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Trip report Taja, Papua
29 August to 12 September 2006
This was not the first time I visited Papua, East Indonesia. The first time was in the summer of 2001 to see one of our favourite parrot families, the fig parrots. Since then we returned to this region once or twice a year and during the last 2 years we spent longer periods in Biak Island and in Java.
It is not difficult to get to Jayapura from any measure city in Indonesia, many big travel agencies such as Garuda or Merpati have daily flight to and from Sentani airport in Papua so there is no need to go through that in this report.
There are many hotels close to Sentani airport and as it's easy to get the permission (Surat Jalan) to visit this region in the police station in this city, I don't see the need to travel to or to stay in Jayapura. I usually stay at Ratna Hotel about 300m from the airport and close to the markets. Mickey Restaurant in the main street (5 minutes walk from the hotel) is a good clean place to eat and the prices are affordable.
There is one internet cafe in Sentani but it has a very slow connection. Avoiding it will spare you both money and headaches. In Papua in general everything is twice as expensive as Java, Sulawesi or Kalimantan, everything is imported from central Indonesia.
Some birding can be done around Lake Sentani; it's cheap to get there by bus or taxi.
In my earlier trips, I visited Genyem and Nimbokrang (Jalan Korea) but since we found Taja, we thought that it was worth the extra kilometres and the muddy roads. I stayed with friends in Taja village, as there are no hotels or guesthouses in this region. The first thing I do when I arrive in the area is to report to the Head of the village (Kepala Desa) and show the permit from the police station in Sentani. It is very important to get this man’s approval, as he will be responsible for my safety when staying in his region.
It is not necessary but it helps to bring a present to the head of village, I usually offer small Swiss knifes or cigarettes. The gifts are always welcome.
The birding in this region is very rewarding with 6 bird of paradise species, 3 Pitohui species and many different parrot species, some of them are very rare elsewhere such as the Pesquet’s parrot and Salvadori’s Fig Parrot.
The trails can be very muddy and flooded but otherwise very good and easy. Logging is becoming a very big problem in this region and many new cleared patches pop up deep in the jungle almost every day, it seems.
The easiest way to bird the region is to follow these trails and a local guide is necessary.
Species list:
- Southern Cassowary - Casuarius casuarius - heard only
- Little Black Cormorant - Phalacrocorax sulcirostris
- Little Pied Cormorant - Phalacrocorax melanoleucos
- Great Frigatebird - Fregata minor
- Lesser Frigatebird - Fregata ariel
- Great Egret - Ardea alba
- Intermediate Egret - Ardea intermedia
- Little Egret - Egretta garzetta
- Rufous Night-Heron - Nycticorax caledonicus
- Pacific Baza - Aviceda subcristata
- Long-tailed Honey-Buzzard - Henicopernis longicauda
- Brahminy Kite - Haliastur indus
- Variable Goshawk - Accipiter hiogaster
- Brown-collared Brush-turkey - Talegalla jobiensis
- Buff-banded Rail - Gallirallus philippensis
- Pacific Golden Plover - Pluvialis fulva
- Whimbrel - Numenius phaeopus
- Common Sandpiper - Actitis hypoleucos
- Rock Dove - Columba livia
- Slender-billed Cuckoo-Dove - Macropygia amboinensis
- Great Cuckoo-Dove - Reinwardtoena reinwardtii
- Bronze Ground-Dove - Gallicolumba beccarii
- Wompoo Fruit-Dove - Ptilinopus magnificus
- Ornate Fruit-Dove - Ptilinopus ornatus ornatus
- Superb Fruit-Dove - Ptilinopus superbus
- Beautiful Fruit-Dove - Ptilinopus pulchellus
- Yellow-bibbed Fruit-Dove - Ptilinopus solomonensis
- Orange-bellied Fruit-Dove - Pilinopus iozonus
- Purple-tailed Imperial-Pigeon - Ducula rufigaster
- Pinon Imperial-Pigeon - Ducula pinon
- Zoe Imperial-Pigeon - Ducula zoeae
- Rufescent Imperial Pigeon - Ducula chalconota
- Palm Cockatoo - Probosciger aterrimus
