Indonesia: West Papua and Southwest Papua – Birds-of-Paradise & Endemic Birds of the Arfak Mountains and Waigeo Island

New Guinea is a geographic rather than political term that refers to the main island in the region. The western half of the island of New Guinea comprises the Indonesian provinces of Southwest Papua (Papua Barat Daya), West Papua (Papua Barat) and Papua, collectively once called West Irian or Irian Jaya; the eastern half of the main island of New Guinea comprises the country of Papua New Guinea. We will be based in Southwest and West Papua for this exhilarating, small-group birding adventure. Aside from the large landmass of New Guinea, the New Guinea region includes numerous small islands (some part of Indonesia and others part of Papua New Guinea), and we will visit one of these areas: Waigeo, part of the Raja Ampat Archipelago in Southwest Papua (also known as the Northwestern Islands).

Wilson’s Bird-of-paradise is often considered one of the best-looking birds in the world!

Approximately 680 bird species have been recorded from Southwest and West Papua, from slightly more than 900 for the whole New Guinea region. Some 550 species are considered breeding residents, with 279 New Guinea endemics (found in Indonesia and/or Papua New Guinea) and at least an additional 42 endemics found only in Southwest and West Papua. There are also over 115 Palearctic and Australian migrant species and a range of seabirds which spend some of their time in the region.

This Papuan bird tour will begin in the town of Manokwari, situated on the northeastern tip of West Papua’s Bird’s Head (or Vogelkop) Peninsula, where we could get our tour started with the huge Blyth’s Hornbill and numerous gorgeous fruit doves. We will travel to the nearby Arfak Mountains, where we will search for a fabulous suite of birds, renowned in birders’ circles as the “Vogelkop Endemics”, such as Western Parotia, Arfak Astrapia, Crescent-caped Lophorina (formerly part of the Superb Bird-of-paradise complex), Long-tailed Paradigalla, Arfak Catbird, Vogelkop Melidectes, and Vogelkop Bowerbird. We can also find more widespread birds-of-paradise (BoPs) here too, such as Black Sicklebill, Black-billed Sicklebill, Magnificent Bird-of-paradise, Trumpet Manucode, and Crinkle-collared Manucode.

Watching Western Parotia undertaking their ballet dancing display is incredibly impressive.

There are numerous other simply breathtaking and highly sought-after birds possible in the Arfak mountains, and just a few of these include Spotted Jewel-babbler, Blue Jewel-babbler, Masked Bowerbird, Pesquet’s (New Guinea Vulturine) Parrot, Moluccan King Parrot, Modest Tiger Parrot, White-striped Forest Rail, Feline Owlet-nightjar, Mountain Owlet-nightjar, Papuan Boobook, Tit Berrypecker, Mottled Berryhunter (a monotypic family), Papuan Treecreeper, Papuan Logrunner, Grey-banded Mannikin, Papuan Grassbird, Drongo Fantail, Goldenface, and Lesser Melampitta.

The second leg of our tour takes us to the Klasow Valley and Raja Ampat Islands, and specifically Waigeo Island. During our time in this area we will search for Wilson’s Bird-of-paradise, Red Bird-of-paradise, King Bird-of-paradise, Magnificent Riflebird, and Glossy-mantled Manucode. Wilson’s Bird-of-paradise is often considered one of the best-looking birds on the planet, and so we will look forward to making our own judgments on this. Again, there are numerous other species high on our ‘wanted’ list, including Western Crowned Pigeon (a seriously impressive bird that will rival the birds-of-paradise for ‘bird of the trip’, if we find them), plus the likes of Blue-black Kingfisher, Hook-billed Kingfisher, Rufous-bellied Kookaburra, Yellow-billed Kingfisher, Papuan Dwarf Kingfisher, Common Paradise Kingfisher, Red-breasted Paradise Kingfisher, Beach Kingfisher, Papuan Hawk-Owl, Marbled Frogmouth, Papuan Frogmouth, Palm Cockatoo, Papuan Eclectus, Great-billed Parrot, Black Lory, Raja Ampat Pitohui, Eastern Hooded Pitta, Papuan Pitta, and Brown-headed Crow.

A huge bird, Western Crowned Pigeon is sure to impress on Waigeo.

Birding Tour Indonesia: Sulawesi and Halmahera – Spectacular Endemic Birding tour looking for (Wallace’s) Standardwing and Halmahera Paradise-crow (these are two endemic birds-of-paradise), plus Maleo, Ivory-breasted Pitta, North Moluccan Pitta, Sulawesi Pitta, Purple-bearded Bee-eater, Green-backed Kingfisher, Sulawesi Lilac Kingfisher, Scaly-breasted Kingfisher (with over 15 kingfisher species actually possible on this tour!), Moluccan Owlet-nightjar, Knobbed Hornbill, Hylocitrea (a monotypic family), Malia, Geomalia, and a multitude of more, exciting endemics.

Furthermore, in some years you could combine this Papuan birdwatching tour with our Birding Tour Papua New Guinea: Birding Attenborough’s Paradise tour, where we will see numerous birds-of-paradise and other exceptional birds, most different to what will be seen on this Southwest and West Papua tour, such as Blue Bird-of-paradise, Raggiana Bird-of-paradise, King of Saxony Bird-of-paradise, Ribbon-tailed Astrapia, and Princess Stephanie’s Astrapia to name a few of the stunners, along with Blue-capped Ifrit and Wattled Ploughbill (two more monotypic families), plus so many other gorgeous endemics it’s difficult to know where to start with the highlights!