Khao Yai National Park is one of the most famous national parks in Thailand and, indeed, the oldest national park in the country, being designated in 1962. Khao Yai is certainly one of the most visited national parks in Thailand and a well-known site for a wide variety of exciting tropical Asian birds.Recently (April 2023) I visited Khao Yai with David Newsome at a time of the year which is usually quiet for general visitors bit a good time for seeing many of the resident birds during the breeding season. While the park was a little busier with visitors than we expected we did see a lot of really good birds including two species of much sought-after pittas; Hooded Pitta and Blue Pitta.
We stayed just outside the national park in a small hotel and travelled into the forest every day, birding along the roadside, along trails and within a campsite. We had to be patient but by doing so we were able to enjoy sightings of Silver Pheasant, Siamese Fireback, Austen's Brown Hornbill, Long-tailed Broadbill, Orange-breasted Trogon and Red-headed Trogon (all pictured, the others are Brown-backed Needletail, Green-eared barbet, Greater Flameback & Golden-headed Cisticola) as well as a wide variety of commoner species. A fruiting tree in Pha Gluai Mai campsite was a great place to see quite a number of birds come to feed on tiny figs including three species of barbet, Oriental Pied Hornbill and three species of flowerpecker. The campsite was a good spot for birding in general on this trip but it does vary every time I visit, it takes a bit of looking around the national park before discovering which area is the most "birdy" at any given time.
Visiting one of the small ponds in the grasslands was a highlight of our visit with Brown-backed Needletail, Silver-backed Needletail and even White-throated Needletail coming in to bathe and drink in the late afternoon. The White-throated Needletail was an addition to my personal Khao Yai bird list. If you want the full list of species seen at Khao Yai NP you can download it here - https://www.buymeacoffee.com/nickuptonbirds/e/86871
Staying out late to look for nightjars was rewarding too with Great Eared Nightjar finally showing after it looked like it had disappeared as well as Lareg-tailed Nightjar sitting on some wires. More unexpectedly, a Brown Boobook came in to land in a bare tree really close to where we standing.
Khao Yai is also a good location for seeing mammals too and on this trip we saw Malayan Porcupine, White-handed Gibbon, Pig-tailed Macaque, Black Giant Squirrel, Variable Squirrel, Golden Jackal, Red Muntjac, Crab-eating Mongoose and Sambar.
All in all a good trip to Khao Yai. I will be back.