Azerbaijan Birding Tours
Update – As of September 2022 we have suspended our Azerbaijan birding tours due to the political situation there. Unfortunately we have had to cancel our birding tours to Azerbaijan in 2023 and 2024. We are hopeful that we can resume tours here in 2025.
Please note that this does not affect our birding tours to Georgia.
Our Azerbaijan birding tours are particularly exciting as this Western Palearctic country often produces rare and exotic vagrants and also hosts a number of range-restricted resident specials. In particular, Azerbaijan birding tours are noteworthy for their huge flocks of wintering Little Bustards. The Republic of Azerbaijan (“Azerbaijan” hereafter) sits right on the edge of the Western Palearctic biogeographic realm in the Caucasus region of Eurasia. The country sits where Europe and Asia meet and shares its borders with several countries: Iran to the south, Armenia and Georgia to the west, and the Russian republic of Dagestan to the north. Its entire east coast sits on the Caspian Sea. Azerbaijan is a relatively small country and has an area of 33,400 square miles (86,600 square kilometers), about the same size as the US state of South Carolina. Azerbaijan has a population of just over 10 million people, with around five million living in the metro area of the glamourous capital of Baku. Baku was settled as long ago as the 5th century AD but in modern times has become a symbol of wealth in this remote part of the world.
Humans first settled in Azerbaijan in the 9th century BC with the country torn between empires from Russia and Iran from then until the country gained independence in 1918, the first time the area had become formally known as Azerbaijan, following the collapse of the Russian Empire. Sadly, this independence only lasted 23 days as the Soviet Union invaded in 1920, shortly after the independence declaration, with around 20,000 Azerbaijani soldiers losing their lives during the invasion. During World War Two Azerbaijan supplied the Soviet Union with 80 percent of its oil and played a vital role in supporting the eastern front. Azerbaijan stayed under Soviet rule until 18th October 1991 when independence was gained once more. Since then, unrest in the region has undermined this with attempted coups and war with neighboring Armenia bringing instability, especially in the 1990s. However, Azerbaijan is currently considered a stable and safe country to visit.
The geography of Azerbaijan involves a mix of high-altitude mountain ranges, arid steppe, and desert. The climate is affected greatly by the Greater Caucasus Mountains in the north of the country which protect Azerbaijan from the worst of the Siberian cold air masses. Due to the proximity of the Caspian Sea, and the lack of cold air, much of the foothills and plains have taken on a dry subtropical climate, with hot summers and rain restricted to the cooler months. Mount Bazarduzu is the highest point in Azerbaijan at 14,652 feet (4,466 meters) and is situated in the Greater Caucasus Mountains, which runs along almost all of the country’s northern border. We also visit this fascinating area on both of our birding tours of neighboring Georgia. A total of 40% of Azerbaijan’s land area is mountainous, with the Lesser Caucasus and Talysh Mountains making up the rest of the high-altitude areas.
Read More About Azerbaijan
Azerbaijan’s bird list stands at 419 species (following International Ornithological Congress (IOC) taxonomy v11.1 in February 2021). This includes a great many species desired by birders from all over the world, especially those interested in building their Western Palearctic bird list. We have two very exciting Azerbaijan birding tours targeting a range of top birds, with some of the tour highlights outlined below:
Azerbaijan: The Enchanting East
On this thrilling winter tour, we will be looking for a range of high-quality birds and will visit a number of Important Bird Areas (IBA) including Absheron archipelago (north) and Pirallahi Bay, Gobustan area, Shorgel Lakes and Shirvan Reserve, Kura Delta, Gizilgach State Reserve, Lake Mahmudchala, and Aggyol for our birding. Some key species on this Azerbaijan bird tour include Lesser White-fronted Goose, Red-breasted Goose, Ruddy Shelduck, Marbled Duck, Ferruginous Duck, White-headed Duck, Dalmatian Pelican, Pygmy Cormorant, Greater Flamingo, Grey-headed Swamphen, Marsh Sandpiper, White-tailed Lapwing, Pallas’s Gull, Armenian Gull, White-winged Tern, Black Francolin, Little Bustard (numbering in the tens of thousands), Cinereous Vulture, White-tailed Eagle, Eastern Imperial Eagle, Golden Eagle, Greater Spotted Eagle, Pallid Harrier, Syrian Woodpecker, Isabelline Wheatear, Spanish Sparrow, Red-fronted Serin, Moustached Warbler, White-winged Lark, Calandra Lark, Turkestan Short-toed Lark, Black Lark, (Asian) Buff-bellied Pipit, Rock Bunting and much more.
Azerbaijan: Caspian and Nakhchivan Spring Birding Tour
The diversity of species on offer in Azerbaijan, and the autonomous region of Nakhchivan, which lies separate from Azerbaijan, between Armenia and Iran, is huge. On this extremely exciting Azerbaijan birding tour we will look for a wide range of great birds, such as Caucasian Snowcock, Caucasian Grouse, See-see Partridge, Bearded Vulture, Steppe Eagle, Pallid Harrier, Shikra, Terek Sandpiper, Greater Sand Plover, Blue-cheeked Bee-eater, European Roller, Laughing Dove, Black-bellied Sandgrouse, Saker Falcon, Lanner Falcon, Bimaculated Lark, Menetries’s Warbler, Eastern Olivaceous Warbler, Upcher’s Warbler, Mountain Chiffchaff, Green Warbler, Alpine Chough, Güldenstädt’s Redstart, White-throated Robin, Red-tailed Wheatear, Finsch’s Wheatear, Pied Wheatear, Semicollared Flycatcher, Eastern Rock Nuthatch, Western Rock Nuthatch, Caspian Tit, Radde’s Accentor, Red-throated Pipit, Great Rosefinch, White-winged Snowfinch, Asian Crimson-winged Finch, Mongolian Finch, Desert Finch, and Grey-necked Bunting. This is one very exciting and exclusive bird Azerbaijan birding tour, and we are very pleased to be able to offer it. Not many birders get to this area so there is the potential for finding something really great, in addition to all of the amazing birds outlined above!
Download Azerbaijan Itineraries
Birding Tour Azerbaijan: The Enchanting East February 2025/2026