PAPUA NEW GUINEA OFF-THE-BEATEN-TRACK: The Huon Peninsula, (easy) Bougainville and the Adelbert Range

PRICE INFORMATION

Papua New Guinea Tour Prices: Prices in Papua New Guinea are high by any standards, but there are reasons for this. In the first place accommodations in Papua New Guinea, whatever their standard, are mostly expensive, as is transport for tourism purposes. Papua New Guinea is a country with only a thin ‘meniscus’ of development that sits on an otherwise very undeveloped part of the world. The very limited but often comfortable layer of infrastructure that tourism uses is also used by oil and gas development staff, miners, lumber extractors and many other expatriates, with the result that prices have risen very high. This combination makes for high prices.

Birdquest Inclusions: Our tour prices include surface transportation, accommodations, meals and entrance fees.

We also include all tipping for local guides, drivers, boatmen and accommodation/restaurant staff.

We also include these flights in our tour prices:

Port Moresby-Madang

Madang-Port Moresby

Lae-Wasu

Wasu-Lae

Lae-Port Moresby

Port Moresby-Buka

Buka-Port Moresby

Deposit: 20% of the total tour price. Our office will let you know what deposit amount is due, in order to confirm your booking, following receipt of your online booking form.

TO BOOK THIS TOUR: Click here (you will need the tour dates)

The single supplement will not apply if you indicate on booking that you prefer to share a room and there is a room-mate of the same sex available.

There are a limited number of safari-style tents in the Huon Peninsula so there may not be enough for all those wanting single occupancy. There is no single room supplement at these locations. The same applies to the iimited number of rooms at Kewki Lodge during the extension.

This tour is priced in US Dollars. Amounts shown in other currencies are indicative.

Air Travel To & From The Tour: Our in-house IATA ticket agency will be pleased to arrange your air travel on request, or you may arrange this yourself if you prefer.

PAPUA NEW GUINEA OFF-THE-BEATEN-TRACK BIRDING TOUR: DETAILED ITINERARY

Papua New Guinea off-the-beaten track: Day 1  The tour begins with a flight to the city of Lae, situated on PNG’s north coast), where we will spend the night.

(International flight routings into Port Moresby include direct flights from Brisbane, Singapore, Hong Kong and Manila. Although we know some participants may prefer to fly into Port Moresby early this morning, we recommend a night at an airport area hotel so you can rest after the long journey. We can make reservations on request.)

Lae airport and our hotel grounds hold a variety of bird species and if we are in luck we will encounter the very range-restricted Edwards’s Fig Parrot. Other species we may come across include Papuan Harrier, Pygmy Eagle, Pinon’s Imperial Pigeon, Channel-billed Cuckoo, Palm Cockatoo, Buff-faced Pygmy Parrot and Horsfield’s Bush Lark.

Papua New Guinea off-the-beaten track: Day 2  This morning we will take a flight to the little town of Wasu on the north coast of the Huon Peninsula. Upon arrival, we will drive into the mountains for a three nights stay in a comfortable, safari-style camp.

This afternoon we will begin our exploration of the surrounding area. A track reaches around 1950m (6400ft) at a pass and it is here that we will enter the submontane and montane forests of the fabled Huon peninsula.

Papua New Guinea off-the-beaten track: Days 3-4  On the map, the Huon Peninsula looks like a giant wart on the back of Papua New Guinea. It is dominated by three impressive mountain ranges, which are separated from the central spine of New Guinea: the Finisterre, Saruwaged (or Sarawaget) and Rawlinson Ranges. These consist of coral limestone and reach an amazing 4212m (13,820ft) at their highest point! They are still mainly covered in montane and subalpine forest, with alpine grassland occurring above the treeline at about 3000m (9850ft).

