guided birding adventure

 

The tropical island of Waigeo just below the Equator in the fabled Raja Ampat archipelago of
eastern Indonesia is home to some of the most glorious birds on Earth. In fact, every self-respecting
world birder is bound to undertake the pilgrimage to Waigeo’s avian delights which include the
stunning Wilson’s and Red Bird of Paradise and the delightful Western Crowned-Pigeon among a
colorful and varied lowland and hill forest avifauna comprising over 170 species. This guided
birding trip now brings the island’s dream birds within reach of any reasonably fit bird-watching
group with a genuine sense for adventure. Just arriving on an island the stature of Waigeo, entering
the breathtakingly beautiful Orobiai canyon, surrounded by scenic, precipitous limestone karst
country, is an overthrowing experience, let alone the journey inland to seek those glorious
feathered inhabitants that few people have laid their eyes on before.

 

 

Day 1 > We shall fetch you at your Sorong hotel at dawn, transfer to the harbor area, and set out on the three
hours’ speedboat ride to the mouth of the Orobiai River on Waigeo. Here, water birds as Radjah Shelduck, Little
Pied Cormorant, Great-billed and Striated Heron, and Australian Ibis tend to occur year-round on tidal
mudflats and in secondary mangroves, alongside a selection of migrant Palearctic waders usually including a
few Grey-tailed Tattler. Other birds we may encounter here include Little, Beach and Sacred Kingfisher, Largebilled
Gerygone, and Torresian Crow. We then have the rest of the morning to slowly bird along the river
toward a camp in riparian lowland forest at c. 50 m elevation. Blyth’s Hornbills and colorful parrots that include
Rainbow Lorikeet, Black-capped Lory, Palm and Sulphur-crested Cockatoo, Red-cheeked, Great-billed and
Eclectus Parrot, fly overhead as we acquaint ourselves with the vocally or behaviorally conspicuous subset of
the forest avifauna: Yellow-billed Kingfisher, Brush Cuckoo, Slender-billed and Great Cuckoo-Dove, Stephan’s
Dove, Wompoo, Superb and Beautiful Fruit-Dove, Purple-tailed and Pinyon Imperial-Pigeon, Mimic and
Tawny-breasted Honeyeater, New Guinea Friarbird, Variable and Rusty Pitohui, Hooded and Black
Butcherbird, Brown Oriole, Northern Fantail, Spangled Drongo, and Yellow-faced Myna. Following lunch at
camp we shall bird all afternoon along the river where we may see Azure Kingfisher, Variable Dwarf
Kingfisher, Yellow-capped Pygmy-Parrot, Great-billed Parrot, Moustached Treeswift, New Guinea Bronzewing,
Pink-spotted, Claret-breasted, Orange-bellied and Dwarf Fruit-Dove, Red-necked Crake, Grey and Grey-headed
Goshawk, Collared Sparrowhawk, White-eared Catbird, Red-throated Myzomela, Spotted, Brown-backed and
Green-backed Honeyeater, Brown-headed Crow, Glossy-mantled Manucode, Red Bird of Paradise, and Yelloweyed
and New Guinea Cuckoo-shrike. Incubation mounds of the Dusky Megapode are scattered everywhere
throughout the flat bottom-valley lowland forests here, and it should not take long before we feast our eyes on a
couple of Western Crowned-Pigeons as they break the relative silence with their clapping wing beats to alight in
nearby tall forest trees. Jungle Hawk-Owl, Rufous Owl, and Marbled Frogmouth all are possible here on an
optional nocturnal foray after dinner.

 

Day 2 > We shall enjoy our breakfast while listening to the developing dawn chorus, which here invariably
includes Hook-billed Kingfisher, Rusty Mouse-warbler, Olive Flyrobin, Black-sided Robin, and Variable and
Rusty Pitohui among others. We shall then proceed to an area where several display courts of the Wilson’s Bird
of Paradise are located, in the hope of witnessing the full array of amazing display postures of this nearly
mythical bird at close range from the comfort of a palm-frond hide. Besides, while sitting quietly in the hide,
there’s always a chance of a Cinnamon Ground-Dove or Pheasant Pigeon casually walking across the court, or
we could attract skulkers as Red-bellied Pitta and Rusty Mouse-warbler. After lunch at camp, we shall bird in
the wider vicinity where we may be rewarded with sightings of Rufous-bellied Kookaburra, Hook-billed
Kingfisher, Common Paradise-Kingfisher, Double-eyed Fig-Parrot, Moluccan King-Parrot, Long-tailed Buzzard,
Gurney's Eagle, White-eared Catbird, Red-throated Myzomela, Long-billed and Puff-backed Honeyeater, Fairy
and Yellow-bellied Gerygone, Grey Whistler, Little Shrike-thrush, Brown-headed Crow, Glossy-mantled
Manucode, Lowland Peltops, Black-shouldered Cicadabird, Sooty Thicket-Fantail, Spot-winged, Golden and
Frilled Monarch, Yellow-breasted Boatbill, Olive-crowned Flowerpecker, Black Berrypecker, and Greencrowned,
Plumed and Pygmy Longbill. We shall spend the last hours of light at a display tree of Waitanta’s
other endemic paradisaeid, the Red Bird of Paradise, and take ample time to observe the several fine males that normally gather here, interacting with soliciting females. Following dinner we could try our luck again at
spotlighting some of the previously mentioned nocturnal species present here.

 

Day 3 > After breakfast, there shall be ample opportunity to spend time at the Wilson’s and Red Bird of
Paradise leks today, or we shall simply bird the wider vicinity in pursuit of some of the more elusive species
already listed above with lunch somewhere in between. Dinner and optional nocturnal walk as usual.

 

Day 4 > Following a hearty pre-dawn breakfast we shall bird all morning along the Orobiai toward its mouth.
After lunch here we shall transfer to a tiny islet in the Dampier Strait where we shall have a relaxed afternoon’s
birding in search of regional small island specialists like the prasinorrhous-subspecies of White-bibbed Fruit-
Dove, Olive Honeyeater, Island Whistler, Rufous Fantail, Island Monarch, Moluccan Starling, and Lemonbellied
White-eye. Other noteworthy birds present here include Dusky Megapode, Beach Kingfisher, Violetnecked
Lory, Spice and Bicolored Imperial-Pigeon, Great-billed and Striated Heron, Varied Honeyeater, and
Metallic Starling. We shall proceed to Sorong in the evening and deliver you at your hotel.

 

 

The individual tour fares above include the following:
[1] transfer by chartered vehicle from a Sorong hotel to the harbor on day 1;
[2] transfer by chartered speedboat from Sorong to Waigeo on day 1;
[3] all meals and drinks while on Waigeo;
[4] all drinking water and snacks while on Waigeo;
[5] all porter services on Waigeo;
[6] expert bird guiding on Waigeo;
[7] accommodation in our tented camp on Waigeo (kindly note that all passengers are requested to bring their
personal mosquito net, sleeping pad and bag);
[8] transfer by chartered speedboat from Waigeo to Sorong via an off-shore islet on day 4;
[9] transfer by chartered vehicle from the harbor to a Sorong hotel on day 4.