Although geographically very close to other parts of Asia, the rugged Philippines have an evolutionary history that is distinct not only from nearby regions, but also from one Philippine island to another. Many of the islands show relationships to other nearby avifaunal regions, bringing together Papuan, Malaysian, Sundaic, and Palearctic faunal elements within the archipelago. These factors and an inter-island evolutionary explosion have led to a tremendous variety of species: there are more than 4000 species of trees, 160 species of mammals, and 270 species of reptiles. The high degree of endemism is evident in the nearly 590 species of birds that have been found in the Philippines--of which nearly one third are endemic! During our tour we'll visit three of the major islands, and we have a very good chance of seeing 125 or more endemics, many of which have become very rare due to habitat destruction and other factors.

We'll start in Luzon, visiting both forest and wetland areas to see a great variety of the island's birds, from endemic fruit-doves to flowerpeckers, and from racquet-tails to rhabdornis. Then it's on to Palawan with its distinctly Malayan/Sundaic faunal flavor. We'll spend most of our time at St. Paul's National Park, a magnificent area of lush tropical forests, limestone cliffs, and beautiful white beaches where we'll look for such exotics as Tabon Scrubfowl and the stunning Palawan Peacock-Pheasant. We'll conclude our journey on the northeastern quarter of Mindanao, home to the magnificent and critically endangered Great Philippine Eagle and a host of Mindanao endemics.

A post-tour extension to three endemic-rich Visayan islands plus Mindoro adds another possible 15-plus endemics.

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