The Huon forms part of BirdLife’s Endemic Bird Area 177, which also encompasses the nearby Adelbert Range. Five species of birds are endemic to the Huon and another is shared with the Adelbert Mountains. The gorgeous Emperor Bird-of-paradise belongs with the ‘classical’ birds-of-paradise and displays in noisy groups in the forest canopy of the lower hill forest. Witnessing the bizarre display of these splendid creatures will be one of our main targets here. The marvellous Huon Astrapia is a more montane species in which the males are adorned by a long and beautiful purplish tail. They display quietly in the treetops and often gather at favourite fruiting trees. The third localized bird-of-paradise, the marvellous Wahnes’ Parotia, also occurs in the nearby Adelbert Range (although it is very rare there). It is a mid-montane species that builds its dance court on the ground. This is the rarest and shyest of the three restricted-range birds-of-paradise, but we will definitely put in the necessary amount of effort to get good views.

The large endemic Spangled Honeyeater, with its striking yellow-orange facial wattle, is another frugivore that is fairly common in the area. The endemic Huon Catbird is a retiring species that can be hard to see as opposed to hear. [The last of the Huon endemics and near-endemics is the high-montane Huon Melidectes, which sadly only occurs well above the altitudes we are able to reach on the tour.]

Furthermore, the Huon-endemic local race of the retiring Macgregor’s Bowerbird is an upcoming split under the name Huon Bowerbird!

Mottled Berryhunter, a species that used to be considered a whistler but is now placed in a New Guinea-endemic monotypic family, is easier to see in the Huon than anywhere else in New Guinea. We have even had multiple sightings in a single day!

Other species occurring regularly in these epiphyte-laden and moss-encrusted forests include Black-mantled Goshawk, Brown Falcon, Forbes’s Forest Rail, Great Cuckoo-Dove, Ornate Fruit Dove, Rufescent and Zoe’s Imperial Pigeons, Mountain Swiftlet, Mountain Kingfisher (of an interesting local form, a possible split), Brown Falcon, the inscrutable Pesquet’s (or Vulturine) Parrot, the smart Stella’s Lorikeet, Orange-billed Lorikeet, Dusky Lory and Double-eyed Fig Parrot.

Passerines include White-shouldered Fairy-wren, Red-collared and Mountain Myzomelas, Marbled, Rufous-backed, Long-billed, Black-throated and Mountain Honeyeaters, Cinnamon-browed Melidectes, Buff-faced Scrubwren, Brown-breasted Gerygone, Fan-tailed Berrypecker, the superb Tit Berrypecker, the endearing Black-breasted Boatbill, Great Woodswallow, Mountain Peltops, Hooded and Black-bellied Cuckooshrikes, Common Cicadabird, Regent, Sclater’s and Brown-backed Whistlers, Hooded Pitohui, White-bellied Thicket Fantail, Friendly and Black Fantails, the unique Blue-capped Ifrita (a monotypic bird family), Lesser Melampitta (hard to see as opposed to hear), Greater Lophorina (formerly Superb Bird-of-paradise), the shy Growling (or Eastern) Riflebird (whose harsh calls emanate from the forest interior), Black-throated and Slaty Robins, Canary Flyrobin, Black-fronted and Papuan White-eyes, and Red-capped Flowerpecker.

Less common or shyer possibilities include Barred-tailed Cuckoo-Dove, White-bibbed and Pink-spotted Fruit Doves, White-eared Bronze Cuckoo, White-crowned, Fan-tailed and Chestnut-breasted Cuckoos, Red-breasted Pygmy Parrot, Brehm’s Tiger Parrot, Fairy and Yellow-billed Lorikeets, Orange-crowned Fairywren, Mountain Mouse-warbler, Streaked, Mid-mountain and Spotted Berrypeckers, Marbled Honeyeater, Stout-billed Cuckooshrike, Black Cicadabird, Rufous-naped Bellbird, Island Leaf Warbler, the nuthatch-like Papuan Sittella, Black Monarch, Spotted Jewel Babbler, Lemon-bellied Flyrobin, Lesser Ground Robin and Blue-grey and Garnet Robins.

