King Bird of Paradise

King Bird of Paradise

This is the photograph of King Bird of Paradise (Cicinnurus regius) that I made in Susnguakti forest of Arfak range. The bird lives in lowland and lower montane forest of New Guinea. There are several sites that visitors can go to watch this bird such as Tambrauw Mountains, Arfak mountains and Sorong ridge forest. Because the size of this bird is quite small, bird watchers need to bring binocular and, if possible, a spotting scope in order to find and watch the bird.
The wings and upper part of the bird are red whereas the underpart is white. I made the picture of this bird while I guided two Dutch tourists on a 3-day/ 2-night hiking, birding and wildlife watching in Susnguakti forest of Manokwari. I used my old camera Fujifilm Finepix HS50EXR. The telephoto lens capability of this photographic device allowed me to shoot the bird in the branch of a tree some 10 meters above the ground.
In addition to King Bird of Paradise, visitors who go to this forest can also watch Lesser Birds of Paradise, Common Paradise Kingfisher, Great Cuckoo Dove, Beautiful Fruit Dove, Hooded Butcherbird, Coconut Lorikeet, Spangled Drongo, Rufous-bellied Kookaburra and a lot more.
At nights, we did soome night walks where a local villager immitates the sound of female cuscus possum to attract a male one. We saw the nocturnal animal twice. In addition to birds and possum, we also saw a venomous white snake, ground brown skink, and a bandicoot.
The Susnguakti forest where I saw the King Bird of Paradise is located in the south of Manokwari city. It can be reached by car or motorcycle in approximately one hour ride. There is no guesthouse in the forest, tourists only stay in simple basecamp which was built by local people.

Pinon Imperial Pigeon

Pinon Imperial Pigeon (Ducula pinon)

Pinon Imperial Pigeons are in mating season in late March and April. Actually during these months the northern region of West Papua receive high rainfall. However, due to its close position to the equator the sunlight is also good. Small berry fruits are still abundant in Klabolo forest of Sorong regency. They attract a lot of birds to gather in trees to eat the fruits and mate. During my recent birding tour where I guided Tony Lau - a Canadian tourist in Klabolo forest, we saw male Pinon Imperial Pigeons compete one another to mate with their female counterparts. I was able to take some pictures of them including pictures of a female pigeon sitting on her nest in a high tree. Fortunately, my Fujifilm Finepix has got powerful zoom to shoot her. Her nest was quite small compared to the size of her body.

Female Pinon Imperial Pigeon was incubating her eggs

In West Papua, people hunt Pinon Imperial Pigeon for their meat. They are greatly extirpated especially in the forests near big towns or cities. In these areas, town dwellers use air guns to hunt them. Pinon Imperial Pigeons can still be watched in lowland and lower montane forest.
I also saw Yellow-faced Myna, Golden Myna, Large Fig Parrot, Coconut Lorikeet, Pink-spotted Fruit Dove, Moustached Treeswift, Oriental Dollarbird, Black Lory, Magnificent Riflebird, Rainbow Bee-eater, Eclectus Parrot, Orange-bellied Fruit Dove, and even Twelve-wired Bird of Paradise during my 4 days/ 3 nights stay in the forest.
This is my whatsapp number: +6281332245180. You could contact me to book your birding trip in Manokwari and Sorong regency. You could also send email to peace4wp@gmail.com.

Also read:
Pied Imperial Pigeon

Paradise Birds in Klabolo Forest

Lesser Birds of Paradise (Paradisaea minor)

Klabolo is the name of rainforest located in the east of Sorong regency. Several birds of paradise live there including Lesser Birds of Paradise (Paradisaea minor), Magnificent Riflebird (Ptiloris magnificus), King Bird of Paradise (Cicinnurus regius), Twelve-wired Bird of Paradise (Seleucidis melanoleuca), and Glossy Manucode (Manucodia ater).

Last week, I guided Tony Lau - a Canadian tourist to the forest for 4 days/ 3 nights. We explored the forest to watch paradise birds and other tropical birds that are endemic to West Papua lowland region. To watch the Lesser Birds of Paradise (Paradisaea minor), we had to wake up very early in the morning at 04.30. After drinking tea, and eating some bread, we began to wear our hiking shoes. Thirty minutes later we were leaving our guesthut for the birding site of the paradise birds. 

It took around one hour of walking up and down two hills, and along muddy paths to reach trees where paradise birds like to dance for mating. When we arrived at the birding site, we heard the calls of birds of paradise approximately 10 meters high the branches of trees. I brought two pairs of binoculars. I lent one pair to Tony. We spent 3 hours under the tree watching and photographing the birds. 

I used my old camera Fujifilm Finepix HS50EXR to take pictures of the birds. With its telephoto zoom capability of 1,000 millimeters, I could take some good pictures of the paradise birds. Although I was so exhausted with the morning walk, I was very happy to see the yellow paradise birds. 

We also saw other birds such as Pinon Imperial Pigeon, Pink-spotted Fruit Dove, Coconut Lorikeet, Helmetted Friarbird, Moustached Treeswift, Golden Myna, Yellow-faced Myna, and Northern Cassowary. I was fortunate enough to see Twelve-wired Bird of Paradise in a distant using my spotting scope Kinglux 20-60×60. He was sitting for a few seconds on the branch of a tree at the forest edge of the clearing area of the village. 

I provided birding tour to Klabolo forest for everybody who is interested in watching paradise birds as well as other birds in the jungle of Sorong regency.

Please, contact me (Charles Roring) by email to: peace4wp@gmail.com or by whatsapp: +6281332245180 for detailed itinerary and cost.