Plan

Where to go birding in December

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

47 destinations rated good or best in December

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

Australia Macquarie Island A windswept ridge in the Southern Ocean with millions of penguins.

JJanuary: Best
FFebruary: Best
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: Poor or no data
NNovember: Best
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

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

New Zealand New Zealand subantarctic islands Auckland and Campbell Islands: albatross nests among megaherbs.

JJanuary: Best
FFebruary: Best
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: Poor or no data
NNovember: Good
DDecember: Best

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

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

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

Nepal Shuklaphanta National Park Vast 'phanta' grasslands in the far west, one of South Asia's best sites for grassland specialities.

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: Poor or no data
NNovember: Good
DDecember: Good

Colombia Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta An isolated coastal massif with more than 20 endemic birds.

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

Sri Lanka Sinharaja Forest Reserve Rainforest home to most of Sri Lanka's endemic birds and famous mixed flocks.

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

Australia Tasmania An island state with 12 endemic birds and wild southern landscapes.

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: Good
OOctober: Best
NNovember: Best
DDecember: Best

India Thattekad Bird Sanctuary Lowland forest in the Western Ghats with frogmouths and endemic flycatchers.

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: Poor or no data
NNovember: Good
DDecember: Best

St Helena, Ascension and Tristan da Cunha Tristan da Cunha and Gough Island The world's most remote inhabited island with endemic land birds and seabirds.

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: Poor or no data
NNovember: Good
DDecember: Best

Netherlands Wadden Sea A vast tidal sea shared by three countries: millions of shorebirds on passage.

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