Photos with this report (click to enlarge) | |||
 Andaman Wood-Pigeon |
 White-breasted Wood-Swallow |
 Andaman Hawk-Owl |
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 Black-browed Reed-Warbler |
 Oriental Reed-Warbler |
 Violet Cuckoo |
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Introduction
Andamans was high in our birding list of destinations, except perhaps for Vinay who did almost all (except 3) of the endemics in a previous trip. However, the trip itself was not planned until Rajneesh Suvarna from Wayfarer proposed a 3d itinerary to cover all the Andaman endemics. We decided to take a go and see what is possible - in a, what was dubbed as a, 'tick-n-run' trip.
For someone preparing for an island trip, one should understand that Andamans and Nicobars are two different entities - and has got disjoint avifauna. Permits to Nicobars are difficult even for Indian nationals - hence, this region is typically out of birding limits for most of us. Last frontier in these isles is the Narcondam Is, which is beyond limits for almost everyone.
Strategy
With the time-crunch in a short trip, we clearly prioritized our target list - giving highest preference to Andaman endemics (20nos) and Island specialities (12nos). Mainland rarities, which might be relatively easier in Andamans, were the next in the list. List of Andaman endemic races were also created - to ensure the variations in common birds are not missed (Target list). Vinay was particular to check if Vikram Sheel (Ph. 94342 62681, Email: natureland@rediffmail.com) will be our guide - according to him, is the only way we can get all the Owls in good time - which all of us fully endorse after our trip. Uncertainties with Kingfisher (airlines) made us reconsider one more day for transit, providing another morning birding session; in retrospect was a good decision.
Birding in Andamans was fully planned by Vikram; we intervened at times to make sure he understands our priorities. The 'perceived' most difficult bird was the Andaman Crake, he had reserved sessions on all the four days for this species (though we did not utilise all of them). Three nights gave us one night for the 'easier' Owls at Chidiya Tapu and two full nights for the Andaman Masked Owl at Port Blair. Apart from that, all the forest endemics were equally likely in Chidiya Tapu, Mt Harriet, Havelock or Jirkatang - hence, success is based on the number of good birding hours spent in these forests. Two species which are out-of-the-way were Pied Imperial-Pigeon at Ross Is and White-breasted Wood-Swallow at Havelock Is - so single-shot boat trips were specifically planned on day 1 and day 3 respectively. Andaman Teal is the easiest of the endemics where an afternoon quick drive to Ograbraj from Mt. Harriet on day 2 was considered; where time was also ear-marked for skulking Acro warblers. On day 4, Vikram had also planned a visit to Sippy Ghat to catch some waders like Long-toed Stint (but we dropped it). Vikram did not have confidence on the Andaman Nightjar and hence that bird was not attempted. Beach Thick-knee was only possible in some parts of Marine NP which require additional permission and hence was dropped. White-faced Plover has not been seen recently and no favourite spots which were worth trying.
Schedule
Onward Flights
Bangalore-Chennai: Spice Jet @ 2150hrs, 22/03 to Chennai with overnight stay at Chennai
Chennai-Port Blair: Air India @ 0555hrs, 23/03 from Chennai reaching Port Blair at 0810hrs
Return Flights
Port Blair-Chennai: Jet Connect @ 1255hrs, 26/03 to Chennai
Chennai-Bangalore: Jan Shatabdi @ 1730hrs, 26/03 reaching BLR at 2200hrs
Day 1: 1200hrs - 1500hrs @ Ross Is
Enroute birding around Bidnabad
1745hrs – 1945hrs @ Chidyatapu (Owling)
Day 2: 0800hrs – 1130hrs @ Mt. Harriet NP
Enroute birding at places Mithakhari, Namunaghar and Ograbraj
1600hrs – 1800hrs @ Mt Harriet NP
1900hrs – 2000hrs @ Port Blair (Owling)
Day 3: 0530hrs – 0545hrs @ Andaman Cellular Jail
0600hrs - 0830hrs @ Boat to Havelock Is
0830hrs - 1430hrs @ Havelock Is @ Kalapathar, Elephant beach and Radhanagar beach
1530hrs - 1800hrs @ Boat back to PB
1800hrs - 2130hrs @ Port Blair (Owling)
Day 4: 0600hrs – 1030hrs @ Kadakachan, Ferrargunj, Bichdera, Andaman Trunk Road (to Jirkatang)
Highlights
o Excellent views of Andaman Wood-Pigeon.