- Sulphur-crested Cockatoo - Cacatua galerita
- Buff-faced Pygmy-Parrot - Micropsitta pusio
- Double-eyed Fig-Parrot - Cyclopsitta diophthalma
- Salvadori's Fig-Parrot - Psittaculirostris salvadori
- Red-cheeked Parrot - Geoffroyus geoffroyi
- Eclectus Parrot - Eclectus roratus
- Pesquet's parrot - Psittricas fulgidus
- Brown Lory - Chalcopsitta duivenbodei
- Papuan King-parrot - Alisterus chloropterus
- Rainbow Lorikeet - Trichoglossus haematodus
- Black-capped - Lory Lorius lory
- Chestnut-breasted Cuckoo - Cacomantis castaneiventris
- Dwarf Koel - Microdynamis parva
- Common Koel - Eudynamys scolopacea
- Channel-billed Cuckoo - Scythrops novaehollandiae
- Papuan Frogmouth - Podargus papuensis
- Glossy Swiftlet - Aerodramus esculenta
- Mountain Swiftlet - Aerodramus hirundinacea
- Uniform Swiftlet - Aerodramus vanikorensis
- Azure Kingfisher - Alcedo azurea
- Rufous-bellied Kookaburra - Dacelo gaudichaud
- Sacred Kingfisher - Todiramphus sanctus
- Common Paradise-Kingfisher - Tanysiptera gala tea
- Rainbow Bee-eater - Merops ornatus
- Dollarbird - Eurystomus orientalis
- Blyth 's Hornbill - Aceros plicatus
- Hooded Pitta - Pitta sordida
- Barn Swallow - Hirundo rustica
- Grey Wagtail - Motacilla cinerea
- Boyer's Cuckoo-shrike - Coracina boyeri
- Cicadabird - Coracina tenuirostris
- Black-browed Triller - Lalage atrovirens
- Golden-headed Cisticola - Cisticola exilis
- Willie Wagtail - Rhipidura leucophrys
- Northern Fantail - Rhipidura rufiventris
- Rufous-backed Fantail - Rhipidura rufidorsa
- Hooded Monarch - Monarcha manadensis
- Golden Monarch Monarcha chrysomela
- Frilled Monarch - Arses telescophthalmus
- Rufous-collared Monarch - Arses insularis
- Shining Flycatcher - Myiagra alecto
- Yellow-breasted Boatbill - Machaerirhynchus flaviventer
- Lemon-bellied Flycatcher - Microeca flavigaster
- Little Shrike-thrush - Colluricincla megarhyncha
- Variable Pitohui - Pitohui kirhocephalus
- Hooded Pitohui - Pitohui dicrous
- Rusty Pitohui - Pitohui ferrugineus
- Rufous Babbler - Pomatostomus isidorei
- White-shouldered Fairywren - Malurus alboscapulatus
- Emperor Fairywren - Malurus cyanocephalus
- Yellow-bellied Gerygone - Gerygone chrysogaster
- Large-billed Gerygone - Gerygone magnirostris
- Fairy Gerygone - Gerygone palpebrosa
- Black Sunbird - Leptocoma aspasia
- Yellow-bellied Sunbird - Cinnyris jugularis
- Black Berrypecker - Melanocharis nigra
- Yellow-bellied Longbill - Toxorhamphus novaeguineae
- Red-capped Flowerpecker - Dicaeum geelvinkianum
- Long-billed Honeyeater - Melilestes megarhynchus
- Dwarf Honeyeater - Oedistoma iliolophus
- Red-throated Myzomela - Myzomela eques
- Scrub Honeyeater - Meliphaga albonotata
- Puff-backed Honeyeater - Meliphaga aruensis
- Mimic Honeyeater - Meliphaga analoga
- Yellow-gaped Honeyeater - Meliphaga flavirictus
- Varied Honeyeater - Lichenostomus versicolor
- Plain Honeyeater - Pycnopygius ixoides
- Streak-headed Honeyeater - Pycnopygios stictocephalus
- Meyer's Friarbird - Philemon meyeri
- New Guinea Friarbird - Philemon novaeguineae
- Brown Oriole - Oriolus szalayi
- Spangled Drongo - Dicrurus bracteatus
- Lowland Peltops - Peltops blainvillii
- Hooded Butcherbird - Cracticus cassicus
- Glossy-mantled Manucode - Manucodia atra
- Crinkle-collared Manucode - Manucodia chalybata
- Pale-billed Sicklebill - Epimachus bruijnii
- King Bird-of-paradise - Cicinnurus regius
- Twelve-wired Bird-of-paradise - Seleucidis melanoleuca
- Lesser Bird-of-paradise - Paradisaea minor
- White-eared Catbird - Ailuroedus buccoides
- Spotted Catbird - Ailuroedus melanotis
- Brown-headed Crow - Corvus fuscicapillus
- Grey Crow - Corvus tristis
- Metallic Starling - Aplonis metallic
- Yellow-faced Myna - Mino dumontii
- Golden Myna - Mino anais
- Crimson Finch - Neochmia phaeton
- Chestnut-breasted Mannikin - Lonchura castaneothorax
- Eurasian Tree Sparrow - Passer montanus
- Streak-headed Munia - Lonchura tristissima
References:
Birds of Indonesia by Morten strange
Irian Jaya 1991 by John Hornbuckle
Birds of New Guinea by Bruce Beehler, Pratt, Zimmerman
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