Birding in Indonesia from Malagufuk in Sorong regency, Klabili and Sausapor in Tambrauw, Waigeo in Raja Ampat of West Papua to Minahasa (Mount Mahawu, Tangkoko Nature Reserve, District Sonder) in North Sulawesi. I support community based tourism. Please, contact me (Charles Roring) by whatsapp to +6281332245180 or by e-mail to: peace4wp@gmail.com.
Malagufuk, a small jungle village in Klasow valley of Sorong regency is a nice place for visitors who like birding. I introduced it for the first time to the outer world as a new destination for ecotourism activities in late 2014. At that time nobody in birding tourism industry knew its existence.
The Tropical Birds
Visitors who travel to Malagufuk will be able to watch a lot of tropical rainforest birds. Some of them are listed below:
Male Lesser Bird of Paradise
Beautiful Fruit Dove, Orange-bellied Fruit Dove, Wompoo Fruit Dove, Pink-spotted Fruit Dove, Ornate Fruit Dove, Brown Cuckoo Dove, Great-cuckoo Dove, Pinon Imperial Pigeon, Western-crowned Pigeon, Magnificent Riflebird, King Bird of Paradise, Twelve-wired Bird of Paradise, Lesser Birds of Paradise, Glossy-mantled Manucode, Rainbow Bee-eater, Yellow-faced Myna, Golden Myna, Eclectus Parrot, Sulphur-crested Cockatoo, Palm Cockatoo, Black Lory, Black-capped Lory, Large Fig Parrot, Red-cheeked Parrot, Coconut Lorikeet Lorikeet, Greater Black Coucal, Lesser Black Coucal, Blue-black Kingfisher, Common Paradise Kingfisher, Yellow-billed Kingfisher, Red-breasted Paradise Kingfisher, Azure Kingfisher, Rufous-bellied Kookaburra, Sacred Kingfisher, Hook-billed Kingfisher, Yellow-billed Kingfisher, Lowland Peltop, White-bellied Cuckooshrike, Boyer's Cuckooshrike, Red-bellied Pitta, Hooded Pitta, Shining Flycatcher, Grey-streaked Flycatcher, Variable Goshawk, Grey-headed Goshawk, Tawny-breasted Honeyeater, Spangled Drongo, Black Sunbird, Sahul Sunbird, Olive-crowned Flowerpecker, Hooded Butcherbird, Oriental Dollarbird, Glossy Swiftlet, Moustached Treeswift, Metallic Starling, Rufous Owl, Papuan Nightjar, Northern Cassowary, Emperor Fairywren, Blyth's Hornbill, Nankeen Night Herron, Torresian Crow, Papuan Babbler, Little Shrikethrush, Helmetted Friarbird, Yellow-bellied Longbill, Spot-winged Monarch, Frilled Monarch, Rusty Pitohui, Black-browed Triller, Black-sided Robin, Olive-crowned Flowerpecker, Oriental Cuckoo, Forest Bittern, and a lot more.
Magnificent Riflebird
Some birders who went to Malagufuk said that they also saw rare species such as Green-naped Pheasant Pigeon, Blue Jewel Babbler, and Thick-billed Ground Pigeon.
My Photographic and Birding Devices
Every time I go to the jungle village, I will bring my camera to take pictures of birds, wild animals and unique plants. In the past, I brought Nikon Coolpix P600. After that I used a Fujifilm HS50EXR which I used for several years. In recent years, I bring Canon 200D with Tamron 150-600mm G2 lens.
For watching birds, my devices are quite modest, a pair of Visionking 10×42 mm binoculars and a Kinglux 20-60×60mm spotting scope.
Malagufuk is located quite deep into the lowland forest of Klasow valley. Now, there is a 3.3 kilometers wooden boardwalk that connects Malagufuk and the main road. In the past, the path from mainroad to the village was muddy and the plants on both sides of the it were infested with mosquitoes and leeches.
For birdwatchers and nature lovers who are willing to travel further in the region to watch more different and endemic avifauna can combine their trips to Sonder town in Minahasa highland of North Sulawesi province of Indonesia. There is regular daily flights that connect Sorong city with Manado city.
As a tourist guide, I offer birdwatching tour to Minahasa highland in the Province of North Sulawesi of Indonesia. It is a beautiful tourist destination. The duration of the tour is between 3 to 7 days depending on the number of birding sites that the participants want to visit during the tour. The outskirt areas of Sonder town have got roads through forest and farmlands that allow visitors to enjoy birding easily.