o Multiple sightings of Andaman Woodpecker, Andaman Treepie and more commonly Andaman Bulbul.
o Good views of all four forest owls (Andaman Scops, Oriental Scops, Hume's Hawk & Andaman Hawk) on the same night.
o Average to poor views (totally 4) of Andaman Crake - but not a single sighting where all of us saw the bird together.
o Great views of Mangrove Whistler in Ross Is - up in a tree.
o A confiding Blue-eared Kingfisher in a pond in Ross Is.
o Chinese Pond Heron in breeding plumage near Ograbraj.
o Single White-breasted Woodswallow.
o A juvenile Violet Cuckoo.
o Ashy Minivets at Ross Is and Bamboo flat.
o Oriental Reed Warblers & Black-browed Reed Warblers in the same marsh.
o Overall 80% of the endemics (16 of 20), 75% of the targeted Island specialities (9 of 12).
o Nearly 80% of all the endemic races.
Lowlights
o Andaman Masked Owl - not even calls despite two night searches.
o Andaman Serpent-Eagle dips despite 3d searching.
o Andaman Cuckoo-Shrike dips despite 3d searching.
o Pied Imperial-Pigeon dip at Ross Is.
o No attempts targeted to get Andaman Nightjar, Beach Thick-knee or White-faced Plover - so these are not really dips.
Day 1: Ross Is & Chidiya Tapu
Like all visiting birders, we got our first target species from the airport itself as several Glossy Swiftlets were seen hawking insects near the parking lot. We were picked up by Gopal, our driver for the rest of the trip, and dropped at Hotel Abhishek in Port Blair. A budget hotel, probably okay for birders who spend 80% of the time in the field rather than sleeping - and does not mind dead cockroaches or bed bugs! Next three hours were the most frustrating period of our trip as we waited for the transport to pick us up and drop at the ferry for the much needed first hour birding at Andamans. Rajneesh was not reachable for ages as he was photographing with Vikram elsewhere, and it was not until 1200hrs that we were on the boat to Ross Is, just 10min from the PB harbour. The greatest sin to hard-core birders is to make them wait in a town while the forests elsewhere are brimming with birdlife - and we would expect every tour operator to know this simple basic fact. We killed our time by hunting for birds around the hotel, looking closely at the local races of Red-whiskered Bulbul, Oriental Magpie-Robin and Eastern Jungle-Crow. Two good birds that offered us views were Olive-backed Sunbird and Collared Kingfisher. Three Andaman Flowerpeckers visited a tall leafy tree giving us average views. We never managed to see the Andaman Coucal that kept calling from the well-wooded grove opposite to the hotel. Finally, we were picked up from the hotel and dropped at the ferry point towards Ross Is – which is just about 10min by boat.
Just as the ferry landed on Ross Is, we got our first views of a Pacific Swallow as the bird landed on the ground. Vikram was quite confident of showing us the Pied Imperial-Pigeons (PIP) near the cemetery - which he could not! Reading up after the trip, it is clear that the PIPs make long trips across the island-groups and disperse widely during the day. His past few sightings were probably when the trees were fruiting in Ross Is. However, the time was well-spent at Ross Is as we quickly picked up a flock of Ashy Minivets, a single, confiding and singing Mangrove Whistler, and three Andaman Green-Pigeons apart from other common woodland birds. While returning after a failed search for the PIP, a small kingfisher caught our attention and we realised this was the rufigastra race of Blue-eared Kingfisher. The bird gave excellent scope views and was also shown to a few passers-by. At 1500hrs, we boarded the ferry back to PB, had our lunch and by 1545hrs, were on our way to Chidiya Tapu for evening birding.
