Birding In Biak

We only had one day to hit the popular birding spots but I was pretty confident that we could get the main parrots species I wanted to see and as many other endemic birds as possible. We arrived around 5:30 in the morning and were met at the airport by our guide Jefta. He took us to the Aerotel Irian across the street which I had booked online so we could drop off the bags, get the camera gear ready and meet Benny from Discover Papua who had organized our day trip. I had previously negotiated a price for 1 day birding with guide, lunch box and taxi of Rp. 1,350,000 (about $135). I paid Benny in cash and then off we went with Jefta and the driver. This was an easy birding day as we simply drove from one place to another, mostly birding from the side of the road or walking a short ways into the bush. This suited us just fine as we were a bit tired from the red eye flight.

According to Burung Nusantara, the key species on Biak are Long-tailed Starling, Biak Black Flycatcher; Biak Paradise-kingfisher; Biak Lory; Geelvink Pygmy-parrot; Biak Scops-owl; Biak Monarch; Biak Coucal; Biak Scrubfowl; Biak Gerygone; Biak White-eye.

We successfully found the Biak (Black-winged) Lory and Red-flanked Lories flying overhead in a couple of spots and the Geelvink Pygmy Parrot in a tree in the Warafri area but they stayed deep in the foliage and I couldn’t get a clear shot of them. I barely managed to get a couple shots of the Triton Cockatoos also in the Warafri area. They are a sub-species of the Sulphur-crested Cockatoos we have in Australia.

Jefta, Benny and Ina

I’ve identified the birds that I can, hopefully some friends will see this and fill in the blanks. I should have written them down when we were there.