Adventure Birding 'n Outdoors in New Guinea's Wild West
Snow Mountain Robin Petroica archboldi is one of five bird species that occur only in the Snow
Mountains of West Papua or Indonesian New Guinea and nowhere else on Earth. This little gem appears to be genuinely confined to
Peak Trikora or Wilhelmina and Peak Jaya or Carstenz, reliably setting in above 4,000 m elevation only. Copyright © Like
Wijaya
Snow Mountains of New Guinea
The discovery in 1938 of the densely populated and agriculturally advanced Grand Baliem Valley in the heart of
the Snow Mountains by American mammalogist, explorer and millionaire, Richard Archbold, and the massively supplied, 14 months'
expedition he mounted under the auspices of the American Museum of Natural History, may well have been the last great feat of the
age of exploration. Among the scores of novelties brought back from the field were no less than 40 undescribed bird taxa, four of
which received full species status.
Following in Archbold's footsteps, a superb selection of New Guinea's wonderfully diverse montane avifauna can be
seen when hiking through cultivations and upper montane forests up the Ibele Valley onto the Lake Habbema alpine plateau at 3,200
m elevation, above the timberline and in the shadow of Peak Trikora.
Here, in some of the most splendid mountain scenery this side of the Himalaya, lives MacGregor's Honeyeater
Macgregoria pulchra. This monotypic genus had long been treated as a bird-of-paradise. However, T. Iredale observed
living birds and back in 1956 already indicated that Macgregoria instead is a member of the honeyeater family
Meliphagidae, a conclusion which more recently was reinforced by molecular and morphological evidence.
Only five bird species appear to be genuinely confined to the Snow Mountains proper, but a staggering 33 montane
restricted-range species occur, three of which actually are West Papua endemics.
Lorentz and Habbema
Habbema certainly sounds most exotic and one would almost swear that it is therefore a local Papuan toponym.
However, this alpine lake was in fact named for the Dutch Lieutenant D. Habbema who's military detachment supervised the 1909
Lorentz Expedition to New Guinea led by Dr. H. A. Lorentz. The expedition came first to reach the tropical snow at the base of the
jagged summit of Mount Trikora, then called Wilhelmina, an achievement which earned Lorentz the hero status back home.
Interesting detail: each Dayak-porter the expedition employed apparently was rewarded with a tatoe of a snow-clad
mountain with a dragon. The 1909 Lorentz Expedition, however, ends catastrophically. During the descent of Mount Trikora, of which
the actual summit was never reached, Lorentz falls down and breaks a few ribbs. One Dayak-porter gets lost in the thick fogg and
dies of exhaustion. Then, due to lack of food on the return journey, the rest of the expedition nearly succumbs. One Dutch soldier
disappears without a trace in the dense forest, and a second Dayak-porter dies totally enfeebled. Eventually, the party manages to
reach the expedition vessel 'Arend' which lay anchored on an inland jungle river, still known as the North or Lorentz River.
In 1913 the actual summit of Trikora was reached on a Dutch military expedition led by Captain A. Franssen
Herderschee. Sadly, the snow caps on Trikora have now vanished completely, revealing only glinstering limestones.
Snow Mountains birding facts
1
✔Just 5 birds are endemic, but
a staggering 33 montane restricted-range species occur, 3 of which are West Papua endemics.
2
✔Homeland of such avian delights as
Archbold's Bowerbird, MacGregor's Honeyeater, Short-tailed Paradigalla, Splendid Astrapia, and
Brown Sicklebill.
3
✔The possibility to combine
bird-watching with a real hiking adventure off the beaten track, in some of the finest mountain scenery
between Himalaya and Andes.
