20 Aug 2025 - 06 Sep 2025 (18 days)
PGK47,950 - No Spaces Available
Tour Leader: Erik Forsyth
Tour price (Per person): PGK47,950 * USD11,901 * GBP9,507 * EUR11,439 * AUD18,315
Single Supplement: PGK4,950 * USD1,229 * GBP981 * EUR1,181 * AUD1,891
Flight costs: PGK3,400 * USD844 * GBP674 * EUR811 * AUD1,299
Can be linked with: Papua New Guinea - New Britain Extension III 2025
25 Jul 2026 - 11 Aug 2026 (18 days)
PGK49,900 - 3 Spaces Available
Tour Leader: Paul Varney
Pricing notes : *Prices are estimated and dates may change*
Tour price (Per person): PGK49,900 * USD12,385 * GBP9,894 * EUR11,904 * AUD19,060
Can be linked with: Papua New Guinea - New Britain Extension II 2026
Of all the world’s birding destinations, Papua New Guinea must certainly rank amongst the most fascinating and exotic. The second largest island on Earth, New Guinea was the last inhabited island to be explored by Europeans, and even today many areas have little or no exposure to Western influence. The virtually untouched forests come alive with incredible fruit doves, fig parrots, fairywrens, jewel-babblers, pittas, honeyeaters and berrypeckers, while over twenty species of dazzling birds-of-paradise present sometimes unbelievably iridescent colours and wild tail plumes in one of the most astonishing exhibits of the natural world!
Travelling by air, road, and boat we will explore the diverse habitats of the country, from winding lowland rivers and sprawling grasslands, to the richly forested highlands. Native tribes still dress themselves to mimic the island’s fabulous birds, adorned with elaborate head plumes made from the feathers of parrots and birds-of-paradise. Our eighteen-day tour covers the highlights of this enchanted and little-travelled country. We can expect a phenomenal variety of remarkable birds in and amongst vast regions of immaculate forests that have been experienced by few people on earth!
King of Saxony, Magnificent, King, Twelve-wired, Greater, Raggiana, Lesser & Blue Bird-of-paradise; Magnificent & Growling Riflebirds; Black, Brown & Black-billed Sicklebills; Superb Lophorina; Glossy-mantled, Crinkle-collared & Trumpet Manucodes; Ribbon-tailed & Princess Stephanie's Astrapias; Queen Carola's & Lawes's Parotias; Salvadori's Teal; Forest Bittern; Papuan, Pygmy & Gurney's Eagles; Doria's & Black-mantled Goshawks; Papuan Harrier; New Guinea Flightless Rail; New Guinea Woodcock; New Guinea Bronzewing; Cinnamon Ground Dove; Pheasant Pigeon; Sclater’s Crowned Pigeon; Wompoo, Pink-spotted, Ornate, Orange-fronted, Superb, Coroneted, Beautiful, White-bibbed, Orange-bellied & Dwarf Fruit Doves; Purple-tailed, Rufescent, Pinon's, Collared, Zoe's & Torresian Imperial Pigeons; Papuan Mountain Pigeon; Papuan Boobook; Marbled & Papuan Frogmouths; Archbold's Nightjar; Feline, Starry, Wallace's, Mountain & Barred Owlet-Nightjars; Hook-billed, Common Paradise, Little Paradise, Buff-breasted Paradise, Brown-headed Paradise, Forest, Torresian, Yellow-billed, Mountain, Papuan Dwarf & Azure Kingfishers; Shovel-billed, Blue-winged & Rufous-bellied Kookaburras; Pesquet's, Yellow-capped, Buff-faced Pygmy, Orange-breasted Fig, Papuan King & Brehm's Tiger Parrots; Papuan Eclectus; Striated, Red-flanked, Fairy, Papuan, Yellow-billed & Orange-billed Lorikeets; Purple-bellied, Dusky, Goldie's & Coconut Lorikeets; Papuan Pitta; Archbold's, MacGregor's, Flame, Yellow-breasted & Fawn-breasted Bowerbirds; Papuan Treecreeper; Wallace's, Emperor, White-shouldered & Orange-crowned Fairywren; Goldenface; Papuan Babbler; Papuan Logrunner; Loria's & Crested Satinbirds; Tit & Crested Berrypeckers; Papuan Whipbird; Spotted, Blue & Chestnut-backed Jewel-babbler; Painted Quail-thrush; Mottled Berryhunter; Papuan & Black Sittellas; Wattled Ploughbill; Rufous-naped Whistler; Crested Pitohui; Lesser & Greater Melampittas; Blue-capped Ifrit; Mountain Firetail; White-spotted, Great-billed, Grey-headed, Hooded & Chestnut-breasted Mannikins.
Spectacled Dasyure, Black-tailed Giant Rat, Agile Wallaby, Great Flying Fox
lowland and montane rainforest, Eucalyptus savanna, mangroves, grasslands, wetlands, islets
hot and humid with tropical showers, cooler in the highlands
6 with 1 Rockjumper leader
moderate pace with some longer hikes
comfortable to good hotels and lodges with one basic lodge
moderate, can be challenging at times
300 - 350
traditional carvings, spectacular forest vistas and mountain scenery
good
Dušan Brinkhuizen was especially sweet and encouraging when I was having trouble with pain or with getting onto birds. I would be happy to travel with Dušan again.
Adam Walleyn knew the birds and the calls and worked hard to make sure we saw not only the specialties of the area but all the birds. His nightbirding skills were phenomenal. It is like he knew exactly where the bird was going to show.
The credit for the trip’s success goes to our guides, Glen Valentine and David Erterius. Both have seemingly limitless knowledge of the birds, extrasensory capacities to find them, apparently endless patience and generosity with their clients, and (critically) wonderful senses of humor. They consistently squeezed more out of the birds, the environment, and the experience than I thought possible.
Special thanks to Dušan Brinkhuizen for his care in helping me to locate birds on my camcorder.
I thought Lev Frid did a great job in managing the tour.
Papua New Guinea - Bowman & Horgan 2024 - September 2024
Papua New Guinea - Birding in Paradise (Small Group) II 2024 - September 2024
Papua New Guinea - Highlights II 2024 - September 2024
Papua New Guinea - New Britain Extension III 2024 - August 2024
Papua New Guinea - Bird Families 2024 - July 2024
Papua New Guinea - Birding in Paradise (Small Group) I 2024 - June 2024
Papua New Guinea - New Britain Extension I 2024 - May 2024
Papua New Guinea - Birding in Paradise (Small Group) II 2023 - August 2023
Papua New Guinea - Highlights II 2023 - August 2023
Papua New Guinea - New Britain Extension III 2023 - August 2023
Papua New Guinea - Birding in Paradise IV 2023 - August 2023
Papua New Guinea - Adelbert Range & Huon Peninsula 2023 - July 2023
Papua New Guinea - Birding in Paradise III 2022 - July 2022
Papua New Guinea - New Britain Extension II 2022 - July 2022
Papua New Guinea - Birding in Paradise II 2022 - June 2022
Papua New Guinea - Huon Peninsula Extension I 2022 - June 2022
Papua New Guinea - Highlights I 2019 - September 2019
Papua New Guinea - New Britain III 2019 - August 2019
Papua New Guinea - Birding in Paradise V 2019 - August 2019
Papua New Guinea - Huon Peninsula Extension II 2019 - August 2019