New Guinea Northern Lowlands Bird Walk, New Guinea Birding

After lunch we will walk down a narrow track to a hide where it is possible to see Western Parotia displaying from a discretely positioned hide. We may have to wait quite a while for the male to appear and a great deal of patience is required before he comes into the dancing ground arena, calling for some females to join him before we see his extravagant ‘ballerina dance’. Not far from this site we hope to see Vogelkop Bowerbird at a display site and there’s also a stake-out for displaying Magnificent Bird-of-Paradise nearby as well. If you stick with us for the entire day, we shall enjoy a packed lunch on site and continue our quest for some of the more elusive species already mentioned above throughout the afternoon. The final hour of light or so shall see us gathered at an open vantage point to witness evening flights of pigeons, hornbills and parrots, the latter usually including the restricted-range Brown Lory.

We will spend any available time birding in forests outside of Sorong with the chance of one of the rare and localised species such as Black Lory or Red-breasted Paradise Kingfisher, before taking the fast ferry to Waisai, Waigeo for a three-night stay. After a final day of birding in these tropical lowland forests we will return to Sentani for an overnight stay. This morning we fly back to Sentani before continuing to the lowland forests of Nimbokrang at the base of the imposing Cyclops Mountains where we will be based for the next three nights at a basic homestay. The remainder of the day with be spent exploring this bird-rich area. Next stop is the steamy lowland rainforest in the shadow of the Cyclops Mountains where delights such as Salvadori’s Fig Parrot, Jobi Manucode and Buff-faced Pygmy Parrot await, and our Bird-of-Paradise tally is boosted by Pale-billed Sicklebill, Twelve-wired, Lesser and King Birds-of-Paradise. We can spend the morning birding again in the nearby forest before catching the afternoon ferry to Waisai on Waigeo island.

manucodia

Another BOP we will try and locate is the noisy Pale-billed Sicklebill and this species can be seen at most of the locations we visit around Nimbokrang, but they are quite hard to actually see well. With their Mohawk appearance and strange calls they are great characters and we will try hard to spot one as it climbs tree trunks inside the forest probing for insects and they rarely come out into the open canopy. The flat alluvial rainforests of Nimbokrang have suffered from logging but large tracts of good secondary and selectively logged forest remain. The birding here is by no means easy but the rewards are great. Several species of Bird-of-Paradise can be found here and we will be hoping to find Pale-billed Sicklebill and to witness the amazing displays of Twelve-wired and King Birds-of-Paradise. The seemingly endless list of possible species here includes some true specialties of the area and thus we will target Salvadori’s Fig-Parrot, Brown and Western Black-capped Lories, Lowland Peltops, Buff-faced Pygmy Parrot, Blue Jewel Babbler, White-eared Catbird, Brown-headed Crow and Jobi Manucode.

The Jobi manucode is a medium-sized bird of paradise, that grows up to 34cm long. It looks greenish blue, black and purple glossed crow-like with red iris, lightly crinkled bluish short upper breast and neck feathers. Time and weather permitting we should find some of New Guinea’s least-known species as well as many more wide-ranging species during the course of our time in these impressive mountains. We can always hope to see Long-tailed Paradigalla, a species that has only been seen by a handful of birders. We can also try to see Mountain Owlet-Nightjar and Felline Owlet-Nightjar at their roosting trees, and at night we will try and call in Papuan Boobook. Although West Papua has a reputation of being a tough birding destination, recent improvements in infrastructure, new guesthouses, and the discovery of more accessible sites means the wonders of the area are now available to all birders without the physical efforts required in the past.

Another main target here is Red Bird-of-Paradise, and if our luck is in we may see around ten or more males in their tree-top arena calling for the females and be able to watch at leisure their fascinating display. After a final day of birding in the Arfaks we return to Manokwari for an overnight stay and a welcome hot shower. We start the day to exploring nearby grasslands in the shadow of the Cyclops Mountains, where it is often possible to find Fawn-breasted Bowerbird, Grand and Hooded Mannikin. We then fly to Manokwari on the west shore of Geelvink Bay, and from here we drive up into the Arfak Mountains, to our friendly host village, situated at 1600m. Throughout our time here we will base ourselves in a basic but comfortable guesthouse and explore the easier trails in the area, plus some productive roadside birding. Plan on arriving today into Sentani International Airport where you will be met and transferred to Nimbokrang, West Papua for an overnight stay.

• It is an undiscovered world of pristine tropical rainforest with its eternal snow capped mountain ridges of more than 5,000 meter high.
• Perhaps the highlight of our stay here will be the chance to visit the dancing ground of the Western Parotia.
• The seldom visited island of Waigeo is the best place to see the absolutely stunning Wilson’s Bird-of-Paradise, one of the most beautiful birds in the world at their display grounds.
• This morning we fly to Sentani before continuing on the short but spectacular flight to Wamena in the Grand Baliem Valley, and spend the remained of the day exploring the immediate area.
• After a final morning birding on Waigeo we return by boat to Sorong for an overnight stay.