The hill forest, agricultural land and paddy field of Sonder are the habitat of the following birds:
Barred Rail
Black Sunbird
Black-naped Oriole
Black-faced Munia
Black-crowned White-eye
Brush Cuckoo
Brown-throated Sunbird
Cinnamon Bittern
Collared Kingfisher
Crimson Sunbird
Chestnut Munia
Cattle Egret
Eurasian Treesparrow
Eastern Yellow Wagtail
Finch-billed Myna
Glossy Swiftlet
Grey-cheeked Green Pigeon
Gray-sided Flowerpecker
Gray-rumped Treeswift
Hair-crested (White-eyed) Drongo
Little Egret
Mountain (Warbling) White-eye
Pale Blue Monarch
Purple Heron
Sahul Sunbird
Slender-billed Crow
Sulawesi Drongo
Sulawesi Myzomela
Sulawesi Blue Flycatcher
Scaly-breasted Kingfisher
Scaly-breasted Munia
Sulawesi Cuckoo-dove
Sulawesi Pygmy Woodpecker
Sooty-headed Bulbul
Sulawesi Hanging Parrot
Sunda Teal
Rock Pigeon
Yellow-sided Flowerpecker
Yellow-billed Malkoha
White-browed Crake
White-breasted Woodswallow
White-nest Swiftlet
White-faced Cuckoo-dove
Zebra Dove
and etc.
Scaly-breasted Munia, Gray-sided Flowerpecker, Sulawesi Hanging Parrot, Sulawesi Blue Flycatcher
It is not only birds that we will see during the walk through farmland. We could see butterflies and other animals as well.
Black-naped Oriole
Agricultural Produce
Minahasan people grow food crops such as banana, sweet potatoes, taro, corn and rice. There are also vegetable and fruit gardens. Clove and nutmeg used to be important commodities in Sonder and other districts in Minahasa. The cultivation of vanilla is also popular among farmers in Minahasa highland. They also run fish, pig and poultry farming. Farmers in North Sulawesi diversify their crops in order to have stable income from agriculture. In Tincep village, people grow rice, they also sell various kinds of colorful flowers. For Rambunan village, one of the products that they sell is palm sugar. It is an important ingredients in various kinds of home made foods in Indonesia.
Other birding sites in the Province of North Sulawesi that birdwatchers could visit include Tangkoko Nature Reserve, Mount Mahawu, Lake Linow, Pine Forest of Lahendong, Talawaan Road, Maleo Sanctuary in Tambun, and Mount Ambang.
Waterfall, flowers, birds and butterfly in Tincep village of Minahasa
Birding Devices
Most tourists bring binoculars. For photographers, they like to bring D-SLR camera with telephoto lens. When I guide birding tourists, I bring my binoculars, spotting scope, laser pointer, and portable loudspeaker. I use field guide book Birds ofthe Indonesian Archipelago: Greater Sundas and Wallacea by James Eaton et al. A very good alternative for field guide is Android based Merlin App. by the CornellLab.
In addition to birds, visitors could also see various species of butterflies such as Blanchard's Tree Nymph, Blanchard's Wood Nymph, Manado Yellow Tiger Butterfly, Lime Swallowtail, Meyer's Jay (Graphium meyeri), Blue Moon or Great Eggfly, Gigon Swallowtail (Papiliogigon), Sacred Tabby (Pseudergolisavesta) and etc.
Meyer's Jay Butterfly
Where is Minahasa and how to get there?
Minahasa is a region in the Province of North Sulawesi whose capital is Manado city. The birdwatching tour that I offer in this article will be conducted around the town of the district town of Sonder. It takes around 1 hour 30 minutes by car from Sam Ratulangi International Airport of Manado city to Sonder town.
Flight routes from major cities to Manado
Visitors need to fly from their country to Manado city. There are international direct flights from Singapore to Manado city served by Scoot Air. From Guangzhou to China, the flight is served by China Southern Airlines.
For domestic flights between major cities in Indonesia such as Jakarta, Surabaya, Makassar, Balikpapan, and Sorong, the flights are available everyday and are served by such airlines as Garuda, Citilink, TransNusa, Lion Air and Batik Air.
District Town of Sonder, the birding activity will be conducted around this town
Book your birding tour now.
Please, contact me (Charles Roring) by email to peace4wp@gmail.com or by whatsapp to: +6281332245180 if you are interested in taking the birdwatching tour.
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