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BEYOND SULAWESI

Sangihe, Talaud, Togian, Banggai & Sula

Birdquest's Beyond Sulawesi, Indonesia tour is a pioneering birdwatching trip to islands that are almost completely off the birdwatching map, including the archipelagos of Sangihge, Talaud, Togian, Banggai and Sula. These remote, under-explored localities hold a considerable number of little-known endemics.

Monday 4th November - Saturday 30th November 2013
(27 days)

Leader: Craig Robson

Group Size Limit: 8

Tour Category: Easy to Demanding, but mostly Moderate

The huge archipelago of Indonesia has the richest avifauna in the old world (over 1530 species!) and holds more endemic birds (no fewer than 381 at the present time) than any other country. Birdquest already offers six different exciting tours to this magical but still relatively under-birded country, and on this thrilling new venture we will explore several rarely visited island groups, flirting with Weber’s biogeographical line in some very remote corners of the Celebes and Molucca Seas.

The Sangihe and Talaud archipelagos are a chain of 77 islands stretching north from the well-known island of Sulawesi in the direction of the Philippines. They are situated at the northern limit of the fascinating Wallacean biogeographical region and are renowned for their white sandy beaches, amazing coral gardens and rich vanilla, nutmeg and clove plantations growing on the very fertile volcanic soil. The region is regularly rocked by earthquakes and volcanic eruptions, as the Molucca Sea Plate is being consumed from both sides. Sangihe is quite mountainous, with tops rising to 1320m, but is sadly largely deforested. Talaud, in contrast, is relatively low and still has some fairly extensive patches of undisturbed rainforest.

The small Togian (or Togean) archipelago consists of 35 islands, which are spread over a 90 kilometre stretch in the middle of the Gulf of Tomini, off the east coast of central Sulawesi. The islands are situated in a deep water basin and are protected on all sides by the spidery arms of Sulawesi. Its calm and clear waters are full of marine life which attract a growing number of adventurous scuba divers. The islands were formed by volcanic activity and are covered by lush monsoon and evergreen forest where Tonkean Macaques, wide-eyed and appealing Tarsiers, amazingly-tusked Togian Babirusas, marsupial Cuscus Bears and enormous Coconut Crabs thrive. The Togians are surrounded by ancient coral reef formations, which provide habitat and breeding areas for turtles. Few people live here and the fabled uniqueness of the Togians still holds true.

The almost unknown Banggai archipelago is a group of 120 islands located off the far eastern end of central Sulawesi. The numerous large reefs support a very rich marine life with an incredible biodiversity, which were categorized by the famous naturalist and explorer Alfred Russell Wallace as “the mother of all living coral reefs". The archipelago consists of two major islands at the entrance to the Tolo Gulf. Peleng, the largest of the Banggai Islands, is well forested and mountainous. Very recent ornithological work has shown the occurrence of several new taxa and others probably still remain to be discovered!

The Sula islands form a prolongation of the eastern peninsula of Sulawesi and the Banggai archipelago and comprise the westernmost island group in the Moluccas. The three main islands of Taliabu, Mangoli and Mangala are long, narrow, mountainous, thickly forested, and thinly populated. Taliabu has mountains rising to 1650 metres. The resemblance between the birds of the Sulas and those of the island of Buru to the southeast have suggested to naturalists that a land bridge existed at one time.

We will commence our island hopping at the city of Manado, situated near the extreme northeastern tip of Sulawesi, from where we will travel north to the small island of Sangihe. The tiny forest remnants that survive on its steep, limestone soils hold five endemic species. Rarest of all is the smart, critically endangered Cerulean Paradise-Flycatcher, a dusky-blue creature that has only been seen a handful of times by western birders. Multicoloured Elegant Sunbirds are still quite common, but the recently-described Sangihe Shrike-Thrush and the inconspicuous Sangihe Hanging Parrot will require some more effort. At night we will go out to try to locate the little known Sangihe Scops Owl.

On the islands of Talaud four more endemics occur, including two very secretive, recently-described members of the rail family: the Talaud Bush-hen and the Talaud Rail. The Talaud Kingfisher is a fairly common relative of Collared Kingfisher and along forest edges we hope to encounter parties of endangered Red-and-blue Lories.

On the Banggai islands we will concentrate on finding the very recently rediscovered Banggai Crow together with other very localized species like the secretive Sula Scrubfowl, Sula Pitta, Slaty Cuckoo-Shrike, the cracking Helmeted Myna and a scops owl that still awaits formal description. These islands are an excellent place to get to grips with the unobtrusive Henna-tailed Jungle-Flycatcher (endemic to the Sulawesi subregion), the widespread but rarely recorded Slaty-legged Crake and the interesting local subspecies of Black-billed Kingfisher and Red-backed Thrush.

Next, on the Sula Islands, we should locate the modestly-plumaged Sula Cicadabird and the more extravagant, black-and-white Bare-eyed Myna. If we are really lucky we will encounter the virtually unknown Taliabu Masked Owl on one of our nocturnal forays.

Finally, we will make our way to the Togian Islands, where, hopefully, the Togian Hawk-Owl, discovered in 1999, an undescribed species of scops owl and the rather bizarre-looking Togian Babirusa will give us some sleepless nights. By day we will look for the recently discovered Togian White-eye.

(Note: The above is a summary of the tour. For more information please download the detailed, day-by-day itinerary. The button is at the top right of the page.)

Accommodation & Road Transport: Some nights will be spent in hotels of normal Birdquest standard. Most nights basic or very basic losmen (guesthouses). Depending on schedules, we may spend several nights on ferries in twin-berth cabins. Road transport will be by minibus, cars and 4x4s. Roads range from good to poor.

Walking: The walking effort is easy to moderate.

Climate: At this season it should be mostly dry and often sunny, but there will likely be some rain. It will be humid or fairly humid throughout.

Bird Photography: Opportunities are worthwhile.

Tour Price: (provisional): $7600 Manado/Makassar. Price includes all transportation (including all flights inside Indonesia), all accommodations, all meals, bottled water, some drinks, all excursions, all entrance fees, all tips for local drivers/guides and for accommodations/restaurants, leader services.

Single Room Supplement: (provisional): $608.

Deposit: 10% of the tour price (excluding any single supplement).

Air Travel To & From The Tour: Our in-house IATA ticket agency can arrange your air travel in connection with the tour from a departure point anywhere in the world, or you may arrange your own air travel if you prefer. We can tailor-make your itinerary to your personal requirements, so if you would like to travel in advance of the tour (and spend a night in an hotel so you will feel fresh when the tour starts), or return later than the end of the tour, or make a side trip to some other destination, or travel business class rather than economy, we will be happy to assist. Please contact us about your air travel requirements.

As an indication, return fares from London are available from around £1000, €1150, $1620, including July/August peak season supplement. You can join the tour by leaving London the day before the tour starts, arriving back in London the day after the tour ends.

Download Detailed Itinerary 101kb

Report From November 2011/December 2011 37 photos View Gallery Photos From BEYOND SULAWESI

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