Indonesia: West Papua

The island of New Guinea is surely one of the most exciting birding destinations on Earth. The array of monarchs, honeyeaters, fruit-doves, kingfishers, and parrots are thrilling in their own right, but the otherworldly birds-of-paradise are without doubt the most superlative avian wonders to be found anywhere. Our tour of one of the world’s most biodiverse regions is not luxurious, but conditions have greatly improved over the last few years. It’s nothing like the uncomfortable challenge that it once was. Many local people have become involved in providing relatively comfortable birding experiences to foreign visitors, and the revenue from our visit directly helps conservation efforts in these very important bird havens.

We’ll explore the western half of New Guinea, a part of Indonesia, and in particular the provinces of Papua. Here we’ll encounter many species of bird-of-paradise which are unique to West Papua—birds such as Western Parotia, Vogelkop Lophorina, Long-tailed Paradigalla, and Red Bird-of-Paradise will surely get our pulses racing, but the amazing Wilson’s Bird-of-Paradise is definitely the jewel in the crown.

We’ll explore five exceptionally bird-rich areas in West Papua. We’ll start on the small northern island of Biak, which harbors a startling twelve endemics, all of which we will hope to see. From there we’ll travel further east to the steamy lowland coastal area of Nimbokrang in search of local specialties such as Twelve-wired BoP, Papuan Nightjar and Pale-billed Sicklebill. Next stop is the Central Highlands* (see note in daily itinerary section regarding changes to the 2025 tour), where we’ll be based in the isolated town of Wamena in the cool highlands from where we’ll explore the legendary Baliem Valley, home to the Dani people and only discovered by the outside world in 1938. As we explore the forests over a varied altitudinal range, we’ll observe a fascinating array of unique wildlife, including the highly sought-after MacGregor’s Honeyeater, so fancy that until very recently it was thought to be a bird-of-paradise. In the remote Arfak Mountains, we’ll be based at a local village which has become a mecca for birders! The villagers have set up an amazing series of hides enabling close views of such spectacular birds as Western Parotia, Vogelkop and Masked Bowerbirds, and the stunning Black Sicklebill. Lastly we’ll spend time on the western island of Waigeo, home to a number of endemics including Wilson’s Bird-of-Paradise.

Even seasoned birders who have explored the eastern half of New Guinea find West Papua thrilling. This region is home to over 300 New Guinea endemic species, including 25 birds-of-paradise. Remarkably, West Papua boasts seven endemic bird families. In short, it’s simply amazing.