Bach Ma National Park

Bach Ma National Park is located in Thua Thien Hue province in central Vietnam. The national park is characterised by mountainous topography and supports a range of habitat types, including lowland and lower montane evergreen forest. At lower elevations, the natural forest has been extensively cleared and replaced by scrub and grassland. Be warned: Bach Ma is one of the rainiest places in Vietnam!

Birding highlights : Annam Partridge, Silver Pheasant, Crested Argus, Red-collared Woodpecker, Red-vented Barbet, Brown Hornbill, Blyth’s Kingfisher, Coral-billed Ground Cuckoo and Short-tailed Scimitar Babbler

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Bird fauna : Around 330 bird species have been recorded at Bach Ma National Park. Most notable is a recent record of the globally endangered Edwards's Pheasant close to the park. However, extensive loss of forest at low elevations means that it is unlikely that the park itself supports a significant population of this species, and the chances of seeing this bird at there are virtually nil. There are, however, plenty of other galliforms to attract birders, including Annam Partridge, Rufous-throated Partridge and the beli subspecies of Silver Pheasant. Bach Ma is most famous for its population of Crested Argus, although this species is more often heard than seen. In addition, the abundant and diverse forest avifauna of Bach Ma provides visiting birders opportunities to observe many other birds, such as Blyth’s Kingfisher, Brown Hornbill, Ratchet-tailed Treepie and Short-tailed Scimitar Babbler.

Other features : Old French hill station, montane forest with rhododendrons.

Transportation : Car or motorbike. Bach Ma National Park is 40 km from Hue city, which can be reached by train, bus or scheduled flights from Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City. The park headquarters are located 3 km from Cau Hai town on National Highway 1A. It is easy to take a taxi or motorbike from Hue to the park headquarters, from where transport to the summit of Bach Ma, mountain 20 km away, can be arranged.

Accommodation :  Bach Ma National Park has six guesthouses. Two guesthouses, providing 10 rooms, are close to the park entrance, and four guesthouses (Bach Ma, Saola, Do Quyen and Kim Giao), with a total capacity of 26 rooms, are situated near the summit, at an altitude of 1,250 m asl.

The summit area also hosts some privately managed hotels (Morin-Bach Ma, Tel.: +84 54-871199; Cam Tu, Tel.: +84 54-871802; Phong Lan, Tel.: +84 54-871801). In addition, there is a small campsite near the summit of Bach Ma, which is particularly popular with groups of students.

Permission : Bach Ma is a well established tourism site. Entrance fees are charged and English-speaking guides can be hired.

Birding routes : Bach Ma offers a range of trails for visitors. Each trail takes less than one day and many small trails can be explored from the road to the summit. Visitors can get details from the park visitor centre.

Rhododendron Trail: begins at the summit road, about 2 km below the summit, and passes through montane forest to the top of a waterfall. From there, a steep path with 689 concrete steps leads to the bottom of the cliff, 300 m below. From the bottom, visitors can retrace their steps or continue to the Five Lakes Cascade Trail.

Pheasant Trail: starts 5 km from the park entrance and leads through lowland evergreen forest to a series of waterfalls. As the name suggests, several galliform species can be found along this trail, including, with a lot of luck, the elusive Crested Argus. Brown Hornbill and White-winged Magpie are among the other interesting species that can be seen along the Pheasant Trail as well as the rare Blyth’s Kingfisher on the river.

Good birding is also possible from the main road 2-3 km downhill from the park headquarters, past Khe Su village. This area, within the park’s buffer zone, is a known site for Annam Partridge. The surfaced road from the park headquarters to the summit can also yield many species, and the area around the summit guesthouses is particularly good for Long-tailed and Silver-breasted Broadbills, Sultan Tit and Short-tailed Scimitar Babbler.