First day in any place would mean we will stop at every possible birding spot on the route and hence, we never reached Chidiya Tapu before darkness! Just as we exited PB, the electric wires had Philippine Shrikes and a flock of Lesser Whistling-Ducks were seen in a wetland. One of the first stops was the mudflats at Bidna close to the sea where two dark and two light morphs of Pacific Reef-Egrets were seen. Pacific Golden-Plovers and Lesser Sand-Plovers, far out, gave us some hard time giving nonsensical views in bright light - turning themselves into rarities! A Whimbrel was also present among the waders. The next stop on the way was a little further from Bidna and produced half a dozen of Common Snipes, a glance at a Ruddy-breasted Crake, a non-breeding (or female) Watercock, White-breasted Waterhens and Yellow Bittern.
At 1745hrs, we reached Chidiya Tapu, and the whole place was teeming with bird activity - made us wish we had arrived at least one hour earlier. An Andaman Drongo game a fleeting glimpse in bad light and another Andaman Green-Pigeon was recorded. Long-tailed Parakeets, Andaman Shama, Andaman Coucal and Andaman Woodpecker could be heard - but light was too poor to search for them. We waited till dark and then listened to the calls of Andaman Scops-Owl - considered to be the more difficult of the 'easier' Andaman owls. The bird responded to the playback, and was soon flying across the road to a perch right above us. Vikram's torch gave us excellent views of this bird for about half a minute from two perches before it disappeared.
The next halt was a few kms ahead in an open area with some habitation. The well-known site of Andaman Hawk-Owl did not produce it but Hume's Hawk-Owl was calling continuously - the poop-poop-poop-poop call no different from the mainland Brown Hawk-Owl. We gave up Andaman Hawk and searched for Hume's Hawk in the open fields - but except for a fleeting glimpse that Vikram got, nothing much was seen of it. We drove a little further ahead and then got one calling Hume's Hawk-Owl in an excellent perch on top of an electric pole - for minutes on. Sachin was able to scope it down giving great views. While walking back on this path, we started hearing the Andaman Hawk-Owl, which responded to the playback and was spotted by Vikram's excellent eyes very near to the road. The bird gave very satisfying views in various angles including enough time for digiscoping. While returning back to the vehicle, another low-toned mewing call was recorded from a roadside tree which Vikram suggested as one of the calls of the modesta race of Oriental Scops-Owl – his theory was that since the larger Hume's Hawk-Owl is calling, the smaller Scops-Owl does not make it usual two noted croaking call and resorts to only this mewing. After a frantic search on this tree which almost got Vikram desperate, the ventriloquist was spotted and the bird stayed put until all of us saw it very well. Four species of Owls within a matter of two hours in the same night is too much to ask for. The owling skills of Vikram were demonstrated on the first day itself. This site also happens to be one of the places where the Andaman Nightjar was heard before - however, no bird responded to the playback which Vikram played half-heartedly. At 1945hrs, we decided to return back to our hotel for dinner and much needed sleep.
