Autumn turns Kazakhstan into a busy air corridor. Every October and November, millions of birds funnel across the steppe and mountain valleys on their way from Siberia to warmer wintering grounds in Central and South Asia — and right now the skies over the east of the country are particularly worth a look up.
The star of the season is the whooper swan. Flocks have been seen crossing Katon-Karagai National Park in East Kazakhstan, a stopover on the northern swans' route from their Siberian breeding wetlands down to Central and South Asia. The birds keep flying until lakes and rivers freeze over, and you don't need to be a birder to spot them — their loud, trumpet-like calls carry across the valleys. The species is famous for long-term pair bonds, often for life, which has fed local legends for centuries.
Researchers are also following individual travellers. At Altyn-Emel National Park in the southeast, a young steppe eagle named Tungysh was fitted with a solar GPS tracker in July, as a nestling. Now on its very first solo migration, it has already covered roughly 1,400 kilometres, passing Altyn-Emel, Konayev, Almaty, Bishkek, Taraz and Shymkent before reaching Uzbekistan's Kashkadarya Region near Karshi.
Nearby, another tagged bird is making headlines. Emel, a young black vulture from the same park and the subject of a tracking project called Emel's Diary, fledged in 2026 and has been roaming around Basshi, the Kapchagai Reservoir and the Ili River valley — and has now crossed into the Kyrgyz Republic. Black vultures nest on high cliffs and raise only one chick a year, so every fledged juvenile matters. Scientists think Emel may continue south and could eventually reach India. The steppe eagle, for its part, is listed in Kazakhstan's Red Book, and the GPS data helps identify migration routes, stopover sites and places where the birds face threats.
For travellers, this is a genuinely good window to visit the east and southeast of the country. Katon-Karagai, in the Altai mountains near the Chinese and Russian borders, combines swan-watching with some of Kazakhstan's most dramatic scenery, while Altyn-Emel — easily reachable from Almaty — offers its famous singing dunes, colourful Aktau mountains and now the chance that your eagle photo is of a famous bird. Autumn brings crisp air, golden valleys and far fewer visitors than summer. You don't need hides or expensive gear; a walk through the mountain valleys with your eyes and ears open is often enough.
The bird migrations taper off as waterways freeze, so timing matters — late October through November is the peak for swan flyovers in the east. Anyone with a day or two in Almaty can pair a city break with Altyn-Emel and know that somewhere overhead, Tungysh or Emel might just be passing through.
