West Papua 2025 Part 1: Biak Island

Biak Hooded Pitta

Our 22-day private tour of West Papua kicked off on Biak Island on October 7, 2025. I organised the tour in conjunction with Sulawesi birder Untu Baware. West Papua refers to the Indonesian half of the island of New Guinea, embracing several provinces. The region is becoming increasingly popular with birders as it provides relatively easy access to an extraordinary range of birds – including birds of paradise and other spectacular species - in a variety of habitats. Improving infrastructure and accommodation at various sites makes what was once a difficult destination much easier to visit, although a West Papua trip remains challenging.

First night's bird call

Untu and his daughter Fergina Baware did an excellent job of putting together the logistical arrangements for this trip. Other participants from Australia and the United States were George Appleby, Joe Corcoran, Alex Cruz, Detlef Davies, Richard Fuller, Charles McGrath and Bill Moorhead. They were excellent company and we succeeded in nailing the vast majority of target species. Particular attention was paid to Vogelkop and West Papua endemics, and species difficult to see in neighbouring Papua New Guinea.

Biak coast

Biak offers the opportunity to see 21 Biak and Geelvink Bay endemic bird species. We had decided not to visit Numfor Island as some groups do because it has just 2 endemics not shared with Biak and is logistically more difficult. Our planned 3-day visit to Biak was extended to 4 days because of airline flight rescheduling, although we did not need that extra day. Untu had arranged accommodation at the pleasant Swiss Bell Hotel and our group was transported here and elsewhere throughout the trip in three comfortable vehicles.

Notwithstanding the exhausting overnight flights to get us there, we were keen to hit the road after leaving our luggage at the hotel. In an area of secondary forest not too far from the hotel we scored our first Biak-Geelvink endemic – the handsome Geelvink Fruit-Dove.

Geelvink Fruit Dove

Shortly after we saw a Biak Triller - the first of many we were to encounter - while a pair of Black-winged Lories flew overhead. The afternoon was spent resting to recover from the lengthy travels  undertaken to get here. Although Biak might be a short distance in a direct line from Australia, it is a long haul through Jakarta or Denpasar, and longer still for our American friends. 

Biak Triller

October 8 was a full-on day. A morning highlight was a calling pair of Biak Scops Owls at their daytime roost, with the male showing well. The only scops owl in New Guinea, the species can be difficult to find, usually requiring a foray after dark.

Biak Scops Owl

A Geelvink Imperial Pigeon flew overhead as a female Geelvink Cicadabird showed. A recent split from Australia's Sahul Cicadabird, the species proved to be reasonably common on Biak.

Geelvink Cicadabird

Noisy flocks of Long-tailed Starling, a species restricted to several islands in Geelvink Bay, appeared early and were with us throughout our stay on Biak.

Long-tailed Starling

We notched up Biak (Black) Flycatcher and the strange-looking Biak White-eye.

Biak Flycatcher

In the afternoon we moved on to another area with habitat that looked promising, though patches of mature unlogged forest were few and far between. We found a flowering tree with large numbers of Red-fronted Lorikeet in attendance.

Red-fronted Lorikeet

We had heard Biak Hooded Pitta calling earlier but failed to see it. After some effort we finally managed close and prolonged views of a pitta (first image) in the roadside undergrowth. The distinctive local subspecies of Golden Monarch was not uncommon.

Golden Monarch

We saw a couple of the endemic Biak subspecies of Variable Goshawk. Other species encountered - most with endemic Geelvink or Biak subspecies - included Great Cuckoo Dove, Amboyna Cuckoo Dove, Claret-breasted Fruit Dove and Emporer Fairywren.

Variable Goshawk

Day Three dawned with more specialties on offer. We spent the morning in the Amnyamdam area and the afternoon around Suneri. Geelvink Pygmy Parrot, Biak Lorikeet, Biak Gerygone and Biak Whistler (a skulker with a fine voice) were added to the list.

Biak Whistler

So were Biak Fantail, Biak Monarch and Biak Paradise Kingfisher. Biak Coucal was calling commonly but a few of us managed fleeting views of this skulker. Biak Leaf Warbler was surprisingly scarce, again heard or seen by just a couple of people.

On our final day we looked without success for the last of the 21 regional endemics – Biak Myzomela and Biak Scrubfowl. Few have scored the myzomela in recent years and we were unlucky not to encounter the scrubfowl. I flushed a large bird roadside near the coast which was a potential candidate but failed to see it adequately.

At Karnindi Beach

However we enjoyed a delightful afternoon with the locals at Karnindi Beach. Late in the day I fell on a slippery limestone path that the guide insisted on following, resulting in leg injuries that restricted my birding over the next few days. Still, the Biak visit was a good start to our tour.

Karnindi Beach residence