Day 2: Mt. Harriet and Ograbraj
After a fairly dismal first day with diurnal forest endemics, lines were laid to clean-up the entire list (14 remaining) on the 2nd day at Mt. Harriet! We took the 6AM ferry (due to some incomprehensible reason, Vikram did not book us on the 5AM ferry!) and the first bird at the ferry point were two Black-naped Terns, the birds gave fairly decent views as they looped and dived multiple times for food. After reaching Bamboo flat, we decided to have a quickie breakfast but Vijay, who decided to skip it, did some birding around, calling out interesting birds whenever he got them – which included two pairs of Andaman Coucals, a roosting Hume’s Hawk-Owl, and a flock of Ashy Minivets. After that, we drove to Mt. Harriet and on the way saw a Common Kingfisher on the wire, Glossy Swiftlets and a pair of White-headed Starlings at Hope town, before we got down from the vehicle - a few hundred meters before the forest check post. The habitat was similar to Chidiya Tapu, open and degraded, with reasonable bird activity including Small and Scarlet Minivets, Green Imperial-Pigeons, Andaman Drongos, Greater Racket-tailed Drongos, Long-tailed Parakeets and Black-naped Orioles. Had we reached this spot an hour earlier, we believe the activity would have been much more intense. After taking permits from the check post, we walked further into the national park and habitat seems to get thick and visibility reduced – we quickly added Andaman Bulbul which was high on Vinay’s list, Asian Fairy Blue-bird, Black-naped Monarch, more Andaman & Greater Racket-tailed Drongos and several Green Imperial-Pigeons. Being an island rain-forest, the diversity one should expect in this habitat should be much less compared to what you could get in NE India or even Western Ghats in similar biotope. As we walked slightly higher up, Andaman Shamas started calling and we started with brief half-views followed by excellent views of another individual. Andaman Woodpeckers kept calling but never came anywhere close to vision. We were slowly entering the territory of Andaman Crakes and all senses started focussing only on this species.
Presence of such an enigmatic, tough-to-see species like Andaman Crake brings in so much additional focus and intensity into the search that regular birding gets really hit. Though we heard its call multiple times, we did not get a view of the same despite visiting all regular spots. Meanwhile, we added Forest Wagtail, a nesting (?) pair of Freckle-breasted Woodpecker and another pair further ahead, a few Andaman Flowerpeckers, many more Andaman Bulbuls, Olive-backed Sunbirds and a glimpse of a Serpent-Eagle. We were closing towards the summit of the Mt. Harriet when Sachin got the first sighting of the mystic Andaman Crake – which he managed to show only to Vijay who also had a fleeting glimpse, while rest of us kept looking at their faces questioning “Where? Where? After reaching hilltop we had some rest and masala tea, and Vikram showed us all those trees where Andaman Wood-Pigeon and Andaman Cuckoo-Doves were seen resting a month back! While sipping or tea, a Jungle Crow like bird which soared far above the forests showed a prominent white patch on flight and was later realised to be an Oriental Broad-billed Roller. A small commotion in the undergrowth took us to the edge of a slide where we saw two Andaman Treepies along with a few Greater Racket-tailed Drongos. Views were average – but sufficient to identify the bird.
Though we were far from a total clean-up, we decided to catch lunch and visit Ograbraj for Andaman Teal as Harriet gets dull during mid-day hours. However, on the way down – Vikram decided to try his luck with Andaman Woodpecker, a bird was calling quite close-by and later we found they were a pair. Views were brief but excellent and both birds showed well. We left Harriet, visited the spot where Glossy Swiftlets were breeding, then had our lunch at Bamboo flat and drove towards Ograbraj. We passed through a portion of the mangrove wetland at Stewartgunj, which has been devastated by 2005 tsunami - we got a Brown Shrike (nominate race), Stork-billed Kingfisher and a few waders like Pacific Golden-Plover, Lesser Sand-Plover, Whimbrel etc. The next stop on the way was at Kadakkachang where we already got a large flock of Andaman Teals (93 no), so far been the easiest of the endemics.
As we continued our journey towards Ograbraj, we scared the driver after seeing a Pond-Heron in a wetland called Mithakhari – when the whole car cried out “Chinese Pond-Heron!” – The spectacular bird was in its breeding dress giving us a wonderful opportunity to study its plumage. Were the Pond-Herons in non-breeding plumage closer-by also the same species? We will never know! Pacific Golden-Plovers never failed to confuse us with plumages, a few minutes was spent in sorting out one of them.
