Northern lowlands

Birding walk │ 0.5 or 1 day

Vast tracts of foothill forest just west of the Cyclops Mountains near the town of Sentani support a well-diversified and colorful lowland forest avifauna, including the West Papua endemic Salvadori's Fig Parrot, the restricted-range Brown Lory, Mamberamo Shrikethrush and Ochre-collared Monarch, and a whopping eight species of bird-of-paradise: Glossy-mantled and Jobi Manucode, Magnificent Riflebird, Pale-billed Sicklebill, and Magnificent, King, Twelve-wired and Lesser Bird-of-paradise.

When?

Possible year-round, but most certainly best from June to November.

Scheduled departures

Please inquire for details on our upcoming departures.

Physical effort

Relaxed birding in flat or only slightly undulating terrain.

Tour description

We shall collect you at your Sentani hotel and set out on the one hour's drive by chartered vehicle to arrive around the crack of dawn in an area of secondary foothill forest just west of the Cyclops Mountains. Here we shall bird all morning along a road through selectively logged rainforest, making incursions into the forest as necessary.

All along the road, wacko Blyth's Hornbills, majestic Palm and Sulphur-crested Cockatoos, and noisy Black-capped, Dusky and Brown Lories and Coconut Lorikeets may fly overhead as we familiarize ourselves with some of the common or more conspicuous forest birds here: Lesser Black Coucal, Dwarf Koel, Little Bronze Cuckoo, Sahul Brush Cuckoo, Sultan's and Great Cuckoo-Dove, Stephan's Emerald Dove, Wompoo, Pink-spotted, Superb, Beautiful and Orange-bellied Fruit Dove, Pinon's and Zoe's Imperial Pigeon, Pacific Baza, Variable Goshawk, Rufous-bellied Kookaburra, Yellow-billed Kingfisher, Helmeted Friarbird, Tawny-breasted, Puff-backed and Mimic Honeyeater, Yellow-bellied, Green-backed and Fairy Gerygone, Lowland Peltops, Black and Hooded Butcherbird, Boyer's Cuckooshrike, Grey-headed Cicadabird, Black-browed Triller, Grey Whistler, Northern Variable Pitohui, Brown Oriole, Spangled Drongo, Northern Fantail, White-bellied Thicket Fantail, Spot-winged, Golden and Ochre-collared Monarch, Shining Flycatcher, Grey Crow, Glossy-mantled Manucode, Metallic Starling, Yellow-faced Myna, and Red-capped Flowerpecker.

Scarcer or unobtrusive species we may encounter include Collared Brushturkey, New Guinea Megapode, Moustached Treeswift, Papuan Spine-tailed Swift, Greater Black Coucal, Long-billed and White-crowned Cuckoo, Coroneted and Dwarf Fruit Dove, Purple-tailed Imperial Pigeon, Long-tailed Honey Buzzard, Collared Sparrowhawk, Grey-headed Goshawk, Hook-billed Kingfisher, Common Paradise Kingfisher, Buff-faced Pygmy Parrot, Papuan King Parrot, Red-flanked Lorikeet, Salvadori's and Double-eyed Fig Parrot, Orange-fronted Hanging Parrot, Papuan and Eastern Hooded Pitta, Tan-capped Catbird, Emperor Fairywren, Green-backed, Long-billed, Plain and Streak-headed Honeyeater, Meyer's Friarbird, Yellow-gaped Honeyeater, Rusty Mouse-warbler, Pale-billed Scrubwren, Papuan Babbler, Black Berrypecker, Spectacled, Pygmy and Yellow-bellied Longbill, Blue Jewel-babbler, Yellow-breasted Boatbill, Golden Cuckooshrike, Black Cicadabird, Rusty Pitohui, Mamberamo Shrikethrush, Sooty Thicket Fantail, Rufous-backed Fantail, Hooded Monarch, Brown-headed Crow, Jobi Manucode, Magnificent Riflebird, Pale-billed Sicklebill, Magnificent, King, Twelve-wired and Lesser Bird-of-paradise, Olive and Lemon-bellied Flyrobin, Black-sided Robin, and Golden Myna.

Other sought-after birds that occur here include Victoria Crowned Pigeon, New Guinea Eagle, Shovel-billed Kookaburra, and Pesquet's Parrot.

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.

Finally, a nocturnal foray here could produce Papuan and Large-tailed Nightjar, Marbled and Papuan Frogmouth, both Papuan Hawk-Owl and Boobook, and Rufous Owl.

Related links

❯Read on about the birdlife of the northern lowlands of New Guinea.

❯Browse our terms and conditions.

❯Browse our checklist of the birds of West Papua