Night birding sessions could turn up Mountain and Feline Owlet-nightjars, Papuan Boobook and Greater Sooty Owl.

There are now some photographic hides/blinds in the area and they can provide stunning views of the parotia and the bowerbird, but it may take time and one can be unlucky. One can also miss other species as a result. If you would like to try your luck, please let our leader know before arriving in the Huon.

Papua New Guinea off-the-beaten track: Day 5  After some final Huon birding we will return to Wasu and fly back to Lae for an overnight stay.

Papua New Guinea off-the-beaten track: Day 6  Today we will fly back to Port Moresby for an overnight stay. We may have some time for a bit of local birding at Port Moresby, depending on the flight timing.

Papua New Guinea off-the-beaten track: Day 7  From Port Moresby, we will take a flight to Buka Island, adjacent to the much larger island of Bougainville at the far eastern edge of Papua New Guinean territory.

After meeting up with Bougainville’s only birding tour agent at Buka airport, we will cross the narrow sound to Bougainville and then transfer to our simple but fairly comfortable guesthouse accommodation in Arawa for a five nights stay.

Papua New Guinea off-the-beaten track: Days 8-11  This is deliberately an easy version of birding Bougainville and so we will be using some mostly good roads to access excellent habitat up to around 1000m (around 3300ft).

With four full days to explore Bougainville, we will dedicate much of our time to finding the Bougainville endemics that we first recorded during our Birdquest expedition in 2023. The easiest of these are Bougainville Crow, Bougainville Monarch, Bougainville Bush Warbler and Bougainville White-eye.

We have a fair chance of encountering Bougainville Fantail and with real luck, we could encounter Bougainville (Hooded) Whistler or Bougainville Honeyeater at the lower limits of their altitudinal range (all three have been recorded from an area we can reach by road).

Other major specialities are restricted to only a few islands in the Solomons and are just as special. They include Pale Mountain Pigeon, Meek’s Lorikeet and conceivably even the ultra-rare and cryptic Imitator Goshawk (but don’t hold your breath for that one!).

The lowland forests and wetlands around Arawa hold an array of birds which can be seen only on Bougainville and in the rest of the Solomon Islands (the political entity of that name).

A Sanford’s Sea Eagle may glide lazily overhead while we search the coconut palms for gaudy Duchess Lorikeets. The endemic race of Woodford’s Rail frequents marshy areas and is likely to be a future split as Bougainville Rail.

Other Solomons endemics we should see in the lowlands include Pied Goshawk, Claret-breasted Fruit Dove, the striking Cardinal Lory, Ultramarine Kingfisher, Solomons and North Melanesian Cuckooshrikes, Red-capped Myzomela, Oriole Whistler, Steel-blue Flycatcher, Solomons Monarch, Yellow-throated White-eye, Brown-winged Starling, Long-tailed Myna and Midget Flowerpecker. White-winged (or Cockerell’s) Fantail is also possible.

We did check out an old area for the ultra-rare White-eyed Starling during our 2023 expedition but had no luck. They may be hanging on in the same area or nearby.

We will go spotlighting in the evening for West Solomons Owl, which should be quite straightforward. More difficult is the imposing and poorly known Fearful Owl, which is closely related to both the extinct Laughing Owl of New Zealand and, strangely, the widespread Short-eared Owl.

Specialities shared with the Bismarck Islands include Red-knobbed Imperial Pigeon, Melanesian Kingfisher and Song Parrot, while Island Imperial Pigeon has a somewhat wider distribution.

