
JJune: Best
JJuly: Best
AAugust: Best
SSeptember: Best
OOctober: Good
NNovember: Poor or no data
DDecember: Good

Australia Lamington National Park Subtropical rainforest with lyrebirds and bowerbirds at the lodges.

JJanuary: Poor or no data
FFebruary: Poor or no data
MMarch: Poor or no data
AApril: Poor or no data
MMay: Poor or no data
JJune: Poor or no data
JJuly: Poor or no data
AAugust: Good
SSeptember: Best
OOctober: Best
NNovember: Best
DDecember: Good

Australia Lord Howe Island A World Heritage island with a rescued endemic rail and seabird colonies.

JJanuary: Best
FFebruary: Best
MMarch: Best
AApril: Good
MMay: Poor or no data
JJune: Poor or no data
JJuly: Poor or no data
AAugust: Poor or no data
SSeptember: Poor or no data
OOctober: Good
NNovember: Best
DDecember: Best

Nepal Lumbini Crane Sanctuary Farmland and wetlands around the Buddha's birthplace, a stronghold of Nepal's Sarus Cranes.

JJanuary: Best
FFebruary: Best
MMarch: Best
AApril: Good
MMay: Poor or no data
JJune: Poor or no data
JJuly: Poor or no data
AAugust: Poor or no data
SSeptember: Poor or no data
OOctober: Good
NNovember: Best
DDecember: Best

Uganda Mabamba Swamp A papyrus swamp near Entebbe where Shoebills are searched for by canoe.

JJanuary: Best
FFebruary: Best
MMarch: Good
AApril: Good
MMay: Good
JJune: Best
JJuly: Best
AAugust: Best
SSeptember: Good
OOctober: Good
NNovember: Good
DDecember: Best

Madagascar Madagascar: Ranomafana and the spiny forest Ground rollers and mesites found nowhere else on Earth.

JJanuary: Good
FFebruary: Poor or no data
MMarch: Poor or no data
AApril: Poor or no data
MMay: Poor or no data
JJune: Poor or no data
JJuly: Poor or no data
AAugust: Good
SSeptember: Best
OOctober: Best
NNovember: Best
DDecember: Best

Peru Manu A single road from Andean grassland down to Amazon rainforest.

JJanuary: Poor or no data
FFebruary: Poor or no data
MMarch: Poor or no data
AApril: Good
MMay: Best
JJune: Best
JJuly: Best
AAugust: Best
SSeptember: Best
OOctober: Best
NNovember: Good
DDecember: Poor or no data

Ecuador Mindo Choco cloud forest two hours from Quito: hummingbirds and antpittas.

JJanuary: Good
FFebruary: Good
MMarch: Good
AApril: Good
MMay: Good
JJune: Best
JJuly: Best
AAugust: Best
SSeptember: Best
OOctober: Good
NNovember: Good
DDecember: Good

Botswana Okavango Delta An inland delta explored by boat and dugout for waterbirds and owls.

JJanuary: Good
FFebruary: Good
MMarch: Good
AApril: Poor or no data
MMay: Poor or no data
JJune: Best
JJuly: Best
AAugust: Best
SSeptember: Best
OOctober: Best
NNovember: Good
DDecember: Good

Brazil Pantanal The world's largest tropical wetland: macaws, storks and jaguars.

JJanuary: Poor or no data
FFebruary: Poor or no data
MMarch: Poor or no data
AApril: Poor or no data
MMay: Good
JJune: Good
JJuly: Best
AAugust: Best
SSeptember: Best
OOctober: Best
NNovember: Good
DDecember: Poor or no data

Chile Patagonia: Torres del Paine Wind-swept steppe and southern beech forest under granite towers.

JJanuary: Best
FFebruary: Best
MMarch: Good
AApril: Poor or no data
MMay: Poor or no data
JJune: Poor or no data
JJuly: Poor or no data
AAugust: Poor or no data
SSeptember: Poor or no data
OOctober: Good
NNovember: Best
DDecember: Best

Nepal Phulchoki Hill The highest hill around Kathmandu, with oak and rhododendron forest from Godavari to the 2,782 m summit.

