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Geelvink Islands : Biak, Supiori, NumforOf truly oceanic origin, the twin islands of Biak and Supiori, only separated from one another by a narrow mangrove-lined channel, harbor the most highly endemic avifauna of any singular land area in the entire New Guinea region, with in total 11 endemic taxa now widely having become accepted at the species level. And Numfor Island, approximately 60 kilometers to the southwest, further boasts its own endemic kingfisher: the gorgeous Numfor Paradise-Kingfisher Tanysiptera carolinae. Biak Coucal Centropus chalybeus, Biak Paradise-Kingfisher Tanysiptera riedelii, Biak Scops Owl Otus beccarii, Biak Gerygone Gerygone hypoxantha, Biak Monarch Monarcha brehmii, and Biak White-eye Zosterops mysorensis, occur only on Biak-Supiori and nowhere else on Earth. Biak Megapode Megapodius geelvinkianus, Black-winged Lory Eos cyanogenia, Geelvink Pygmy-parrot Micropsitta geelvinkiana, Biak Flycatcher Myiagra atra, and Long-tailed Starling Aplonis magna are being shared with Numfor Island, which further boasts the single-island-endemic Numfor Paradise-Kingfisher Tanysiptera carolinae. Only the highly mobile eos ranges further to Meos Num Island due northwest of the large land-bridge island of Yapen. Additionally, another staggering 25, often morphologically highly distinctive, endemic subspecies exist on the islands. Such an extraordinary high degree of endemism, both at the species and subspecies level resulted in Biak-Supiori being united with Numfor and Meos Num into an Endemic Bird Area: Geelvink Islands. In spite of this recognition, however, hardly any recent information is available on the status of the endemic and restricted range species occurring on the islands, and avian diversity in this little studied EBA is still much underestimated. Geelvink endemic birds (12 species)Biak Megapode Megapodius geelvinkianus Restricted-range species (3 species)Yellow-bibbed Fruit-Dove Ptilinopus solomonensis Widespread goodiesBeach Kingfisher Todirhamphus saurophaga Related linksRead on about our short birding break to the Geelvink Islands. Read on about our Best of Papua birding expedition visiting the Geelvink Islands. Read on about our Waigeo, Arfak, and Geelvink Islands birding expedition visiting the Geelvink Islands. Read on about our Oceanic Papua birding extension to the Geelvink Islands. Browse our check-list of the birds of Papua. |
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