❮ ❯
New Guinea Snow Mountains endemic birds (5 species)
☑Snow Mountain Quail Synoicus monorthonyx
☑Orange-cheeked Honeyeater Oreornis chrysogenys
☑Baliem Whistler Pachycephala balim
☑Snow Mountain Robin Petroica archboldi
☑Black-breasted Munia Lonchura teerinki
West Papua endemic birds (3 species)
☑Rufous-sided Honeyeater Ptiloprora erythropleura
☑Western Crested Berrypecker Paramythia olivacea
☑Smoky Robin Peneothello cryptoleuca
Restricted-range species (30 species)
☑Chestnut Forest Rail Rallicula rubra
☑Archbold's Nightjar Eurostopodus archboldi
☑Archbold's Owlet-nightjar Aegotheles archboldi
☑Bare-legged Swiftlet Aerodramus nuditarsus
☑Painted Tiger Parrot Psittacella picta
☑Modest Tiger Parrot Psittacella modesta
☑Archbold's Bowerbird Archboldia papuensis
☑Sooty Honeyeater Melionyx fuscus
☑Short-bearded Honeyeater Melionyx nouhuysi
☑Leaden Honeyeater Ptiloprora plumbea
☑Yellowish-streaked Honeyeater Ptiloprora meekiana
☑Grey-streaked Honeyeater Ptiloprora perstriata
☑MacGregor's Honeyeater Macgregoria pulchra
☑Belford's Melidectes Melidectes belfordi
☑New Guinea Thornbill Acanthiza murina
☑Loria's Satinbird Cnemophilus loriae
☑Crested Satinbird Cnemophilus macgregorii
☑Papuan Whipbird Androphobus viridis
☑Black Sittella Daphoenositta miranda
☑Wattled Ploughbill Eulacestoma nigropectus
☑Lorentz's Whistler Pachycephala lorentzi
☑Sooty Shrikethrush Colluricincla tenebrosa
☑Short-tailed Paradigalla Paradigalla brevicauda
☑Splendid Astrapia Astrapia splendidissima
☑Brown Sicklebill Epimachus meyeri
☑Mountain Robin Petroica bivittata
☑Greater Ground Robin Amalocichla sclateriana
☑Mountain Firetail Oreostruthus fuliginosus
☑Western Alpine Munia Lonchura montana
☑Alpine Pipit Anthus gutturalis
Widespread goodies
☑Salvadori's Teal Salvadorina waigiuensis
☑Black-mantled Goshawk Accipiter melanochlamys
☑Meyer's Goshawk Accipiter meyerianus
☑Papuan Harrier Circus spilothorax
☑Spotless Crake Zapornia tabuensis
☑New Guinea Woodcock Scolopax rosenbergii
☑Greater Sooty Owl Tyto tenebricosa
☑Eastern Grass Owl Tyto longimembris
☑Papuan Boobook Ninox theomacha
☑Feline Owlet-nightjar Aegotheles insignis
☑Shovel-billed Kookaburra Dacelo rex
☑Mountain Kingfisher Syma megarhyncha
☑Brehm's Tiger Parrot Psittacella brehmii
☑Madarasz Tiger Parrot Psittacella madaraszi
☑Stella's Lorikeet Charmosyna stellae
☑Orange-billed Lorikeet Neopsittacus pullicauda
☑Goldie's Lorikeet Glossoptilus goldiei
☑MacGregor's Bowerbird Amblyornis macgregoriae
☑Black-throated Honeyeater Caligavis subfrenata
☑Papuan Logrunner Orthonyx novaeguineae
☑Slaty-headed Longbill Toxorhamphus poliopterus
☑Tit Berrypecker Oreocharis arfaki
☑Torrent-lark Grallina bruijni
☑Lesser Melampitta Melampitta lugubris
☑Blue-capped Ifrit Ifrita kowaldi
☑King of Saxony Bird-of-paradise Pteridophora alberti
☑Greater Lophorina Lophorina superba
☑White-winged Robin Peneothello sigillata
☑White-eyed Robin Pachycephalopsis poliosoma
☑Lesser Ground Robin Amalocichla incerta
☑Island Thrush Turdus poliocephalus
☑Papuan Parrotfinch Erythrura papuana
Related links