Overview
About Parrot Island
Parrot Island is a small, uninhabited mangrove island off Baratang, and for most of the day there is nothing to see on it. Then, in the half hour before dark, thousands of rose-ringed and red-breasted parakeets come in from their feeding grounds across Middle Andaman, wave after wave, until the mangroves are loud and full of them.
You watch from a boat, engine off, anchored a little way out. The birds arrive in loose flocks, circle, and settle, and the noise builds steadily and then drops away almost at once as the light goes. It lasts about thirty minutes and it is genuinely one of the best things in the islands.
Because it happens at dusk it does not fit inside the standard Baratang day trip out of Port Blair — the convoy back through the tribal reserve has fixed timings and you will not make it. Seeing Parrot Island properly means staying overnight at Baratang, which very few visitors do, and which is exactly why so few of them see it.
Bring binoculars if you have them, and accept that photographs will not do it. The subject is the sound as much as the sight.
Why people come here
- Thousands of parakeets roosting at dusk
- Watched from an anchored boat with the engine off
- Uninhabited mangrove island with no landing
- The best wildlife spectacle in the Andaman islands
- Almost no other visitors, because of the timing
Things to do
What to do here
The evening roost
Flocks arriving in waves as the light goes. Engine off, boat anchored, and nothing to do but watch and listen.
Mangrove creek cruise
The route out passes through mangrove channels with kingfishers, herons and sea eagles working the banks.
Night sky
There is almost no light pollution here. The ride back after dark is worth looking up for.
Getting there
How to reach
From Baratang jetty
Local boats leave in the late afternoon; arrange it with your guesthouse the day before.
Staying over
Baratang has a small number of basic guesthouses and a government rest house. Book ahead — inventory is thin.
Why not as a day trip
The return convoy through the tribal reserve runs to fixed times and leaves well before dusk.
Best time to visit · November to April · one hour before sunset
Clear dry-season evenings give the best viewing. Boats do not go out in rough weather, and heavy rain scatters the roost.
Good to know
Travel tips
- You have to stay the night at Baratang. There is no way around this.
- Binoculars make a real difference; cameras mostly do not.
- Mosquito repellent — you are sitting still over mangrove water at dusk.
- Confirm the boat the previous day; there are only a handful of operators.
- Carry cash. Baratang has almost no card acceptance and unreliable ATMs.
Gallery
Parrot Island in pictures
Baratang & Middle Andaman
Combine it with
Tour packages
