For many birders, including myself, the birds of paradise are at the top of their wish list. Of the 44 species, 40 are found on the island of New Guinea, so that is where I have long wanted to go. I recently (June-July 2025) managed to visit the island on a 12-day birding trip to West Papua. Needless to say, the trip was like birding in paradise and proved to be a very fruitful and memorable adventure.

Birding in West Papua: A Trip Report by Paul Hilder 

Organised bird tours to West Papua are on the expensive side, which is why I decided to go for an independent trip from my base in Kuala Lumpur, focusing on the island of Waigeo in the Raja Ampat group and the lowlands near Sorong on the mainland. I had originally wanted to include the Arfak mountains further east, but that proved more difficult to organize so I left it for another time.

As well as the nine bird of paradise species found in the areas I visited, I was also keen to add other new bird families to my list, as well as seeing some of the other star birds in the area.

The journey begins

So it was that I landed in Sorong after a middle-of-the-night change in Bali, headed straight for the port, and by 8 am was on the two-hour ferry ride to the island of Waigeo, largest of the Raja Ampat islands. The great majority of the visitors to Raja Ampat are there for the world-class diving and snorkelling, and there are plenty of places to stay.

I had arranged a bird guide in advance through WhatsApp, and spent the next two mornings with him in search of the Red and Wilson’s Birds of Paradise, which are both restricted to the Raja Ampat islands. The weather was not great, and although I did see both species, I felt I had not yet had the full ‘bird of paradise experience’. Of the other bird,s the highlight was the Yellow-breasted Boatbill, my second new family of the trip.

A short detour

On my fourth day, I took a break from the birds of paradise and went on a snorkelling trip to the beautiful island of Piaynemo, a two-hour boat ride away. Even though it wasn’t the peak underwater season, the fish and coral were superb, as was the above-water scenery. I did take my binoculars with me and saw seabirds such as the Lesser Frigatebird and Bridled Tern, as well as some of the land birds which inhabit the smaller islands, like the Spice Imperial-Pigeon and Violet-necked Lory. 

Wilson’s in Warkesi on Waigeo

On my final day on Waigeo, I decided to visit the Warkesi Forest Park, which turned out to be an excellent choice. I was there before sunrise, and a guide took me to a large hide. After a fairly short wai,t two male Red Birds of Paradise flew into a nearby tree and performed their remarkable display. This was more like it! After a whil,e we moved on to another hide where a male Wilson’s Bird of Paradise, surely one of the strangest-looking birds in the world, was clearing his display court of any stray leaves.

Moving on to Malagufuk

My second base was the village of Malagufuk, about 60km east of Sorong. Staying here was more difficult to organise as an independent traveller, and as all I had in the way of booking confirmation was a WhatsApp message from a man called Ata Lucky, I wasn’t 100% sure what would happen.

However, it all worked out smoothly, and I was picked up at my hotel in Sorong and driven to the village – or as near to the town as one can drive, after which there is a one-hour walk. The forest here is very damp underfoot, and in recent years, a boardwalk has been constructed from the road to the village, along which the villagers transport everything they need from outside in wheelbarrows.  

Birding around Malagufuk

On arrival in Malagufuk, I was shown to my accommodation, a rather basic small house, and introduced to my two guides, Yanchi and Nando, who have an excellent knowledge of the local birds.

During my four days in Malagufuk, they would take me out early every morning and again after lunch, each time to see a different bird of paradise. In this way, I saw the Lesser Bird of Paradise displaying high in the trees, the Twelve-wired Bird of Paradise calling from his ‘display pole’, the exquisite King Bird of Paradise, the Magnificent Riflebird with his eerie call, and the Magnificent Bird of Paradise doing some court cleaning.

Other than the B.O.P’s

Apart from the birds of paradise, which are generally easy to see if you are in the right place at the right time, forest birding in the area is slow going – we walked for quite long periods in the forest without seeing a single bird.

