10 of the world's best birdwatching holidays

Some people will be doing it in their pyjamas, others over cereal and toast from their breakfast table. On Saturday and Sunday, the number of people counting birds in Britain will exceed (by 125,000) the number who attended last weekend’s Premier League football matches. All will be participating in the Big Garden Birdwatch – the annual event organised by the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB), which this year marks its 40th anniversary.

Since 1979, British bird lovers have collectively spent eight million hours listing the 130 million birds visiting their bird tables and lawns in this, the world’s largest “citizen-science” survey of garden wildlife. We British love our birds – and rightly so, given the avian spectacles on our doorstep, from immense gatherings of shore birds and wild geese in Norfolk to raucous seabird colonies and charismatic visitors from the Arctic and the Mediterranean.

But there comes a time when even this ornithological richness isn’t enough. For the true enthusiast, more exotic birds and locations beckon. From dazzling birds of paradise in Papua New Guinea to elegant tanchos in Japan and colourful hyacinth macaws in Brazil’s Pantanal, the world is your oystercatcher.

Here are 10 birdwatching holidays to get you out of your garden.

1. Wild geese and whirling waders, Norfolk

On the north-eastern fringe of The Wash, RSPB Snettisham is famous for its high-tide shorebird spectacle. On a spring tide, tens of thousands of waders take flight in search of safe terrain on which to forage or roost. Oystercatchers scurry overhead, bleating hysterically. Turnstones quip, dunlins wheeze and redshanks yelp. Flocks of knots billow over the mud before whooshing overhead to cram together on the adjacent gravel pit. That cues your departure towards Holkham Freshmarsh. As the sky fades to grey, 30,000 cackling pink-footed geese whiffle groundwards as if descending an invisible helter-skelter.

Three-night Wild Geese winter breaks from ￡475 including accommodation, full board, transport and guiding. Oriole Birding (oriolebirding.com).

2. Raptor superhighway, Tarifa, Spain

Most bird species migrate under cover of darkness, but soaring raptors and storks do so by day. Tarifa, just west of Gibraltar, lies on the avian superhighway between European breeding grounds and African wintering quarters. When misty days clear, the skies fill with white storks, griffon vultures, booted eagles, black kites and honey buzzards. Forget drones; this is an air traffic controller’s nightmare.

Strait Birding tours depart spring and autumn, ￡900 for seven nights, including full board, transport and guiding. Inglorious Bustards (ingloriousbustards.com). British Airways (britishairways.com) flies to Gibraltar from ￡42.

3. South America's Serengeti, The Pantanal, Brazil

A raucous roar heralds the arrival of the world’s largest parrot – and one of the rarest. The hyacinth macaw is also breathtakingly beautiful, its intense cobalt plumage offset by a sunny yellow grin. It’s a mainstay of any visit to the world’s largest wetland, the Pantanal – but there’s more to see. By the end of the dry season, when water becomes a precious commodity, all manner of water-dependent birds – from storks to ibises, spoonbills to sunbitterns – squeeze on to ever-shrinking bodies of water. Throw in jaguars, plus an estimated 10 million crocodilia, and the Pantanal screams showtime – with you as the audience.

Jaguars, Macaws and Wetland Wildlife tour from ￡6,995pp for 16 nights including all flights, accommodation, full board, transport and guiding. Departs September. Wildlife Travel (wildlife-travel.co.uk). 

4. Tancho tango, Hokkaido, Japan

Fifty ivory supermodels stride along a snowy catwalk, all legginess, grace and shimmer. These are red-crowned cranes, also known as tancho. Their mating dance, a bouncing, wing-flapping ballet, brings birders flocking. At 5ft 2in, tanchos are as tall as some humans – but Hokkaido hosts other giants: the world’s largest night-bird (the Blakiston’s eagle-owl) and the hefty Steller’s sea-eagle).

Japan in Winter from ￡5,200pp for 15 nights (five on Hokkaido), with flights, full board, transport and guiding. Departs March. Birdquest (birdquest-tours.com).