Contact details : 

Department for Ecotourism / Visitor Centre, Bach Ma National Park,

Phu Loc district, Thua Thien Hue province

Tel.: +(84) 54 - 871 330; Fax: +(84) 54 - 871 329

Web: www.bachma.vnn.vn

Bird list (source: BirdLife International Vietnam Programme) : 

1 . Chinese Francolin

2 . Rufous-throated Partridge

3 . Bar-backed Partridge

4 . Annam Partridge*

5 . Red Junglefowl

6 . Silver Pheasant

7 . Edwards's Pheasant

8 . Siamese Fireback

9 . Grey Peacock Pheasant

10 . Crested Argus

11 . Green Peafowl

12 . Barred Buttonquail

13 . White-browed Piculet

14 . Grey-capped Pygmy Woodpecker

15 . Greater Yellownape

16 . Laced Woodpecker

17 . Red-collared Woodpecker

18 . Pale-headed Woodpecker

19 . Bay Woodpecker

20 . Red-vented Barbet

21 . Green-eared Barbet

22 . Black-browed Barbet

23 . Coppersmith Barbet

24 . Brown Hornbill

25 . Red-headed Trogon

26 . Dollarbird

27 . Blyth's Kingfisher

28 . Common Kingfisher

29 . Banded Kingfisher

30 . Stork-billed Kingfisher

31 . White-throated Kingfisher

32 . Black-capped Kingfisher

33 . Crested Kingfisher

34 . Pied Kingfisher

35 . Blue-throated Bee-eater

36 . Chestnut-headed Bee-eater

37 . Chestnut-winged Cuckoo

38 . Large Hawk Cuckoo

39 . Indian Cuckoo

40 . Eurasian Cuckoo

41 . Plaintive Cuckoo

42 . Asian Emerald Cuckoo

43 . Drongo Cuckoo

44 . Green-billed Malkoha

45 . Coral-billed Ground Cuckoo

46 . Greater Coucal

47 . Lesser Coucal

48 . Blossom-headed Parakeet

49 . Red-breasted Parakeet

50 . Germain's Swiftlet

51 . Silver-backed Needletail

52 . Brown-backed Needletail

53 . Asian Palm Swift

54 . Fork-tailed Swift

55 . House Swift

56 . Mountain Scops Owl

57 . Collared Scops Owl

58 . Collared Owlet

59 . Asian Barred Owlet

60 . Grey Nightjar

61 . Spotted Dove

62 . Red Collared Dove

63 . Barred Cuckoo Dove

64 . Emerald Dove

65 . Pink-necked Green Pigeon

66 . Orange-breasted Green Pigeon

67 . Pin-tailed Green Pigeon

68 . Yellow-vented Green Pigeon

69 . Wedge-tailed Green Pigeon

70 . White-bellied Green Pigeon

71 . Mountain Imperial Pigeon

72 . Slaty-legged Crake

73 . Slaty-breasted Rail

74 . White-breasted Waterhen

75 . Ruddy-breasted Crake

76 . Common Moorhen

77 . Pintail Snipe

78 . Common Snipe

79 . Common Greenshank

80 . Green Sandpiper

81 . Wood Sandpiper

82 . Common Sandpiper

83 . Pheasant-tailed Jacana

84 . Little Ringed Plover

85 . Grey-headed Lapwing

86 . Red-wattled Lapwing

87 . Whiskered Tern

88 . White-winged Tern

89 . Black Baza

90 . Oriental Honey-buzzard

91 . Grey-headed Fish Eagle

92 . Crested Serpent Eagle

93 . Crested Goshawk

94 . Besra

95 . Black Eagle

96 . Changeable Hawk Eagle

97 . Mountain Hawk Eagle

98 . Little Egret

99 . Intermediate Egret

100 . Cattle Egret

101 . Chinese Pond Heron

102 . Little Heron

103 . Yellow Bittern

104 . Von Schrenck's Bittern

105 . Cinnamon Bittern

106 . Black Bittern

107 . Blue-rumped Pitta

108 . Bar-bellied Pitta

109 . Long-tailed Broadbill

110 . Asian Fairy Bluebird

111 . Blue-winged Leafbird

112 . Orange-bellied Leafbird

113 . Brown Shrike

114 . Burmese Shrike

115 . Long-tailed Shrike

116 . White-winged Magpie

117 . Indochinese Green Magpie

118 . Racket-tailed Treepie

119 . Ratchet-tailed Treepie

120 . Large-billed Crow

121 . Large Cuckooshrike

122 . Black-winged Cuckooshrike

123 . Grey-chinned Minivet

124 . Scarlet Minivet

125 . Bar-winged Flycatcher-shrike

