Red-breasted Paradise Kingfisher (Tanysiptera nympha) lives in lowland and hill tropical forest of West Papua. I saw while guiding tourists in lowland forest of Sorong regency and Tambrauw regency. It has got pinkish red underparts as shown in the picture below. Its physical appearances and sounds were similar to Common Paradise Kingfisher (Tanysiptera galatea). The male or female is usually alone sitting on the understory branch of a sapling. It does not fly over the canopy of forest. So, the bird will not sit on top branches of big trees. Actually, there are a lot of birding sites in Sorong regency including the hill forest of Batu Lubang, Klatomok Village Malaumkarta, and Distrik Klayeli.
I saw it for the first time when I guided some French tourists to Malagufuk village in Klasow valley. While we were watching the Lesser Birds of Paradise dancing in a tree in front of us, a local villager who accompanied us told me that a bird of sitting on the branch of a small tree. He was around 2.5 meters above the ground. So, I turned and carefully aimed my Fujifilm HS50EXR at the bird. I shot him several times. Because, we were under the canopy of the forest, there was only a little sunlight. My photographs were not so good.
Since I often guide tourists to Klasow valley, I have more opportunities to take pictures of the birds. The photograph above was taken in the forest of Tambrauw regency.
While birding in Sorong regency and Tambrauw regency, we also saw a lot of other birds such as Yellow-billed Kingfisher, Blue and Black Kingfisher, Common Paradise Kingfisher, Sacred Kingfisher, Rufous-bellied Kookaburra, Golden Myna, Yellow-faced Myna, Hooded Butcherbird, Black Butcherbird, Orange Breasted Fruit Dove, Pinon Imperial Pigeon, Pink-spotted Fruit Dove, Ornate Fruit Dove, Pinon Imperial Pigeon, Oriental Dollar Bird, Grey-streaked Flycather, Rainbow Bee Eater, Oriental Dollarbird, and etc.
Birding Equipment
All visitors who are interested in taking bird watching and wildlife watching tour in West Papua need to bring their own birding gear such as binoculars, camera, spotting scope (optional), and field guide book: Birds of New Guinea. They can be bought now from an online store such as Amazon.com or other stores that provide such things. Other things such as flashlight, rain poncho, hiking boots.
If you are interested in traveling to West Papua province of Indonesia to watch birds and other wild animals in the forest, please, contact me by email to: peace4wp@gmail.com or by whatsapp to: +6281332245180.