Photographer: Keith Valentine   Destination: Indonesia

 

The delicately marked Fawn-breasted Thrush, pictured above, is a master of camouflage, blending in extremely well with the forest floor and leaf litter where it spends most of its time feeding. This species is confined to Indonesia’s remote Tanimbar Islands, where it is one of the more challenging of the endemics to find. Being a member of the notoriously shy and difficult Zoothera genus usually means that a substantial amount of stealth, skill, patience, and a healthy dose of luck from the birding Gods, is required for success. However, on Keith and Glen Valentine’s recent Banda Sea Cruise (Sep 2023) this particularly confiding Fawn-breasted Thrush decided to throw the field guide literature aside and posed at length for our admiring group along a beautifully lit, wide track through the forest one morning. This was an especially memorable sighting, of what really is an infamously difficult species to connect with and see well.

 

The Tanimbars comprise a group of 65 islands of which we spend most of our time on Yamdena, the largest island in the group. The region is incredibly rich and rewarding for birding overall with a host of endemics and specials to be found throughout the island’s forests. Just a handful of the highlights include stunners like Slaty-backed Thrush, Blue-streaked Lory, Banda Sea Pitta, Tanimbar Megapode and Tanimbar Flycatcher.

 

Our Banda Sea Cruise is a very special trip, where we are based for two weeks on board a comfortable liveaboard (dive boat). We then spend time sailing, snorkelling and island hopping to places like Kalao, Wetar, Alor, Babar, Damar and more in search of some of the world’s most little known and seldom seen species including Damar Flycatcher, Wetar Ground Dove, Kalao Blue Flycatcher, Orange-sided Thrush, Tanahjampea Monarch, Timor Imperial Pigeon, Alor Myzomela and many more.

 

In a nutshell, Indonesia is the world’s largest archipelago and boasts an extraordinary list of birds, totalling over 1770 species, of which 459 are endemic! This and the endemic 200 of 515 species of mammals to be found here, put Indonesia second to only Australia for the highest rate of endemicity in the world. The extreme endemism is largely due to the land mass being split into thousands of islands, many of which hold their own unique set of species that have been evolving in isolation for many years.  

 

Overall, Rockjumper covers Indonesia in depth with trips from Sumatra & Java to Bali, Sulawesi, Halmahera, and West Papua plus a host of islands in-between. One of our most popular is our unique Remote West Papuan Islands Cruise where, like the Banda Sea Cruise, we use a very comfortable liveaboard (dive boat) to explore. Tour highlights typically include seeing Wilson’s and Red Birds-of-paradise at their display courts on the island of Waigeo, while we also search for species that have still been seen by very few birders on the planet such as Kofiau Paradise Kingfisher, Kofiau Monarch, Lazuli Kingfisher, Purple-naped Lory, Long-crested Myna, Buru Thrush, and Boano Monarch. Many species still have fewer than 100 e-bird records and some less than 20! On both cruises we not only enjoy the many special and endemic birds but also spend time exploring the teeming reefs of the Raja Ampats and other small islands, where the most incredible snorkelling and abundant sea life is to be enjoyed.

 

Our land-based tours also offer a huge variety of unique species and memorable experiences. Sulawesi and Halmahera, for example, is another of our most popular tours to Indonesia and is one of only a handful of tours on the planet that regularly produces over 100 endemics. This is THE trip to see the unique Hylocitrea (sole member of the Hylocitreidae family), several megapodes, Purple-bearded Bee-eater, Standardwing (a bird-of-paradise), and unusual mammals like Bear Cuscus, Spectral Tarsier, and Moor and Sulawesi Crested Macaques. We also explore the islands of Sumatra and Java, scanning some of the best birding locations on these islands including Gunung Gede, Way Kambas National Park and Gunung Kerinci for an incredible further 40 endemics.

 

These are just a few examples of what our tours below offer. Join us on an Indonesian birding and wildlife adventure to this incredibly rich birding region and find out for yourself why Indonesia remains one of our most popular and rewarding birding destinations!