Birdwatching in wildlife and reserves is another popular form of tourism. There is an opportunity to see and photograph a large number of birds of differentspecies living in different climatic and high altitude zones of the Kyrgyz Republic. In total, there are more than 300 species of birds.
Great egrets in habit the flat lakes of Kyrgyzstan, rich in reed beds, overgrown with trees and shrubs. This bird appears in Kyrgyzstan in spring when wormwood starts blossoming. It breeds in separate pairs or small colonies. Chicks appear in mid-May. At first, great egrets live in families in Kyrgyzstan, but by the end of summer they unite in flocks of up to 1,500 birds. The peak ofautumn migration falls on September-October.
The greater flamingo is found in the Kyrgyz Republicon wintering in Issyk-Kul region. It is a long-legged and long-necked largebird with a large curved beak and pink plumage.
It breeds in colonies from 50,000 to 30,000 pairs.
It lives both in forests and groves on the plains, and in the Tien Shan mountains at an altitude of 3,000meters. The owl breeds in separate pairs in old nests of magpies, crows androoks, sometimes on the ground in bushes. Mass migration of these birds (20-30individuals) can be observed in October.
Himalayan snowcock is considered a sacred bird in Kyrgyzstan.
It lives at an altitude from2,500 to 4,500 meters above sea level in the highlands of the Tien Shan. Snowcock is a sedentary bird, it is found in hard-to-reach areas on steep mountain slopes and sheer cliffs. The main natural enemies of this bird arefoxes, but the snowcock population is declining due to poachers. Therefore, itis listed in the Red Book of Endangered Species of Kyrgyzstan.
