Watching Paradise Birds in Tambrauw

Lesser Birds of Paradise (Paradisaea minor) in Ayapokiar forest of Tambrauw mountains - Photo: Nico Nauw

I offer tours for visitors who want to watch paradise birds in their natural habitat. The destination that I recommend is Tambrauw regency. It is approximately 2 hours ride by a 4wd car from Sorong city. To share the cost of the tour and accommodation,  visitors need to go in a group of several people. Birding tour will be done along a path in the forest and along an open space such as rivers, coastal area, and at the beach. Good physical condition is needed for exploring the avifauna of Tambrauw, especially in the mountains. Every visitor needs to bring a good pair of binoculars. A spotting scope will also be good too but is not a must.

Road to Fef valley in Tambrauw Mountains

The duration of the bird and wildlife tour is around 3 to 7 days where camping near a river can also be organized to increase the chance for bird watchers to see more birds and other wild animals. There are hundreds of species of birds which birders can see when they go hiking in the tropical rainforest of Tambrauw mountains.  Some of them are listed below:

• Sulphur-crested Cockatoo
• Palm Cockatoo
• Moluccan King Parrot
• Eclectus Parrot
• Red-cheeked Parrot
• Large Fig Parrot
• Black-capped Lory
• Black Lory
• Yelllw-capped Pygmy Parrot
• Josephine Lorikeet
• Coconut Lorikeet
• Olive-crowned Flowerpecker
• Olive-backed Sunbird
• Black Sunbird
• Yellow-faced Myna
• Golden Myna
• Sacred Kingfisher
• Yellow-billed Kingfisher
• Common Paradise Kingfisher
• Rufous-bellied Kookaburra
• Hooked-bill Kingfisher
• Azure Kingfisher
• Papuan Dwarf Kingfisher
• Red-breasted Paradise Kingfisher
• Hooded Butcherbird
• Northern Variable Pitohui
• Hooded Pitohui
• Mountain Peltop
• Lowland Peltop
• Oriental Dollarbird
• Papuan Blyth's Hornbill
• White-eared Catbird
• Masked Bowerbird
• Vogelkop Bowerbird
• Little Egret
• Little-ringed Plover
• Grey-wagtail
• Spangled Drongo
• Magnificent Bird of Paradise
• Lesser Bird of Paradise
• Magnificent Riflebird
• King Bird of Paradise
• Twelve-wired Bird of Paradise
• Glossy Manucode
• Grey Crow
• Torresian Crow
• Black-sided Robin
• Torrent Flycatcher
• Pinon Imperial Pigeon
• Papua Mountain Pigeon
• Pink-spotted Fruit Dove
• Beautiful Fruit Dove
• Long-tailed Buzzard
• Grey-headed Goshawk
• Variable Goshawk
• Brahminy Kite
• New Guinea Harpy Eagle
• Large-tailed Nightjar
• Papuan Frogmouth
• Marbled Frogmouth
• Northern Fantail
• And etc.

Field Guide Books
There are two field guide books. The first one is Birds of New Guinea written by Thane K. Pratt, Bruce Beehler and their friends; and the second one is Birds of New Guinea: including Bismarck Archipelago and Bougainville written by Phil Gregory. There are also a lot of resources about tropical birds of New Guinea scattered throughout the internet which tourists can read from trip reports made by leaders of bird tour companies who used to visit West Papua.

French tourists were watching birds in Tambrauw Mountains

Birding Sites
There are a lot of birdwatching sites in Tambrauw mountains. As a matter of fact, birding activities can be done in most places of the regency. However there are several vocal points which tourists could visit to enjoy birding. Ases Valley, Ayapokiar and Fef are some of the important birding sites which tourists can explore.

How to get there?

There are several ways to get to Tambrauw Mountains. You could either fly to Manokwari city which is the capital of West Papua province or fly to Sorong city. We can meet you at the airport and then organize your trip to Tambrauw Mountains. 

Written by Charles Roring