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Not surprisingly, it took the first natural history collectors to penetrate into the Arfak Mountains a good while to recover from their ascertainment that the unreal roofed maypole bowers of the Vogelkop Bowerbird Amblyornis inornatus indeed were no playing houses made by the indigenous children.

Papua birding expeditions

Our birding expeditions are two-week to month-long, meticulously keened-out bird watching adventures in which Papua's legendary birdlife, greatest hotspots, as some of the pristinest destinations known there, blend with our hospitality, organizational skills and birding expertise into a truly memorable travel experience. Below are highlighted some proven New Guinea birding itineraries designed to maximizing time in the field in order to come to grips with as many avian treasures as possible.

Still don't find what you're looking for? Well, we are not giving away all our secrets here, so please do contact us for tailor-made bird watching tours customized to suit your particular needs.

Best of Papua

Many birds of paradise to a certain degree are tolerant to forest degradation and habitat modification but the Superb Bird of Paradise Lophorina superba even persists in small open stands of planted casuarina groves in the densely populated and heavily cultivated Balim Valley of the Snow Mountains.

28 days/27 nights, from € 4,820
Biak Island in Geelvink or Cenderawasih Bay, the Baliem Valley, Lake Habbema alpine plateau and Ibele Valley montane cloud-forests in the Snow Mountains near Wamena, lowland forest and Lake Sentani in the northern lowlands near Jayapura, foothill, hill and montane forests in the Arfak Mountains, lowland forest near Sorong, tantalizing Waigeo Island, and a Dampier Strait atoll. If you only come birding in Papua once, then take this tour!

Easy Papua

Variable Dwarf Kingfisher Ceyx lepidus is widely distributed in the lowland forests of New Guinea. Copyright © Dov Shapiro

21 days/20 nights, from € 3,861
Essentially a condensed version of our ‘Best of Papua’ birding expedition, scouring off the roughest edges and focusing especially on birds of paradise. We thus visit only easily accessible 'continental' birding sites that require minimal hiking effort. When combined with our 'Oceanic Papua' pre-tour extension, this expedition provides opportunities for seeing more Papua endemics than any other bird tour advertized on the web today.

Waigeo, Arfak,
and Geelvink Islands

Rusty Pitohui Pitohui ferrugineus occurs widely in the lowland and hill forests of New Guinea up to 1,200 m elevation locally. Copyright © Dov Shapiro

18 days/17 nights, from € 3,334
Lowland forest near Sorong, tantalizing Waigeo Island, a Dampier Strait atoll, the Mount Indon area of the Arfak Mountains, and the oceanic islands of Numfor and Biak in Geelvink or Cenderawasih Bay: the ultimate Vogelkop and Geelvink bird tour!

Waigeo
and Arfak

Pheasant Pigeon Otidiphaps nobilis is among 279 bird species that are endemic to the New Guinea or Papuan avifaunal region and hence occur nowhere else on Earth. Copyright © Dov Shapiro

18 days/17 nights, from € 2,590
Lowland forest near Sorong, tantalizing Waigeo Island, a Dampier Strait atoll, and remote Arfak Mountains: Vogelkop birding at its best!

Amazing Arfak

Mountain Owlet-Nightjar Aegotheles albertisi, as most members of the Aegothelid family, responds rather unpredictably to broadcasting of pre-recorded vocalizations and often proves more easily tracked-down on its day-time roost, usually in dense thickets.

12 days/11 nights, from € 1,532
Join us now on this Arfak birding adventure of a lifetime, seeking out the ten Vogelkop endemics among a wonderfully diverse avifauna, during a single integrated trek covering all relevant elevations.

Genuine birders catering for birders: we just know what the discerning bird watcher wants.
Expert bird identification and interpretation by great guides, keen on sharing an intimate knowledge, amassed over years of practical field experience.
Our unrivaled digital sound library of Papuan birds, now exceeding 5,000 tracks, maximizes the outlook of coming to grips with the most elusive of species through sparing and cautious playback in the field.
Extensively researched, top quality birding itineraries, maximizing time in the field: we take you off the beaten track to pristine hotspots we know inside out!
Very small groups for better birding: minimum 4 and maximum 6 participants plus 2 expedition leaders.
Small company means attention for people and detail.

I want to say again thank you very much for organizing such a wonderful expedition. Working on the 'Life' project I have been fortunate enough to have filmed many great bird spectacles over the last two years, but our trip to West Papua has been one of my favorites. This is not only because of the truly incredible birds, but also for the excellent logistics which you set up. I don't think I have ever eaten so well while filming in a tropical forest! [Barrie Britton, Cameraman 'Life', BBC Natural History Unit, UK]

Je voulais vous remercier
pour votre accueil, votre gentillesse, votre efficacité, votre compétence et votre professionalisme dans l'organisation de notre
voyage. ça a été une expérience magnifique pour moi et les souvenirs de nos observations sont encore très vifs dans mon esprit. Vous ne pouvez pas imaginer à quel point cette première rencontre avec les oiseaux de paradis a été marquante pour moi.
[Thierry Gaultier,
Ornithologist, France]