We proceeded further towards Ograbraj, where the teals were seen more closely along with a few Common Moorhens and Purple Swamphens. A hundred meters away was the spot for Acro-Warblers – starting with a Dusky Warbler, it was here we got decent views of two Black-browed Reed-Warblers; scoped out at least two different Oriental Reed-Warblers that showed varying amount of streaks on the underside and white tips to tail, while one of the birds climbed up a tree and gave us warbler-neck. Rajneesh was meanwhile shooting a Ballion’s Crake, which none of us saw – but there were both Yellow and Cinnamon Bitterns in the wetland and one of the Bitterns almost landed on top of Rajneesh while he was busy photographing the Crake.
Suddenly the afternoon has lighted up with a few unexpected birds and an easy endemic, we returned to Harriet for the Crake via a different route. A brief stop at one of the open areas overlooking the forests at Namunaghar gave us an Andaman Cuckoo-Dove which flew from one forest patch, crossed the road and dropped into the forest on the other side. We would have of course liked to see this species on perch, but had to be contended with views in flight. After arriving back at Harriet, no time was spend at the base – but proceeded directly to the spots where Andaman Crake sightings have been in the past. Birds did call intermittently as all of us strained our eyes into the undergrowth, spreading ourselves across various points in the road. The whole evening was spent looking for this one bird until we ran out of light for the day.
Plan for the night was to try the Andaman Masked-Owl inside PB town. Preparations were intense, the call back is using a recording made from the same place, but the faint recording needed a special speaker to amplify. The whole area is infested with mosquitos seemingly – and repellents were distributed. We spend about 90min at this spot, waiting for it to call or fly – some of the ghost-like trees we kept peering into are still embedded in our minds, but this silent ghost was not to appear that night. We closed a very productive day with a beer and heavy dinner – next day starts with an early morning visit to Andaman Cellular Jail!
Day 3 – Havelock Is
The day was expected to be a more relaxed with a total of 5hrs to be spent in the boat. We had a clear list of target species which included of course the Andaman Crake followed by Andaman Wood-Pigeon, Andaman Serpent-Eagle and Andaman Cuckoo-Shrike. The only special target at Havelock Is was the White-breasted Woodswallow, which was considered very easy there but is absent elsewhere in south Andamans. We started off with a dawn-dash to the Andaman Cellular Jail to catch up with the Edible Nest-Swiftlets which we would have missed otherwise due to lack of time - we saw about 30 of them in total. Though no Glossy Swiftlets were around to compare and reflect, the features were sufficiently well-studied to appreciate the differences and the photographers managed to capture a few on lens. From the prison, we quickly hit the ferry point and took the 2.5 hrs. boat ride to Havelock - through a seemingly calm but boring sea - the only action were a few flying fishes (which sometimes seemed like Storm-petrels), a few dolphins far away which Vikram managed to see and a pair of Great Crested Terns on floating debris close to Havelock. At the Havelock harbour, a pair of Black-naped Terns was observed and so was a Pacific Swallow amidst Glossy Swiftlets.
After a quick breakfast, we had our vehicle waiting to take us through the forest habitats in the island - our first stop was at Kalapathar beach where the tall evergreen forests adjoined a calm beach- a small hunting flock which included Small & Scarlet Minivets, Andaman & Greater Racket-tailed Drongos, Chestnut-headed Bee-eaters, Vernal Hanging Parrots, Freckle-breasted Woodpeckers, Large Cuckoo-Shrikes, Black-naped Orioles and Asian Fairy Bluebird welcomed us. We also had Green Imperial-Pigeons & Emerald Dove fly across the road. A raptor flew over the trees and we were quickly following it on the jeep - Vinay spotted the perched bird and it turned out to be the davisoni race of Crested Serpent-Eagle. At the same spot, Vinay also spotted a Forest Wagtail close to the road. Our next stop on the same route was the Andaman Crake area, where we searched relentless for the elusive bird - and finally, one bird crossed our forest pathway giving a two second view to three of us who were in the front. Later at the same spot, a bird kept calling and approached via a streamlet only to run behind the clumps after seeing us - a second sighting which another three of us saw (!), that got all of us cleared off the Crake! So desperate and intense were these Crake-searches that we were more than happy to take it off our mind. Minutes after this sighting were also quite interesting as we got a close Andaman Woodpecker and Andaman Bulbuls while Vikram kept searching for the Wood-Pigeons among the Imperial-Pigeons.
