Nepal has a documented history of over 225 years of ornithological research, during which more than 892 bird species are currently recorded. However, the patterns, trends, and focus of ornithological studies in the country remain unclear, making it difficult to assess whether research efforts align with key conservation priorities such as study of threatened taxa. To address this, we evaluated 21 years (2000–2020) of peer-reviewed ornithological studies in Nepal to understand research trends, patterns, and gaps to provide future directions for Nepalese ornithology. Our analysis detected an overall increase in publication with most (61.45%) of study conducted with funding support. We found that there was non-uniform focus of research across themes, threatened status, order and provinces. Most studies (58.10%) were related to baseline surveys and conservation, followed by Ecology (31.28%) while climate change, hunting and trade, genetics and disease remained least studied themes. Studies concentrated on more accessible and developed regions such as Gandaki Province (29.49%), and Bagmati Province (20.94%) highlighting that ornithological knowledge is geographically biased and underestimated for remote and underdeveloped regions. Studies reported Habitat loss (57.69%) and Hunting and Trade (17.69%) as major threats and recommended more research (28.13%), conservation awareness (35%), and habitat conservation (21.88%) are needed for bird conservation in Nepal. We highlight lack of ornithological knowledge across themes such as climate change, hunting and trade, and genetics emphasizing the need for long-term, multidisciplinary studies. Addressing these gaps will be crucial for safeguarding Nepal’s avian diversity and strengthening global conservation efforts.

The WOS’s Burtt Undergraduate Mentoring Grant is named in memory of past WOS president Jed Burtt, exemplary mentor of many undergraduate ornithologists.