However, by putting in the hours and tracking down calling birds, we ended up seeing most of the special birds of the area. This included four species of kingfisher (the Red-Breasted Paradise Kingfisher eluded me, though I heard it quite often), decent views of the Papuan and Eastern Hooded Pittas, and a brief view of the very shy Blue Jewel-Babbler.

One day after dinner, we went out for a night walk – we started at dusk, which enabled us to see a couple of Papuan Nightjars flying around the edge of the village, then continued into the forest, where we found both Marbled and Papuan Frogmouths as well as a pair of nocturnal wallabies. 

Surprise encounters, but very welcome ones!

The highlight of the visit, and the whole birding in West Papua trip, came on my final morning in Malagufuk. We were on the boardwalk returning from the Magnificent Bird of Paradise hide when we came across a pair of Western Crowned Pigeons out in the open by a small river. These are stunning birds which I had only glimpsed up to that point, and we were able to watch them for over a minute. 

After they returned to the forest, we had only gone a couple of steps when Yanchi whispered urgently: ‘cassowary!’ – and sure enough, an adult male Northern Cassowary had emerged from the forest on the other side of the boardwalk, followed by two juvenile birds.

We froze, and I watched and filmed them as they walked up the river before silently disappearing into the trees. We had come across a couple of cassowary footprints over the preceding days, but I had not imagined I would see this bird, and the guides seemed as excited as I was.

Return to Sorong, and the end of my birding in West Papua trip

After that, it was back to Sorong. I had a couple of days at the end of the trip as a cushion in case Malagufuk didn’t work out, and these were something of an anticlimax after the excitement of the previous ten days. It rained most of the time, but I did visit a local mangrove reserve a couple of times, where I added a few more birds to my list, including Orange-fronted Fruit-Dove and Collared Imperial-Pigeon. 

Birding in West Papua – The Final Tally

All in all, a very successful trip. I saw all nine of the possible birds of paradise, including the Manucodes, which are less spectacular members of the family. The species are:

1. Red Bird of Paradise
2. Wilson’s Bird of Paradise
3. Lesser Bird of Paradise
4. Twelve-wired Bird of Paradise
5. King Bird of Paradise
6. Magnificent Riflebird
7. Magnificent Bird of Paradise
8. Glossy-mantled Manucode
9. Trumpet Manucode

In terms of other new families, I saw three of my five targets: the boatbill and jewel-babbler already mentioned, plus the Papuan Babbler (a ‘pseudo-babbler’ not related to the Asian babblers), which I saw a few times, though never very well.

My species count was a modest 79 plus 10 heard only, so it was all about quality rather than quantity! 72 of the 79 were lifers for me. See my full checklist on my eBird trip report. (Editor’s note: That’s an amazing list – most of the birds I’ve never heard of before!)

Lastly, something to keep in mind for anyone interested in going birding in West Papua

I have spoken to some people who are concerned about the dangers of travelling independently in New Guinea. From what I have read, this might be an issue in certain parts of Papua New Guinea, but my experience on the Indonesian side (West Papua) was of an extremely friendly and safe place.

Malaria is another concern, and I decided to take Malarone tablets – these are quite expensive and were not easy to find in Malaysia. Still, I didn’t fancy the side effects which the other options can have. 

Conclusion

In summary, if you’d like to reduce the cost and don’t mind a bit of uncertainty, an independent birding trip to West Papua is perfectly doable – and I will enjoy the memories for years to come.

Editor’s note: The Birdwatching Asia team really needs to go birding in West Papua now…..

This article is written by Paul Hilder, a birder originally from the U.K. but currently based in Kuala Lumpur. His birding career has taken him around the globe, making him a very experienced avian aficionado. Since moving to Malaysia nearly four years ago, he has continued his passion for birding, regularly going birdwatching around the country and joining trips and events organised by local birding groups. Paul has long had a soft spot for Cranes and is currently obsessed with Pittas.