Survey for White-bellied heron in eastern Bhutan
The White-bellied heron is one of the world’s rarest birds with possibly only 60 surviving adult birds, almost half of which occur in Bhutan.
Global Wildlife Fund has supported the Royal Society for the Protection of Nature (RSPN) in Bhutan to survey and map potential new habitat for the Heron in the Jomori river basin in eastern Bhutan.
The first stage of the project – a pre-monsoon survey- was conducted in February 2025.
In addition to searching for new birds, the survey goals included assessing the quality of habitat for possible future releases of captive bred birds and engaging local communities.
In total, 65 kilometres of the Jomori River was surveyed by a dedicated survey team – 41 kilometres on foot and 24 kilometres by drone. The habitats ranged from grassland and broadleaf forest in lower elevation to mixed broadleaf and chirpine forest in higher elevations of the survey area.
Although no herons were observed, large sections of the river were found to contain suitable habitat. Many species that use similar habitat to herons were identified including Cormorants, Striated Heron, Crested Kingfisher and Cattle Egret. Interviews with local communities identified two people who had observed herons in the last decade.
Other species observed on the survey included two species of Otter and Asian Elephants.
An important partnership for a critically endangered bird
The inception meeting before the first survey
