Some people probably remember I posted about birds in Bangkok and then stopped. What happened? In May 2024, I moved to Vietnam where I lived until February 2025 (with a month break for Laos). Surprisingly, Vietnamese cities Saigon and Da Nang have the meager birdscape, which was surprising after Bangkok, densely populated by birds of dozens of species.

Hue City, my last destination in Vietnam, was different: many kingfishers living there along rivers right in the city. I had birding walks with a 70-300mm but couldn't take truly decent pictures - these birds were too timid and my lens wasn't sufficient.

In February, I went to Bangkok and then chose Songkhla as the next destination, a seaside city rarely visited by foreign visitors.

I noticed Songkhla's birding potential very soon after arrival: from a motorcycle taxi on the way to the guesthouse - cormorants sitting on poles in the lake.

Yes, they have a salt lake here, a lagoon (on the left):

Songkhla on Google Maps

The peninsula on the map is where the city center is located. They also have an area of probably natural casuarina forest on the tip of that peninsula, and casuarinas grow all the way along the beach. This forest could be a natural reservoir of birds, as well as wooded mountains and hills in the city and around it. A lot of gardens in the city as well.

Jackfruit tree in Songkhla

The Songkhla birdscape is different from that in Bangkok

The first thing I noticed: the great myna in Songkhla is the most common bird. In Bangkok, you can't see it on the streets jumping together with pigeons; it's rather a dweller of parks there, you should be lucky to photograph it there - timid and not that often (although regular).

Songkhla might be different because of those casuarinas growing along the beach in Songkhla. I think this is where they spread from, it might be their stronghold. These guys:

You never stop enjoying the great myna's perky hairstyle.

Their common relatives, common mynas, are present too, of course:

Both species belong to the starling family. The common myna is especially intelligent and has great vocal abilities, including the ability to learn words.

And there is another member of this family, an urban bird which doesn't live in Bangkok:

This image is an entry for birding contest SMAP 208

Hellstarlings. 😄 Okay, that's a nickname I gave them. Officialy they are Asian glossy starlings (Aplonis panayensis).

These guys made a gate of a Buddhist monastery their stronghold and consistently pour it with their poop.

The monks put bricks on the decorations to prevent nesting but it looks hellstarlings are winning this war:

Another difference between Bangkok and Songkhla: when you see a large bird in the sky of Bangkok, it's always an Asian openbill, a stork. In Songkhla, they also have large birds in the sky but not storks... You'll see one over the lagoon water:

This is a kite; looking as an immature Brahminy kite:

The bird came closer to me, and still it's a crop from a 250mm shot. I saw many Brahminy kites in Kerala in 2015, but I saw none in Bangkok.

In the central part of Songkhla I saw a yellow-bellied bird several times. It was always so fast that I couldn't even have a look at it to define the species. Until I shot it in the flight:

Yellow black with a pink beak? I photographed it in Bangkok: this is a black-naped oriole. However, it's unusual that it flies over busy streets, among pigeons and sparrows...

Barn swallows are so numerous in Songkhla and fly so low that you sometimes feel "this time, it will hit me right into my face". 😀

I spotted many ornate sunbirds in Songkhla, tiny birds drinking nectar from flowers.

And I saw greater coucals, three of them together, and heard their "oob-oob-oob" many times. In Bangkok, I saw only once. They fly heavily, looking like they hardly can fly, more jumping from a tree to a tree like a giant heavy chicken of reddish-brown color: Fascinating. Butr I had no photos of them.

Asian koel (above), another red-eyed bird. Her spooky voice is the soundtrack to Thailand. Her mystical meowing reminds of the secrets hidden in the jungle.

It's regular everywhere but prefers staying away from people's eyes. This member of the cuckoo family is a brood-parasite and a fan of figs as you see in the image above.

As for the most common birds, these are: pigeons, sparrows, and zebra doves:

Have you ever felt that some pigeons are depressive and actually don't want to live? Doves aren't depressive but it looks like they don't mind being food or just accidentally die under your foot. Enlightened birds who have no attachment to life, they seem to be.

I call them "yummies" since I can't help thinking how a cat will enjoy catching this slow, weak, and careless bird.

Yes, cats, there are many in Songkhla, and I am already preparing a post about them. 😻

Someone is watching yummies! 😄

More Southeast Asian stories to come, stay tuned! Check out my previous posts on my personal Worldmappin or Travelfeed map.

I took these images with a Nikkor 70-300mm on a full-frame DSLR Nikon D750 in March 2025, in Songkhla, Thailand.