Other species we may encounter during our visit to Bougainville include Pacific Black Duck, Melanesian Megapode, Glossy, White-rumped and Uniformed Swiftlets, Brush Cuckoo, Yellow-bibbed and Superb Fruit Doves, Stephan’s Emerald Dove, Australasian Swamphen, Pacific Golden Plover, Greater Sand Plover, Eurasian Whimbrel, Ruddy Turnstone, Sharp-tailed, Common  and Terek Sandpipers, Grey-tailed Tattler, Greater Crested Tern, Lesser Frigatebird, Little Pied Cormorant, Nankeen (or Rufous) Night Heron, Eastern Cattle and Great Egrets, Pacific Reef Heron, Osprey, Pacific Baza, Variable Goshawk, Brahminy Kite, Blyth’s Hornbill, Oriental Hobby, Papuan Eclectus, Red-flanked and Coconut Lorikeets, Barred and White-bellied Cuckooshrikes, Common Cicadabird, Willie Wagtail, Rufous Fantail, Shing Flycatcher, Pacific Swallow, Australian Reed Warbler, Metallic and Singing Starlings and Sahul Sunbird.

[There is no road access to higher altitudes on Bougainville. Arduous and prolonged trekking and primitive camping are required to access Moustached Kingfisher, Black-backed Thrush and Bougainville Thicketbird.]

Papua New Guinea off-the-beaten track: Day 12  Today we will return to Buka and catch a flight to Port Moresby where the tour ends.

ADELBERT RANGE EXTENSION

Adelbert Range: Day 1  The extension starts this morning at Port Moresby airport from where we will take a morning flight to the town of Madang on Papua New Guinea’s northern coast. Upon arrival, we will board the 4×4 vehicles that will take us along a rough track deep into the mountains of the Adelbert Range to Keki Lodge for a four nights stay.

(International flight routings into Port Moresby include direct flights from Brisbane, Singapore, Hong Kong and Manila. Although we know some participants may prefer to fly into Port Moresby early this morning, we recommend a night at an airport area hotel so you can rest after the long journey. We can make reservations on request.)

We will start our exploration of the area this afternoon.

Adelbert Range: Days 2-4  The fabled black, red and yellow Fire-maned Bowerbird is one of the rarest and one of the most dazzling and baffling birds of New Guinea and is restricted to altitudes between 900 and 1450m in the Adelbert Range. Its small bower was only described in 1986 and its display behaviour and nest remain largely unknown. One or two of these special birds regularly visit the fruiting fig trees near our lodge, so we stand a very good chance of adding this dramatic species to our life lists.

The unobtrusive Banded Yellow Robin leads a quiet life in the forest understorey and is usually first detected by its mellow trill. We will also want to observe the timid Brown-headed (or Brown-capped) Jewel-babbler. Like the other members of its genus, it is secretive and we will need to work a bit to entice one into view.

A display tree of Lesser Birds-of-paradise is situated nearby and there are usually several adult males in attendance. The fabulous Magnificent Bird-of-paradise is not uncommon here and with a modicum of luck, we will see a male in a fruiting tree or even at his display court.

Other species that we may well encounter during our stay include Long-tailed Honey Buzzard, Oriental Dollarbird, Rufous-bellied Kookaburra, the magnificent Palm Cockatoo, (Western) Black-capped Lory, the secretive Tan-capped Catbird, Plain, Forest and Mimic Honeyeaters, the sneaky Rusty Mouse-warbler, Black and Obscure Berrypeckers, Boyer’s Cuckooshrike, Black-browed Triller, Sooty Thicket Fantail, Chestnut-bellied Fantail, Papuan (or New Guinea) White-eye and Grey Crow. We will also hear the raucous calls of the Collared (or Brown-collared) Brush-turkey on our wanderings in the area, but seeing this retiring forest denizen is another matter.

More uncommon possibilities include Beautiful Fruit Dove, Dwarf Koel, Slaty-headed Longbill, Northern Variable Pitohui, Ochre-collared Monarch and Crinkle-collared Manucode.

At night we will try to get good views of Marbled Frogmouth and Papuan Boobook.

Adelbert Range: Day 5  Today we will return to Madang and take a flight back to Port Moresby.

Adelbert Range: Day 6  Morning extension end at Port Moresby.