About Us

Welcome, Selamat Datang
Papua Birding is a department under Sultan Birding Indonesia, that specializes in handling custom Bird of Paradise Photography Trips and Birdwatching Trips to Papua of Indonesia. We offer custom-made Bird of Paradise Photography trips, Birdwatching Trips, and also a set departure birding package trips from Sorong Southwest Papua where we are based, and longer tours in the Papua birding destination covering Waigeo Island, Klasow Valley including Klabili Bird Park, and further to Fakfak Nature Reserve, Arfak Mountains, Nimbokrang and Biak Numfour. Take a look at our Birdwatching Tours Pages, and Bird Photography Tours Pages to see where we could take you next. if you Can't see what you're looking for? Kindly please feel free to contact us by emailing us at info@papuabirding.com and we can put together a custom-made Bird of Paradise Photography Trip or Birdwatching Trip just for you.

We offer you:
BIRD PHOTOGRAPHY
If you chose this flavor, you haven’t seen the bird if you don’t have a (very) good picture of it. 
This means:
– we do not only try to find your target species, but we try to get them in the best photo conditions,
– we take the time for every bird and know that you can’t make the perfect picture in a hurry,
– we don’t mind building hides and spending considerable time in there without making a sound,
– we realize that we will see less birds than normal birders,
– we don’t mind to attract species with food or playback sounds as long as we don’t harm them,
– we limit our groups so everybody can have a clear view of the wanted bird.

BIRDING
If you choose this flavor, you take birding seriously. 
This means:
– we try our best to get as many species from your target list as possible,
– we do that both during the trip and during the design of the trip,
– we don’t mind waiting long, traveling far or going for a second or third time to see a wanted species,
– if we’ve seen the species we go for the next one,
– target birds are target birds, no matter how small they are and how drab they look,
– we know that your trip is important to you and we go the extra mile to get your list growing.

EASY BIRDING
If you chose this flavor, you like birds a lot and to enjoy them is more important than to tick as many as possible. 
This means:
– we bring you to the places where you can see the most attractive birds,
– we try to do that most efficiently and comfortably,
– we give you time to enjoy the birds and do not hurry to see the next one,
– you don’t have to know what species you can expect in what place,
– we prefer spectacular easy birds above rare drab species that demand a lot of effort,
– we love to learn more about birds and don’t expect you to be an expert yourself.

NATURALIST
If you chose this flavor, you like all nature and are mostly thrilled by the biodiversity that meets the eye. 
This means:
– we go to places with the highest biodiversity,
– we stay longer in a place to fully enjoy everything and to discover new things every hour,
– we are not in a hurry at all and take the time to connect to nature,
– we explain nature to you and let you see how things are connected
– we don’t forget about the birds, but can spend considerable time watching beautiful butterflies or orchids,
– we try to stay in accommodations in the middle of nature whenever it’s possible.
 

Trip Report

Three of us—two from the US and one from Australia—recently took a two-week trip to West Papua and Papua.  We were guided expertly by Monal, who not only knows the birds but shows great care for those on the tour.  We visited three sites--lowland forest at Malagufuk, near Sorong; the Mokwam village in the Arfak Mountains; and Biak Island.  The late addition of Biak was made by Monal and his staff when travel to the Central Range was not possible.  

Malagufuk was reached after an hour of driving, then about 2 hours of walking through the wet forest, birding all along the way.  The facilities there were simple but totally adequate and were located in the middle of an excellent forest habitat—a different habitat than we would see on the rest of the trip.  Local guides were good, the food very good and the birds even better.  Highlights included five birds of paradise displaying, a juvenile northern cassowary, a black lory, and a red-breasted paradise kingfisher. 

The second stop was Maibri village in the fabled Arfak Mountains, requiring about 2 hours driving upslope from Manokwari.  The guesthouse was outstanding, the food excellent and, again, the birds were unbelievable.  Local guides were keen observers and knew just where to look for the area's specialties.  Early starts took us to the nearby mountain trails and bird hides, from which we added five more birds-of-paradise, Vogelkop and masked bowerbirds, feline and mountain owlet-nightjars, vulturine (Pesquet's) parrot, as well as a number of robins and honeyeaters. Other highlights included Oriental hobby, pygmy eagle, Gurney's eagle, and New Guinea eagle. 

The last three days were on Biak Island, which held several new species for us.  Because of the late change, the hotel choice available to us was limited, but was adequate—and right on the ocean!  Birding consisted of alternating driving with walking forest roads, which gave great views of special birds: Biak endemics, such as Biak coucal, Biak scops-owl, and Biak paradise-kingfisher. We saw more than a dozen island endemics (monarch, flycatcher, leaf-warbler, white-eye) and five others that likely will be split, as well as numerous parrots, lories, and lorikeets.  We had great looks at the Papuan frogmouth and several species of fruit doves and imperial pigeons.  Excellent dining was at local restaurants known to Monal and the local guide.

In all, we totaled 162 species seen, 6 more heard, and 5 endemics that are likely to be split soon.

Two of us had traveled with Monal two years earlier, so we knew already how well he operated his tours.  Monal and his staff did an excellent job arranging the tour details and truly taking care of us as birding clients.  We especially appreciated how well Monal integrated the local guides and drivers into the tours, treating them with respect, which added to the total experience for us.  We look forward with great anticipation to the next tour we take with Monal and his Birding Tours. (Gemmy, Rob and Texas Ranger)

Our Team

Introduction for our team

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