Whether you think you'll have only one opportunity to visit Australasia or you'd like an introduction to the regional avifauna before devling into it further, this tour provides a superb sampling of the many fascinating species unique to Australasia. Visiting several well-chosen sites along Australia's eastern seaboard and a couple of productive locales in Papua New Guinea will offer us the chance to see a great array of amazing birds, including several species of other-wordly birds-of-paradise!
We'll split our time in New Guinea between the Port Moresby region and the rustically charming Kumul Lodge in the highlands, where we’ll seek out such birds-of-paradise as Raggiana, King-of-Saxony, and Blue, plus Greater Lophorina (formerly Superb BoP), Brown Sicklebill, and the spectacular Ribbon-tailed Astrapia. We'll also stand a good chance to see members of several endemic families of birds including Crested and Tit berrypeckers, Blue-capped Ifrita, the stunning Crested Satinbird, Lesser Melampitta, and even the bizarre Wattled Ploughbill. Other standout species could include the likes of Barred Owlet-Nightjar, Pink-spotted and Beautiful fruit-doves, Papuan Lorikeet, Rufous-bellied Kookaburra, Brown-headed Paradise-Kingfisher, Hooded Pitohui, Yellow-breasted Bowerbird, Frilled Monarch, Regent Whistler, and many more, all against the backdrop of a remarkable civilization, with many people still practicing their traditional lifestyles.
On the Australian section of our tour we'll hope to find a huge Southern Cassowary in the forested hills around Cairns, while the beautiful rainforest reserves of the Atherton Tableland could produce specialties like Pied Monarch, Chowchilla, Victoria's Riflebird, and the rare Golden Bowerbird, plus many more iconic Australian birds like Laughing Kookaburra and several species of fairy-wrens. In the Brisbane region, we'll spend two days at the famous O'Reilly's Guest House (Lamington National Park), where we will see Regent and Satin bowerbirds, Logrunner, and Crimson Rosellas at close range, and we'll have time to search for the more challenging Noisy Pitta and Paradise Riflebird. We'll finish up in Royal NP near Sydney with a chance for the world's largest passerine, Superb Lyrebird, plus Rockwarbler, a highly localized endemic. In addition to the birds, we’ll also make special attempts to find many other uniquely Australasian creatures including Platypus, Sugar Glider, various wallabies and kangaroos, and possibly even Koala!
Select the KEY INFO tab or click here for our itinerary plus space requests, status, fees, limits, and guides for any departure.
Client comment
"The trip was a fantastic experience overall and I would recommend it to others. The diversity of the bird species was amazing...the terrain in New Guinea was spectacular. Jay VanderGaast does an outstanding job in all aspects of the trip. I would definitely go on another Field Guides trip with Jay in the future. Your office service was excellent." W.K., NEW GUINEA & AUSTRALIA 2019<