Yamdena Island, the Tanimbars,
Lesser Sundas, Indonesia
20-26 August 2006

I had some time to spare between birding Buru Island and Papua so I decided to visit the Tanimbars. I flew from Ambon to Yamdena Island with Merpati Nusantara; it took around 2 hours before we landed in Saumlaki city.

The Tanimbars are small limestone islands in Lesser Sundas, eastern Indonesia. Yamdena is the largest in the group. More than half of the land is covered by pristine forest and mangroves but the number of tall trees are declining rapidly due to logging. In Saumlaki I stayed one night in Absiha home stay and the rest of my time on the island was spent in the forest about 20 km north of the city.

The birding on the island was good with many species fairly common such as Arafura Fantail, Gold-bellied flycatcher, Wallacean cuckoo-shrike, Tanimbar Corellas and the endemic White-tufted Honeyeater among others.
The nearest patch of good forest is about 20 km north of Saumlaki city, transportation to get there is not a problem as taxis and motorcycles are readily available for chartering and the prices are affordable.
The roads are fairly good and the trails in the forest can be muddy, otherwise easy.

Yamdena birdlist:
Tanimbar Megapode - Megapodius tenimberensis Endemic
Brown Quail - Coturnix ypsilophora
Spotted Whistling Duck - Dendrocygna guttata
Rufous Night Heron - Nycticorax caledonicus
Cattle Egret - Bubulcus ibis
Great Egret - Ardea alba
Pied Heron - Egretta picata
Little Egret - Egretta garzetta
Pacific Reef Egret - Egretta sacra
Great Frigatebird - Fregata minor
Lesser Frigatebird - Fregata ariel
Little Pied Cormorant - Phalacrocorax melanoleucos
Little Black Cormorant - Phalacrocorax sulcirostris
Spotted Kestrel - Falco moluccensis microbalia
Australian Hobby - Falco longipennis hanieli (Yamdena subsp???)
Peregrine Falcon - Falco peregrinus
Osprey - Pandion haliaetus cristatus
Pacific Baza - Aviceda subcristata timorlaensis
Brahminy Kite - Haliastur Indus intermedius
White-bellied Sea Eagle - Haliaeetus leucogaster
Plain Bush-hen - Amaurornis olivacea (Yamdena subsp???)
Purple Swamphen - Porphyrio porphyrio (Yamdena subsp???)
Pacific Golden Plover - Pluvialis fulva
Greater Sand Plover - Charadrius leschenaultia
Whimbrel - Numenius phaeopus
Common Sandpiper - Actitis hypoleucos
Greater Crested Tern - Sterna bergii
Black-naped Tern - Sterna sumatrana
Rock Dove - Columba livia
Dusky Cuckoo-Dove - Macropygia magna timorlaensis Endemic subsp.
Emerald Dove - Chalcophaps indica timorensis
Barred Dove - Geopelia maugei
Wallace's Fruit Dove - Ptilinopus wallacii
Rose-crowned Fruit Dove - Ptilinopus regina xanthogaster
Blue-tailed Imperial Pigeon - Ducula concinna
Pink-headed Imperial Pigeon - Ducula rosacea
Pied Imperial Pigeon - Ducula bicolor
Tanimbar Corella - Cacatua goffini Endemic
Blue-streaked Lory - Eos reticulate Endemic
Red-cheeked Parrot - Geoffroyus geoffroyi timorlaensis Endemic subsp.
Great-billed Parrot - Tanygnathus megalorynchos subaffinis
Eclectus Parrot - Eclectus roratus riedeli Endemic subsp.
Himalayan Cuckoo - Cuculus saturatus
Brush Cuckoo - Cacomantis variolosus (Yamdena subsp.???)
Pied Bronze Cuckoo - Chrysococcyx crassirostris crassirostris
Channel-billed Cuckoo - Scythrops novaehollandiae
Lesser Coucal - Centropus bengalensis (Yamdena subsp.???)
Large-tailed Nightjar - Caprimulgus macrurus
Glossy Swiftlet - Collocalia esculenta perneglecta???
Uniform Swiftlet - Aerodramus vanikorensis moluccarum
Dollarbird - Eurystomus orientalis pacificus
Forest Kingfisher - Todiramphus macleayii incincta
Collared Kingfisher - Todiramphus chloris
Sacred Kingfisher - Todiramphus sanctus
Cinnamon-banded Kingfisher - Todiramphus australasia odites Endemic subsp.
Azure Kingfisher - Alcedo azurea ruficollaris
Rainbow Bee-eater - Merops ornatus
Elegant Pitta - Pitta elegans vigorsii
Black-faced Friarbird - Philemon moluccensis plumigenis
White-tufted Honeyeater - Lichmera squamata Endemic
Wallacean Honeyeater - Myzomela boiei annabellae
Rufous-sided Gerygone - Gerygone dorsalis dorsalis Endemic subsp.
White-breasted Woodswallow - Artamus leucorynchus musschenbroeki
Wallacean Cuckoo-shrike - Coracina personata unimodus Endemic subsp.
Black-browed Triller - Lalage atrovirens moesta
Golden Whistler - Pachycephala pectoralis fuscoflava Endemic subsp.
Cinnamon-tailed Fantail - Rhipidura fuscorufa Endemic
Long-tailed Fantail - Rhipidura opistherythra Endemic
Arafura Fantail - Rhipidura dryas hamadryas Endemic subsp.
Island Monarch - Monarcha cinerascens cinerascens
Black-bibbed Monarch - Monarcha mundus
Torresian Crow - Corvus orru latirostris
Gold-bellied Flycatcher - Microeca hemixantha Endemic
Barn Swallow - Hirundo rustica
Pacific Swallow - Hirundo tahitica
Zitting Cisticola - Cisticola juncidis (maybe the first record on the island)
Golden-headed Cisticola - Cisticola exilis lineocapilla
Tawny Grassbird - Megalurus timoriensis alisteri ???
Tanimbar Bush Warbler - Cettia carolinae Endemic
Arctic Warbler - Phylloscopus borealis
Ashy-bellied White-eye - Zosterops citronella albiventris
Shining Starling - Aplonis metallica sircumscripta
Tanimbar Starling - Aplonis crassa Endemic
Fawn-breasted Thrush - Zoothera machiki Endemic
Rufous-chested Flycatcher - Ficedula dumetoria riedeli Endemic subsp.
Mistletoebird - Dicaeum hirundinaceum fulgidum Endemic subsp.
Eurasian Tree Sparrow - Passer montanus
Scaly-breasted Munia - Lonchura punctulata blasii Endemic subsp.
Five-coloured Munia - Lonchura quinticolor
Yellow Wagtail - Motacilla flava taivana.

References:
Birds of Indonesia by Morten Strange
Birds of Wallacea by Brian J. Coates, K. David Bishop
The birds of Wallacea, B.O.U Check-list no. 7, British ornithologists' Union by C.M.N. White, Murray D. Bruce

Good maps of the Tanimbars can be found here: http://encarta.msn.com/map_701513695/Moluccas.html