This tour takes in all of the areas covered by our main West Papua tour but avoids the tougher hikes and there is no camping, instead using guesthouses and hotels throughout. We still managed to see a great many of the spectacular birds of the region starting on the island of Biak in Geelvink Bay searching for some special island endemics. Although just a fraction of the original forest cover on Biak remains, all of the endemic species can still be found in the secondary and selectively logged forest, including Geelvink Pygmy Parrot, Biak Red Lory, Biak Scops Owl and the stunning Biak Paradise Kingfisher. The Jobi manucode is medium-sized, up to 34 cm long, greenish blue, black and purple-glossed with red iris, lightly crinkled bluish short upper breast and neck feathers. Both sexes are similar in appearance, however the female is slightly smaller and duller. This species resembles the crinkle-collared manucode in appearance, distinguished by its neck feathers and by having a shorter tail than the latter species.

We will have three full days to explore the lowland forests of Nimbokrang in the shadow of the massive Cyclops Mountains. As the main focus of our tour is to see Birds-of-Paradise we will initially concentrate our efforts on seeing the amazing Twelve-wired Bird-of-Paradise and King Bird-of-Paradise, both of which have display sites nearby. It is also possible to see both Lesser and Magnificent Birds-of-Paradise, Magnificent Riflebird, Glossy-mantled, Crinkle-collared and Jobi Manucodes as well.

Splendid astrapia

From the some 725 species recorded (Beehler, Pratt & Zimmerman’s Birds of New Guinea, 1986), 101 are endemic to New Guinea, where 39 are at West Papua part (Jepson & Ounsted, Birding Indonesia, 1997). We must explain that this Free Online Bilingual Dictionary includes all of our products that you can find in our products page. On top of that, it offers English and Spanish pronunciation, separation into syllables and grammar attributes. It also accepts conjugated verbs and Spanish feminine and plural forms as valid entries.

As dusk falls we will hope to find a displaying New Guinea Woodcock and the little-known Archbold’s Nightjar. Although steep trailing birding is kept to a minimum we will explore the uppermost of the magical mossy forests a whole new suite of birds appear. Ground-dwellers here include Chestnut Forest Rail, New Guinea Logrunner, shy red-eyed Lesser Melampitta and with a big dose of luck, the rare Greater Ground Robin in the tree-line forest above the altitude of the commoner Lesser Ground Robin. The Jobi manucode is a species of crow-like bird-of-paradise. The Jobi manucode is distributed in lowland forests of Jobi Island and northern New Guinea. One of the most common birds-of-paradise in its range, the Jobi manucode is evaluated as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species.

Arrivals into Biak, West Papua where the tour begins. Welcome to BirdForum, the internet’s largest birding community with thousands of members from all over the world. The forums are dedicated to wild birds, birding, binoculars and equipment and all that goes with it. EUdict is a collection of online dictionaries for the languages spoken mostly in Europe.

Please note that flights may well depart from the UK the day before. Any of the birds of paradise in the genus manucodia . Today we fly to Sorong, hopefully arriving in time to explore areas close to the city which host specialities like Blue-black Kingfisher and Black Thicket-Fantail. Basing ourselves in a comfortable hotel in Wamena we will make daily forays in 4WD vehicles for the journey up into the fabled Snow Mountains and in particular the Grand Baliem Valley. The journey is along winding roads, through wonderful forests where we will make several birding stops in search of our first specialties.

With good fortune we will see the male in full action – calling and displaying vigorously to any females which enter his display arena. Other birds present include Red Bird-of-Paradise, found only on Waigeo and Batanta, Raja Ampat Pitohui, and the shy Western Crowned Pigeon. After a final morning birding on Waigeo we return by boat to Sorong for an overnight stay. The seldom visited island of Waigeo is the best place to see the absolutely stunning Wilson’s Bird-of-Paradise, one of the most beautiful birds in the world at their display grounds. We will watch the bird from a hide overlooking the display grounds where we will have good chances to enjoy a male in full action calling and displaying vigorously to any females that enter his arena. Around this productive area we can find good birds such as Black-sided Robin, Raja Ampat Pitohui, and the shy Western Crowned Pigeon.

Hides have been built overlooking some of these display areas and the chance to watch the extravagant ‘ballerina dance’ of these extraordinary birds at point-blank range is truly a mind-blowing experience. Our local Papuan guides are incredibly skilled at finding these birds and often treat us to daytime views of bizarre-looking Feline and Mountain Owlet Nightjars. Roadsides at higher altitudes give the possibility of the likes of Black Sicklebills, Orange-crowned Fairy-wren, Western Smoky Honeyeaters, Vogelkop Melidectes and maybe even the rare Arfak Astrapia.

These dictionaries are the result of the work of many authors who worked very hard and finally offered their product free of charge on the internet thus making it easier to all of us to communicate with each other. Some of the dictionaries have only a few thousand words, others have more than 320,000. Some of the words may be incorrectly translated or mistyped. Members of these associations are committed to maintaining the highest standards.

After a final morning on Waigeo we return by boat to Sorong for an overnight stay in Sorong. Other potential species include Splendid Astrapia, Brown Sicklebill, Black Sittella, Crested Berrypecker, Rufous-naped Bellbird, Papuan Treecreeper, Rufous-throated Bronze Cuckoo, Brehm’s and Modest Tiger Parrots, gorgeous Plum-faced Lorikeets and many more. Red Bird-of-Paradise is also a Waigeo specialty and there’s a good chance of the impressive Western Crowned Pigeon. The most common way is by word input but you can also use your browser’s search box and bookmarklets . The various topography of New Guinea area reflects the complex patterns of the bird distribution.