Important Note: AS OF JUNE 12, COVID TESTING IS NO LONGER REQUIRED FOR AIR PASSENGERS ARRIVING IN THE US FROM ABROAD. That's one less thing to worry about, and we look forward to birding with you! To see the most recent update of our pre-tour and on-tour protocols and our requirements for travel, please visit our tour protocols page.

New Guinea is, in an avian context, one of the ultimate stages for evolutionary achievement. New Guinea's location at the juncture of two vast biogeographic regions has made it a crossroads on the pathway of evolution. A high degree of specialization is found in virtually all forms of life, including the more than 800 distinct languages spoken by native peoples. And this is the land of the fabled birds-of- paradise and bowerbirds, fascinating groups that evolved to occupy practically every habitat, from verdant rainforest to dry savanna to montane wet moss forest.

Our tour centers around locating a fabulous variety of birds of-paradise, among them some of the most highly prized birds on Earth: King-of-Saxony, Twelve-wired, Raggiana, and Blue birds of-paradise, the elegant Ribbon- tailed Astrapia, the huge Brown Sicklebill, and many more, each so uniquely plumed as to seem unrelated to the others. Parrots, pigeons, fruit-doves, cuckoos, and kingfishers are particularly well represented, while some less familiar groups of birds form the bulk of the passerine avifauna: sprightly fairywrens, gemlike pittas, cuckoo- shrikes, whistlers, monarchs, jewel-babblers, berrypeckers, and honeyeaters. Many of PNG's birds are extremely challenging to see; that's where the many years of experience in New Guinea of both our company and guides distinguish us.

We offer an optional five-day extension to the island of New Britain after the main tour. There we'll seek numerous specialties, from Melanesian Scrubfowl and Black-headed Paradise-Kingfisher to Red-knobbed and Finsch's imperial-pigeons, Blue-eyed Cockatoo and, we hope, the Golden Masked-Owl, among others.

Select the KEY INFO tab or click here for our itinerary plus space requests, status, fees, limits, and guides for any departure.

Client comment
"Papua New Guinea had long been on my list of countries to visit. It is also a difficult country to visit on your own for numerous reasons. Field Guides offered a good itinerary at a good time. Overall, it was a great trip. Jay VanderGaast is a fantastic guide; very personable, very competent, well familiar with the terrain and local sensibilities, and a fine traveling companion. The birds were superb. The rest of our traveling group were great to be with." J.T., PAPUA NEW GUINEA 2019