Time was getting tight and Praveen pressed on Vikram to hit the Woodswallow spot on the Radhanagar beach road. Our first spot on the route turned blank but we spent our time watching a female Siberian Stonechat and numerous Yellow Wagtails in breeding plumage which we tentatively id-ed as beema/simillima subspecies - which meant it could have been either Western or Eastern! The missing Wood-Swallow gave us some concern which became real as the second sure spot only gave us a single Red-rumped Swallow. Now, we were pressing hard for this one species, forgetting all other target species - had we not got this bird in its favourite spot not far from Radhanagar beach while returning, this would have been a real dip for our entire trip and the 5hrs spent on the boat would have been a horrendous waste of birding hours. But one White-breasted Woodswallow offered us more than enough time to watch in all angles while it sat on the electric wire before it flew off further away from the main road - Vijay & Praveen sighed with great relief!
Remaining part of the day was spent around Elephant beach, where Vikram kept searching for the Wood-Pigeon. Numerous Red-breasted and Long-tailed Parakeets were noted around this area apart from a lot of Green Imperial-Pigeons, Philippine Shrikes, Large Cuckoo-Shrikes, Red-whiskered Bulbuls, Black-naped Monarch etc. We returned back by 15:30 ferry (which actually started at 1600hrs) to reach PB and without losing further time, headed directly to the Andaman Masked Owl spot.
We were probably not destined to see the Owl in this trip – after spending a good 3hrs at the spot and later searching possible spots in the city till 10PM - we never heard even a single call. A day with mixed feelings, which started very early and ended very later with some good sleep in the boat - and one of the ghosts, the Crake, off our mind.
Day 4 – Andaman Trunk Road (Ferrargunj to Jirkatang stretch)
Targets for the day were the three missing forest endemics – Andaman Wood-Pigeon, Andaman Serpent-Eagle and Andaman Cuckoo-Shrike. Forests of Jirkatang is quite near to Bamboo flat where we reached by 0510hrs. After breakfast, we drove along the marshy tsunami hit areas where we saw our first Striated Heron for the trip followed by Dusky warbler, Marsh Sandpiper and a flock of Andaman Teals. Since wetlands were not in our last day agenda, we drove further to the Jirkatang road where we parked our vehicle and birded along the road.
Birdlife was quite packed here - White-headed & Asian Glossy Starlings, Andaman & Greater Racket-tailed Drongos, Andaman Bulbuls, Long-tailed Parakeets, Large Cuckoo-Shrikes, Black-naped Orioles – Andaman Woodpeckers were seen flying across the road, Freckle-breasted Woodpeckers, Andaman Coucals were also noted. Vikram started checking for every Imperial-Pigeon and soon spotted the Andaman Wood-Pigeon that gave great views in good light conditions - later we saw several individuals that gave views of varying degrees and it became apparent that even a good flight view is sufficient to pick it from the similar Imperial-Pigeons. Two Andaman Treepies along with Andaman Coucals gave some great views from the road side - we were surprised by the apparent shyness of this Treepie which was quite unlike its mainland congeners. An Andaman Cuckoo-Dove was calling not far away and we got a glimpse of the bird as it flew across the road. A calling Indian Cuckoo gave us a fantastic scope views from the road side. A vocal Changeable Hawk-Eagle showed up and perched on a tall tree next to a habitation. Vikram was trying hard for the Andaman Serpent-Eagle, which seemingly has decided to elude us. After a while, Vikram called out Violet Cuckoo and the bird encouraged some discussion. The bird was a juvenile - confusion with similar Emerald Cuckoo quite evident, however barred white throat, rufous crown, uniform dark bill together with more well-spaced bars and lack of green sheen on the barred upper wings sealed the id as a Violet Cuckoo. The same spot also gave us a solitary Oriental Broad-billed Roller. A little further, a mixed flock of Andaman Green and Green Imperial-Pigeons were noted in a fruiting tree along with a few Vernal Hanging-Parrots. It was nearing 1000hrs, and we had to get back to the hotel and get ready for the flight - we drove back, stopping at random points where Vikram felt we should check the Serpent-Eagle. We added a Brown-backed Needletail during such stops - and a flock of Cattle Egrets just outside the forest area.