126 . White-throated Fantail

127 . Black Drongo

128 . Ashy Drongo

129 . Bronzed Drongo

130 . Lesser Racket-tailed Drongo

131 . Spangled Drongo

132 . Greater Racket-tailed Drongo

133 . Black-naped Monarch

134 . Asian Paradise-flycatcher

135 . Common Iora

136 . Great Iora

137 . Large Woodshrike

138 . White-throated Rock Thrush

139 . Blue Rock Thrush

140 . Blue Whistling Thrush

141 . Orange-headed Thrush

142 . Siberian Thrush

143 . Scaly Thrush

144 . Japanese Thrush

145 . Eurasian Blackbird

146 . Eyebrowed Thrush

147 . Grey-streaked Flycatcher

148 . Dark-sided Flycatcher

149 . Asian Brown Flycatcher

150 . Narcissus Flycatcher

151 . Mugimaki Flycatcher

152 . Red-throated Flycatcher

153 . White-gorgeted Flycatcher

154 . Snowy-browed Flycatcher

155 . Verditer Flycatcher

156 . White-tailed Flycatcher

157 . Hainan Blue Flycatcher

158 . Blue-throated Flycatcher

159 . Tickell's Blue Flycatcher

160 . Grey-headed Canary Flycatcher

161 . Siberian Rubythroat

162 . Bluethroat

163 . Siberian Blue Robin

164 . Orange-flanked Bush Robin

165 . Oriental Magpie Robin

166 . White-rumped Shama

167 . Slaty-backed Forktail

168 . Common Stonechat

169 . White-shouldered Starling

170 . Common Starling

171 . Black-collared Starling

172 . Crested Myna

173 . Hill Myna

174 . Velvet-fronted Nuthatch

175 . Sultan Tit

176 . Black-throated Tit

177 . Dusky Crag Martin

178 . Barn Swallow

179 . Striated Swallow

180 . Asian House Martin

181 . Black-crested Bulbul

182 . Red-whiskered Bulbul

183 . Light-vented Bulbul

184 . Sooty-headed Bulbul

185 . Stripe-throated Bulbul

186 . Puff-throated Bulbul

187 . Grey-eyed Bulbul

188 . Bright-headed Cisticola

189 . Grey-breasted Prinia

190 . Yellow-bellied Prinia

191 . Japanese White-eye

192 . Asian Stubtail

193 . Japanese Bush Warbler

194 . Lanceolated Warbler

195 . Oriental Reed Warbler

196 . Thick-billed Warbler

197 . Common Tailorbird

198 . Dark-necked Tailorbird

199 . Dusky Warbler

200 . Radde's Warbler

201 . Yellow-browed Warbler

202 . Arctic Warbler

203 . Greenish Warbler

204 . Pale-legged Leaf Warbler

205 . White-tailed Leaf Warbler

206 . Grey-cheeked Warbler

207 . Striated Grassbird

208 . Masked Laughingthrush

209 . White-crested Laughingthrush

210 . Lesser Necklaced Laughingthrush

211 . Black-throated Laughingthrush

212 . Abbott's Babbler

213 . Buff-breasted Babbler

214 . Scaly-crowned Babbler

215 . Large Scimitar Babbler

216 . White-browed Scimitar Babbler

217 . Short-tailed Scimitar Babbler

218 . Streaked Wren Babbler

219 . Golden Babbler

220 . Grey-throated Babbler

221 . Spot-necked Babbler

222 . Striped Tit Babbler

223 . Grey-faced Tit Babbler

224 . Chestnut-capped Babbler

225 . White-browed Shrike Babbler

226 . Rufous-throated Fulvetta

227 . Brown-cheeked Fulvetta

228 . Mountain Fulvetta

229 . Striated Yuhina

230 . White-bellied Yuhina

231 . Yellow-vented Flowerpecker

232 . Plain Flowerpecker

233 . Ruby-cheeked Sunbird

234 . Purple-naped Sunbird

235 . Olive-backed Sunbird

236 . Fork-tailed Sunbird

237 . Black-throated Sunbird

238 . Crimson Sunbird

239 . Little Spiderhunter

240 . Streaked Spiderhunter

241 . White Wagtail

242 . Yellow Wagtail

243 . Grey Wagtail

244 . Richard's Pipit

245 . Olive-backed Pipit

246 . Red-throated Pipit

247 . White-rumped Munia

248 . Scaly-breasted Munia

249 . Yellow-breasted Bunting