JJanuary: Good
FFebruary: Good
MMarch: Best
AApril: Best
MMay: Best
JJune: Poor or no data
JJuly: Poor or no data
AAugust: Poor or no data
SSeptember: Poor or no data
OOctober: Good
NNovember: Good
DDecember: Good

Panama Pipeline Road (Soberanía National Park) A forest track near Panama City with antbirds and motmots.

JJanuary: Best
FFebruary: Best
MMarch: Best
AApril: Best
MMay: Poor or no data
JJune: Poor or no data
JJuly: Poor or no data
AAugust: Poor or no data
SSeptember: Poor or no data
OOctober: Good
NNovember: Good
DDecember: Good

China Rudong mudflats Vast Yellow Sea tidal flats: a critical stopover for the world's rarest shorebirds.

JJanuary: Poor or no data
FFebruary: Poor or no data
MMarch: Poor or no data
AApril: Best
MMay: Best
JJune: Poor or no data
JJuly: Poor or no data
AAugust: Good
SSeptember: Best
OOctober: Best
NNovember: Poor or no data
DDecember: Poor or no data

Nepal Sagarmatha National Park The Everest region: high-altitude birding on the trek from Namche Bazaar towards the highest mountain on Earth.

JJanuary: Poor or no data
FFebruary: Poor or no data
MMarch: Poor or no data
AApril: Best
MMay: Best
JJune: Poor or no data
JJuly: Poor or no data
AAugust: Poor or no data
SSeptember: Poor or no data
OOctober: Good
NNovember: Good
DDecember: Poor or no data

Nepal Shivapuri Nagarjun National Park Forested hills on Kathmandu's northern rim: an easy day out for Nepal's only endemic, the Spiny Babbler.

JJanuary: Good
FFebruary: Good
MMarch: Best
AApril: Best
MMay: Best
JJune: Poor or no data
JJuly: Poor or no data
AAugust: Poor or no data
SSeptember: Poor or no data
OOctober: Good
NNovember: Good
DDecember: Good

Antarctica Snow Hill Island An Emperor Penguin colony reached by icebreaker and helicopter.

JJanuary: Poor or no data
FFebruary: Poor or no data
MMarch: Poor or no data
AApril: Poor or no data
MMay: Poor or no data
JJune: Poor or no data
JJuly: Poor or no data
AAugust: Poor or no data
SSeptember: Poor or no data
OOctober: Best
NNovember: Best
DDecember: Good

South Georgia South Georgia Beaches packed with King Penguins and breeding albatrosses.

JJanuary: Best
FFebruary: Best
MMarch: Good
AApril: Poor or no data
MMay: Poor or no data
JJune: Poor or no data
JJuly: Poor or no data
AAugust: Poor or no data
SSeptember: Poor or no data
OOctober: Good
NNovember: Best
DDecember: Best

New Zealand Stewart Island (Rakiura) Forest, beaches and predator-free Ulva Island with confiding endemics.

JJanuary: Best
FFebruary: Best
MMarch: Best
AApril: Good
MMay: Poor or no data
JJune: Poor or no data
JJuly: Poor or no data
AAugust: Poor or no data
SSeptember: Poor or no data
OOctober: Good
NNovember: Best
DDecember: Best

Peru Tambopata Amazon lodges beside the world's biggest macaw clay licks.

JJanuary: Poor or no data
FFebruary: Poor or no data
MMarch: Poor or no data
AApril: Good
MMay: Best
JJune: Best
JJuly: Best
AAugust: Best
SSeptember: Best
OOctober: Best
NNovember: Good
DDecember: Poor or no data

Papua New Guinea Tari Valley Highland forests with some of the most spectacular birds-of-paradise.

JJanuary: Poor or no data
FFebruary: Poor or no data
MMarch: Poor or no data
AApril: Poor or no data
MMay: Good
JJune: Best
JJuly: Best
AAugust: Best
SSeptember: Best
OOctober: Good
NNovember: Poor or no data
DDecember: Poor or no data

Spain Tarifa and the Strait of Gibraltar Europe's busiest crossing point for storks and raptors heading to Africa.

JJanuary: Poor or no data
FFebruary: Poor or no data
MMarch: Good
AApril: Good
MMay: Good
JJune: Poor or no data
JJuly: Poor or no data
AAugust: Best
SSeptember: Best
OOctober: Best
NNovember: Poor or no data
DDecember: Poor or no data