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DALAT PLATEAU

VIETNAM
LOCALE

Altitude (m):1400-2167
# Species:306
# Excl Vagrants:306
# Endemics:4
# Near Endemics:3
Habitat: Lowland and montane evergreen forest, lake

ABOUT THE BIRDING

Dalat Plateau is an endemic bird area recognized by BirdLife International, one of five in Vietnam. There are three main birding locales near the resort town of Dalat, namely Lang Bian Mountain, Ta Nung Valley, and the man-made lake Ho Tuyen Lam. Mount Lang Bian is 12km from the town of Dalat. The mountain is rather heavily developed for tourism, but a trail leading up through evergreen forest is very good for birding. This is the place to look for one of Vietnam's trickiest target birds, the beautiful endemic Collared Laughingthrush. Other important birds to be found along the trail include Yellow-billed Nuthatch, Green Cochoa, Black-crowned Fulvetta, Vietnamese Cutia, White-cheeked Laughingthrush, Black-throated Sunbird, and Vietnamese Greenfinch. Near the top one can find the larger-billed subspecies of Red Crossbill, a likely future split. Ta Nung Valley is 15km from Dalat is a very birdy site but is now affected by the recent construction of a new resort hotel. Despite that, it's still a good birding site and the best place to look for Gray-crowned Crocias. Other good birds include Indochinese Green-Magpie, Gray-headed Parrotbill, Black-headed Parrotbill, Black-hooded Laughingthrush, the always difficult Orange-breasted Laughingthrush, White-cheeked Laughingthrush, Rufous-backed Sibia, and Blue-winged Minla. Ho Tuy Lam is located 3km from Dalat. A boat is needed to reach the remnant evergreen forest at the far end of the lake, where some trails through remnant forest are good for birding but difficult to follow without a guide. Among the many species there are Indochinese Cuckooshrike, Burmese Shrike, Slender-billed Oriole, Eurasian Jay, Green-backed Tit, and Vietnamese Greenfinch.

LOCATION OF SITE

Dalat is located about 3 hours drive northeast from Cat Tien National Park, about 300km from Ho Chi Minh City.