General Advice
• Andaman birding with focus on endemics can be covered in 3-4 days (a long weekend trip from mainland). Though the chances that you will clean up the entire list is not very high, the chances that you will clean up if you spend an additional two-three days is also quite remote. You will most likely have to come back for some birds! However, with less time under your belt and quite a lot to see - birding can get tense at times, hence if you are more into relaxed birding - then plan at least a day more for the trip.
• With a bird guide in PB with whom you have direct contact, having an additional mainland organizer is optional as there may not be much value-add.
• Try to do Jirkatang (ahead of Mt. Harriet) for your first trip, it is very close to PB and the open habitat provides easy morning birding compared to the thicker Mt Harriet. This is where you will enjoy most of your endemics in excellent lighting.
• Spend time in Havelock for Andaman Crake rather than Mt. Harriet - chances are that you will get better bargains there than anywhere else.
• If your target includes Andaman Nightjar and Beach Thick-knee, then prepare on your own as Vikram does not have any idea or access to areas where they can be seen.
Lesser Whistling-Duck (Dendrocygna javanica )
Andaman Teal (Anas albogularis )
Yellow Bittern (Ixobrychus sinensis )
Cinnamon Bittern (Ixobrychus cinnamomeus )
Striated Heron (Butorides striata spodiogaster)
Chinese Pond-Heron (Ardeola bacchus )
Indian/Chinese Pond-Heron (Ardeola grayii/bacchus )
Eastern Cattle Egret (Bubulcus coromandus )
Great Egret (Ardea alba )
Intermediate Egret (Egretta intermedia )
Little Egret (Egretta garzetta )
Pacific Reef-Heron (Egretta sacra )
White-bellied Sea-Eagle (Haliaeetus leucogaster )
Crested Serpent-Eagle (Spilornis cheela davisoni)
Changeable Hawk-Eagle (Nisaetus cirrhatus andamanensis)
Andaman Crake (Rallina canningi )
White-breasted Waterhen (Amaurornis phoenicurus insularis)
Ruddy-breasted Crake (Porzana fusca )
Watercock (Gallicrex cinerea )
Purple Swamphen (Porphyrio porphyrio )
Common Moorhen (Gallinula chloropus )
Pacific Golden-Plover (Pluvialis fulva )
Lesser Sand-Plover (Charadrius mongolus )
Greater Sand-Plover (Charadrius leschenaultii )
Common Snipe (Gallinago gallinago )
Whimbrel (Numenius phaeopus )
Common Redshank (Tringa totanus )
Marsh Sandpiper (Tringa stagnatilis )
Wood Sandpiper (Tringa glareola )
Common Sandpiper (Actitis hypoleucos )
Greater Crested-Tern (Thalasseus bergii )
Black-naped Tern (Sterna sumatrana )
Rock Dove (Columba livia )
Andaman Wood-Pigeon (Columba palumboides palumboides)
Red Turtle-Dove (Streptopelia tranquebarica )
Andaman Cuckoo-Dove (Macropygia rufipennis )
Common Emerald-Dove (Chalcophaps indica maxima)
Andaman Green-Pigeon (Treron chloropterus andamanica)
