A North American’s Nocturnal Birding Experience: Danang, Vietnam

By Wes Blauvelt


On a recent trip to Vietnam I was able to break away from my tour group for a few hours to enjoy nighttime birding at a couple of hotspots in and around Danang and Hoi An.

I live in a heavily forested area in upstate New York where Barred, Great-horned and Eastern Screech Owls are commonly heard throughout the night. And I have spent several years volunteering for the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation tracking the presence and overwintering behaviors of winter raptors, including Short-eared Owls, Northern Harriers and Snowy Owls. With this background, I have spent many a winter night birding in the cold, dark landscape of New York. So it was with great joy that I learned when arriving in Danang that there are several species of owls and nightjars that are residents of the area. Nocturnal birding in a tropical environment and finding birds near impossible to see during the daylight hours…what’s not to like!

On my first night in Danang the high-pitched “chree-ik” call of a Savana Nightjar, Caprimulgus affinis, could be heard from my hotel balcony. While the call was similar to some nighthawks in North and Central America that I am familiar with, I could not be sure what I was listening to until I captured the call on my Merlin Bird ID phone app. (Merlin is a free audio and photo identification software created by the Cornell University Lab of Ornithology that works on both Android and iPhone platforms.) Soon a second nightjar joined in and they spent the evening flying in the environment of the hotel grounds, hawking insects drawn to the area by the lighting. Occasionally, they would land on the roof of the hotel, providing an opportunity to view them with binoculars. Unexpectedly, the next day I almost stepped on one before it flushed while birding an overgrown vacant patch along the beach. This daylight observation complemented the audio identification from the previous night; observed in daylight I could see the nightjar’s white outer tail feathers and throat patches.

The hotel grounds proved to be an excellent birding spot for nocturnal birds. In addition to the Savana Nightjar, I heard and saw Indian Nightjars, Caprimulgus asiaticus, in the morning twilight. Again, the hotel lighting was attracting the birds to the insect-filled early morning sky. While nighttime hotel environments provide a good opportunity to find nightjars, their typical habitat includes dry forest and scrub areas or pastures. Nightjars and Nighthawks are in the same bird family, Caprimulgidae, but they are in different genera. Collectively they are often referred to as “goatsuckers”, so named for a myth from Roman times when it was believed that Nightjars would suck the milk from goats at night. Thus the Latin name Capri (goat) and mulgus (sucker).

Large-tailed Nightjar is another species which occurs in Danang.

Owls are always a favorite nocturnal birding target. They are usually identified by their night calls, however, on this trip I did not hear a single call from an owl. While in Danang I learned that there are several species of resident owls, three of which I was able to see but did not hear. They included a family of Eastern Barn Owls, Tyto alba, an Oriental Scops Owl, Otus sunia and a Collared Scops Owl, Otus bakkamoena. The Eastern Barn Owl, along with the American Barn Owl which is a species occasionally found in New York State, make up the genus Tyto. Scops owls are an old world species, of which there are 59 species worldwide and they are widespread throughout Asia and Europe.

Marble Mountain

On a nighttime outing while using a red and white torch light, I was able to illuminate the marble and limestone rock walls of Marble Mountain. At a great distance, this method produced red eye reflections or eyeshine that facilitated locating the birds. Using the torch light I found a family group of Eastern Barn Owls that included two adults and a juvenile. They were perched on the eastern facing cliff of Marble Mountain, presumably near their nesting hides in the crevices of the stone mountain. Along this same rock face another pair of red eyes stared back at me - an Oriental Scops Owl showing its distinctive white scapular markings and rufous coloration around the head.

Eastern Bar Owls

At Cam Thanh, near Hoi An, I observed a Collared Scops-Owl. This species is known to occupy varied habitats; this bird was found in a hedgerow bordering cultivated rice fields. It remained perched for several minutes, permitting observation of its white facial disc and ear tufts. This owl is a common member of the tribe, seen throughout South East Asia.


Final thoughts:

Nocturnal birding should be done thoughtfully, applying ethical standards. Do not over stimulate young, nesting and/or endanger species with prolonged use of spotlights or playback.

There are several techniques that can be employed to enhance a nocturnal outing. Several techniques I have used include thermal imagining, playback and spotlighting. Another tool that can enhance your experience is a pair of night vision binoculars.

Thermal imaging

The use of Nocturnal Flight Calls (NFC’s) is an evolving practice primarily used by professional ornithologists, but also catching on with amateur naturalists and students as well. Using an inexpensive or homemade microphone and a recording device, nocturnal flight calls can be recorded and studied for future identification. And identification can be very challenging. The melodic day time calls that we may be familiar with turn into zips and buzzy calls at night. Peak migration periods are especially popular for recording NFC’s. More information on NFC’s and the equipment needed to record them can be found at www.oldbird.org.

My birding experiences in Vietnam were very limited, but what I heard and saw only makes me want to return to this biologically diverse and culturally rich country to learn more about its birdlife. Based on several sources, the number of species that have been identified in Vietnam is between 900-960, with the most recent edition of Birds of Vietnam - 2nd Edition (2025) reporting 931. eBird lists 870 Vietnamese species reported to their global Citizens Science on-line data base. For me, my brief introduction to Vietnam birding resulted in me identifying 80 species, many of which were life birds. I hope to be back to add more to that list, especially a few more avian denizens of the night!

Wes is an active member, former officer and Director of Cayuga Bird Club (CBC). He occasionally leads CBC field trips and participates in the Ithaca and Corning area Christmas Bird Counts. He volunteers for NYSDEC Winter Raptor Surveys. He enjoys traveling in search of birds and has recorded eBird checklists from 6 continents and 36 countries. But his favorite place to go birding is in his backyard at Boggy Bottom in Danby, New York.