5. Another day in paradise, Papua New Guinea

Anyone captivated by the BBC documentary Attenborough in Paradise should head to the highlands of Papua New Guinea to see some of its 38 species of birds of paradise. Males seduce mates by waving filaments or fluffy tails, erecting iridescent throat ruffs or encircling themselves in what looks like a ballerina’s tutu. Some species strut their stuff side by side, competing for a female’s attention by performing on a dance arena known as a lek. Guides escort visitors to the best spots – and there are excellent lodges.

Explore Papua New Guinea for 16 nights for ￡9,680pp including flights, accommodation, full board, transport and guiding. Departs July. Bird Holidays (birdholidays.co.uk). 

6. In Darwin's footsteps, The Galapagos

The varying bill shapes of “Darwin’s finches”, the 15 species inhabiting these Pacific islands 600 miles off Ecuador, are said to have crystallised Charles Darwin’s notion of evolution through natural selection. The truth is somewhat different. Darwin missed the link (it was another biologist, John Gould, who fathomed the taxonomic relationship), making no mention of finches in On the Origin of Species or the first edition of The Voyage of the Beagle. But the power of myth demands witnessing these birds – as well as a cast of albatrosses, frigatebirds and tropicbirds.

Ecuador: the Galápagos Islands costs ￡6,900 for 10 nights, including flights, hotel and catamaran accommodation, full board, transport and guiding. Departs June. Sunbird (sunbirdtours.co.uk).

7. King eider vortex, Arctic Norway

Varangerfjord’s sea is simultaneously freezing and boiling. Backed by majestic snowscapes, the Arctic waters of north-eastern Norway are littered with blocks of ice. But they are also bubbling with thousands of seaducks and auks whirring frantically forward to reach the head of the flock, so the gathering continually surges onward. As you bob gently on a boat, you are in the eye of what local birdwatcher Tormod Amundsen calls “the king eider vortex”. This duck is well named: the drake’s powder-blue crown contrasts with minty cheeks, orange facial shield and strawberry bill.

Bird photography trip to Arctic Finland and Norway from ￡2,995 for seven nights (three around Varanger) including flights, full board, transport, boat trips and guiding. Departs March. Shetland Wildlife (shetlandwildlife.co.uk).

8. Troglodyte rockfowls, Bonkro, Ghana

Deep within a tropical rainforest, white-necked rockfowls live communally in caves, each pair building a nest from fresh earthworm mounds. This odd-looking bird is black and white, shaped like a pheasant but with a tiny head, a massive bill, stilt-like legs and an unfeathered face of vivid yellow skin. For decades, it was the holy grail of Africa-bound birdwatchers – rare and in a remote location. Residents of Bonkro cottoned on to this, and show visitors “their” rockfowls in exchange for fees invested in the local school.

Picathartes and Plover tour from ￡3,449 including flights, accommodation, full board, transport and guiding. Departs November. Wise Birding (wisebirding.co.uk).

9. Seabird cityscape, Northumberland

The Farne Islands are a veritable seabird city. Nearly 70,000 pairs of pelagic wanderers return each spring to breed there. Flotillas of puffins and guillemots are trumped only by blizzards of Arctic terns. Take a short boat ride from Seahouses, then wheedle along island paths to admire the throng. Just watch where you tread: some birds raise their young within inches of your feet.

Three-night Seabird Spectacular from ￡495 including full board, accommodation, transfers and guiding. Departs May-August. Northern Experience Wildlife Tours (northernexperiencewildlifetours.co.uk).

10. Life in the freezer, South Georgia

Watch all the wildlife documentaries you like, but nothing prepares you for the sight, sound and – I feel bound to divulge – smell of Salisbury Plain, a glacial bay indenting South Georgia’s northern coast. At peak season, 250,000 king penguins fill this bay of dark grey sand – adults and youngsters that lead a landbound life until they have moulted into adult garb. At Gold Harbour, 50,000 “kings” jostle for space with gentoo penguins and southern elephant seals, while light-mantled albatrosses perform synchronised flights overhead.

Expedition cruises to Antarctica, the Falklands and South Georgia from ￡8,074 for 20 nights, including flights, transfers, accommodation, full board and Zodiac landings. Depart November to March. WildWings (wildwings.co.uk).

Are you itching to get twitching? Where are you headed on your next birdwatching adventure? 

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