Green Imperial-Pigeon (Ducula aenea andamanica)
Vernal Hanging-Parrot (Loriculus vernalis )
Red-breasted Parakeet (Psittacula alexandri abbotti)
Long-tailed Parakeet (Psittacula longicauda )
Andaman Coucal (Centropus andamanensis )
Asian Koel (Eudynamys scolopaceus malayanus)
Violet Cuckoo (Chrysococcyx xanthorhynchus undescribed)
Indian Cuckoo (Cuculus micropterus )
Andaman Scops-Owl (Otus balli )
Oriental Scops-Owl (Otus sunia modestus)
Hume's Hawk-Owl (Ninox obscura )
Andaman Hawk-Owl (Ninox affinis )
Glossy Swiftlet (Collocalia esculenta )
Edible-nest Swiftlet (Aerodramus fuciphagus inexpectatus)
Brown-backed Needletail (Hirundapus giganteus )
Oriental Dollarbird (Eurystomus orientalis gigas)
Stork-billed Kingfisher (Pelargopsis capensis osmastoni)
White-throated Kingfisher (Halcyon smyrnensis sarulatior)
Collared Kingfisher (Todiramphus chloris davisoni)
Blue-eared Kingfisher (Alcedo meninting rufigastra)
Common Kingfisher (Alcedo atthis )
Chestnut-headed Bee-eater (Merops leschenaulti andamanensis)
Freckle-breasted Woodpecker (Dendrocopos analis undescribed)
Andaman Woodpecker (Dryocopus hodgei )
White-breasted Woodswallow (Artamus leucorynchus )
Large Cuckooshrike (Coracina macei andamana)
Ashy Minivet (Pericrocotus divaricatus )
Small Minivet (Pericrocotus cinnamomeus osmastoni)
Scarlet Minivet (Pericrocotus speciosus andamanensis)
Mangrove Whistler (Pachycephala cinerea )
Brown Shrike (Lanius cristatus cristatus)
Philippine Shrike (Lanius cristatus luceonensis)
Black-naped Oriole (Oriolus chinensis andamanensis)
Andaman Drongo (Dicrurus andamanensis )
Greater Racket-tailed Drongo (Dicrurus paradiseus otiosus)
Black-naped Monarch (Hypothymis azurea tytleri)
Andaman Treepie (Dendrocitta bayleii )
House Crow (Corvus splendens )
Eastern Jungle Crow (Corvus levaillantii andamanensis)
Andaman Bulbul (Pycnonotus fuscoflavescens )
Red-whiskered Bulbul (Pycnonotus jocosus whistleri)
Pacific Swallow (Hirundo tahitica )
Red-rumped Swallow (Cecropis daurica )
Dusky Warbler (Phylloscopus fuscatus )
Oriental Reed-Warbler (Acrocephalus orientalis )
Black-browed Reed-Warbler (Acrocephalus bistrigiceps )
Asian Fairy-bluebird (Irena puella andamanica)
Asian Glossy Starling (Aplonis panayensis tytleri)
Common Hill Myna (Gracula religiosa andamanensis)
Common Myna (Acridotheres tristis )
White-headed Starling (Sturnia erythropygia )
Oriental Magpie-Robin (Copsychus saularis andamanensis)
Andaman Shama (Copsychus albiventris )
Siberian Stonechat (Saxicola maurus )
Asian Brown Flycatcher (Muscicapa dauurica )
Andaman Flowerpecker (Dicaeum virescens )
Olive-backed Sunbird (Cinnyris jugularis andamanicus)
House Sparrow (Passer domesticus )
White-rumped Munia (Lonchura striata fumigata)
Forest Wagtail (Dendronanthus indicus )
Western/Eastern Yellow Wagtail (Motacilla flava/tschutschensis beema/simillima)