Birding in Papua Barat

The western half of the subcontinental island of New Guinea, variously known as Papua, West Papua (Papua Barat in Indonesian) or Irian Jaya, is a singularly unique tropical wilderness area and a birdwatcher%26#39;s paradise. In fact, the vast and lush frontier forests of Papua Barat are home to some of the most glorious birds on Earth. Anyone who watched the nearly mythical birds of paradise doing their intimate thing in the highly-acclaimed BBC nature documentary %26#39;Attenborough in Paradise%26#39; is destined to long ever beyond to see the real stuff. But Papua has so much more to offer than BOP%26#39;s alone. The cliché-ridden examples of spectacular avian diversity from many an ornithology textbook all occur here: from the man-heigh, flightless cassowaries and the fascinating megapodes or incubatorbirds, to the glorious crowned-pigeons and amazing bowerbirds. Just short of 680 bird species have now reliably been recorded from the territory, out of slightly more than 700 for the entire New Guinea faunal region. Knowledge of the birdlife of Papua Barat, however, is far less comprehensive than that for adjacent Papua New Guinea, and the intrepid and careful observer is bound to make significant observations just about anywhere.

It is the breeding land- and freshwater avifauna that adorns Papua Barat with a nearly mythical status, comprising over 550 species including 279 widespread regional New Guinea endemics and at least 42 currently recognized species who%26#39;s distribution is entirely confined to Papua Barat alone. Species richness is high, lowland forests typically sporting close to 200 different resident breeding birds. New Guinea forest bird communities differ markedly from elsewhere, however, in featuring an unusually high proportion of fruit- and nectar-eaters as well as ground-dwellers, but no wood-borers. Australo-Papuan passerines including fairywrens (Malurini), warblers (Pardalotidae}, robins (Eopsaltriidae), honeyeaters (Meliphagidae), and the diverse corvid assemblage radiated to fill all niches. Obviously, of prime interest, are the 29 birds of paradise (here including Melampitta but discounting Macgregoria) scattered across the territory. Among these, the Wilson%26#39;s Bird of Paradise (Cicinnurus respublica) of Waigeo and Batanta in the fabled Raja Ampat archipelago, has widely been claimed by seasoned world birders to be one of the best-looking birds roaming the face of this planet! Finally, some 115 Palearctic and Australian migrants, including vagrants and seabirds, have also been recorded from Papua Barat, and its southeastern Trans-Fly zone, which includes the famed Wasur National Park, is a globally significant staging and wintering ground for waders and waterfowl.

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