Birding with Ram Gopalakrishnan: Palawan: a paradise for pittas, peacock pheasants and island endemics

There he comes, exclaimed our guide Totic. Time stood still as the majestic male strode into the clearing. With his striking facial pattern and blue rounded feathers, the male Palawan Peacock Pheasant kept us enthralled while allowing us photos of a lifetime.

Hey pa, I'd like to do some scuba diving off Palawan island in the Philippines and see a whale shark: want to do some birding while I'm underwater? - asked my daughter. Hastily looking at the map, I located Palawan and quickly discovered that at least 27 endemics are found in this long narrow island, replete with rugged limestone cliffs and covered with verdant forest. Sure, count me in, I replied to her.

We started off at El Nido at the northern end of the island, basically a happening seaside town for snorkelers and divers. A morning birding session around the mangrove forest at Lio Beach introduced us to our first endemics: Palawan Flowerpecker, Palawan Crow, Palawan Sunbird, Palawan Drongo, Yellow-throated Leafbird and White-vented Shama. Collared Kingfishers screeched overhead while a bunch of shy Philippine Ducks swam in and out of cover. A Western Hooded Pitta (the ones here are not migratory and have an all-black head) spent a long time bobbing on the road in front of us.

After a day at the famous Puerto Princesa Underground River, we headed off to Puerto Princesa city where our guide Totic Failana had arranged a couple of days birding. The Badjao seafront mangroves was our first stop where a Copper-throated Sunbird's throat seemed almost on fire in the evening sun. Philippine Pied Fantails frolicked at a puddle. A massive Stork-billed Kingfisher, an endemic Pale Flowerpecker and a glowering Spotted Wood Owl rounded off the day. We decided to sample the city “nightlife”: what can you see by night other than humans in the middle of a city we wondered? A Palawan Frogmouth in a small forest patch! With its weird looks and call, this one must take the cake for city nightlife.

Next morning we drove southwest to Napsan: a hide had been carefully constructed adjacent to a clearing in the dense forest and a diet of grain and worms were used to entice the local residents. The Hooded Pitta was watched and photographed ad nauseum, a strange feeling to do that to a bird whose brief and distant sighting made our previous day. The majestic Palawan Peacock Pheasant, first the female and then the male with his iridescent blue feathers nervously gobbled up the grain on offer. Plainer endemics- the Gray-throated (Palawan) Bulbul, the Ashy-headed Babbler and Palawan Blue Flycatcher- were side dishes during the main course. After the hide, a steady stream of endemics followed on the road: the lovely black and brown striped Falcated Wren-Babbler offset by its bright white throat and the Palawan (formerly Melodious) Babbler with its undoubtedly melodious call. We feasted our eyes on the sole hornbill species here, a pair of majestic Palawan Hornbills with their majestic white casques. A Great Slaty Woodpecker escorted its partner out of a tree hollow. Filipino lunch cuisine tasted especially good afterwards.

Back in Puerto Princesa city, we scouted out a house in the Santa Monica area whose backyard adjoined the edge of the mangroves. The owner had enterprisingly put up a bird bath and bananas in his backyard with some chairs and a fan in his kitchen for us and an hour of relaxed birding ensued. Mangrove Blue Flycatcher, Brown-throated Sunbird and the endemic Pale Spiderhunter all came to quench their thirst. The endemic Blue Paradise-Flycatcher looked like it had been painted with an artificial coat of gossamer velvet. After sunset we took a boat to Cana Island to see the Mantanani Scops Owl, seen only in small offshore islands and not even on Palawan mainland. As it gave its croaking bark and looked down at us, we felt privileged indeed to witness this uniquely evolved creature.

Next morning we drove west into the dense hilly forest of the Irawan Ecopark. Western Hooded Pittas called all around us. Lovely was an appropriate name for the endemic Lovely Sunbird, its deep yellow throat in vivid contrast with its maroon head and back. Worms tossed strategically into a sunlit area to entice a bright red-bellied Philippine Pitta were stolen by an irritating White-vented Shama. A Palawan Flycatcher was close enough to almost take worms from our hand. Rufous-backed Dwarf and Blue-eared Kingfishers, an endemic Spot-throated Flameback and a Chestnut-breasted Malkoha made sure their families did not go unrepresented.

Our last evening session was back at Napsan to try and see the last few endemics on our list. While we were photographing the Palawan Tit from close range, our attention was caught by a Blue-naped Parrot high up on top of a tree trunk. He was chased away and his vantage point taken by a pristine all-white Philippine Cockatoo: as the (modified) saying goes, two birds on a tree were better than one in the bush! A breathtakingly beautiful White-bellied Woodpecker at eye level followed. At dusk we waited for the Palawan Scops-Owl to show up: this is probably the most difficult out to spot. Imagine our delight when we managed to photograph this one! Yet another day in paradise.

While Palawan has preserved much of its natural forest so far, this situation is changing. We witnessed widespread deforestation around the mangroves at Lio Beach, El Nido where forest had been allotted to housing plots with roads and accessories. Development and private housing/tourism projects threaten to send some at least of the unique endemics we saw into local extinction. The Puerta Princesa Underground River area, a World Heritage Site, has been declared a National Park and is likely to be preserved for posterity: sadly that is unlikely to be the case in the rest of the island.

Don't wait too long: Palawan is still very much a birding paradise!