Del and Marcie joined me for a four-day extension to the nearby island of Halmahera, located in the North Moluccas. We were now on the east side of the deep-water trench informally known as Weber’s Line and the avifauna was even more in line with New Guinea and Australia. Lorikeets, cockatoos, and birds-of-paradise are some of the groups that make it as far west as Halmahera, but that do not cross over to Sulawesi. Halmahera was an interesting island to visit as it is much more forested than Sulawesi with a relatively small population. We found that the birding was a little bit easier, too.
Our first day was mainly spent in transit as we flew to the island of Ternate, took a speedboat over to Halmahera, and then made the long drive to our homestay in Subaim. Even still, we made a few birding stops that were hugely productive. Beach Kingfisher, Sombre Kingfisher, Great-billed Parrot, Halmahera Oriole and Pacific Baza were a few of the highlights. We each had around 25 lifers – not bad for a “travel day”!
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| Blue-and-white Kingfisher - Kajasa area, Maluku Utara, Maluku, Indonesia |
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| Halmahera Golden-Bulbul - Roni Mountain, Maluku Utara, Maluku, Indonesia |
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| Gray-headed Fruit-Doves - Roni Mountain, Maluku Utara, Maluku, Indonesia |
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| Gray-streaked Flycatcher - Roni Mountain, Maluku Utara, Maluku, Indonesia |
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| Halmahera Oriole - Roni Mountain, Maluku Utara, Maluku, Indonesia |
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| Rufous-bellied Triller - Roni Mountain, Maluku Utara, Maluku, Indonesia |
We visited the Foli track during our first morning on Halmahera. And what a morning it was! It began with a successful early search for Halmahera Boobooks (and a bonus Accipiter, which I have tentatively identified as an immature Rufous-necked Sparrowhawk), then continued with the lek of Wallace’s Standardwings, the first bird-of-paradise for most of us. The males were in fine form as they danced around and called, certainly trying to impress a female that was undoubtedly hidden away somewhere nearby.
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| Halmahera Boobook - Foli Track, Maluku Utara, Maluku, Indonesia |
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| Rufous-necked Sparrowhawk (tentative ID) - Foli Track, Maluku Utara, Maluku, Indonesia |
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| Wallace's Standardwing - Foli Track, Maluku Utara, Maluku, Indonesia |
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| Wallace's Standardwing - Foli Track, Maluku Utara, Maluku, Indonesia |
Though the standardwings stole the show there were many other species of note this morning including Moluccan Goshawk, Common Paradise-Kingfisher, White Cockatoo, Goliath Coucal and White-naped Monarch.
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| Cinnamon-bellied Imperial-Pigeon - Foli Track, Maluku Utara, Maluku, Indonesia |
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| White-naped Monarch - Foli Track, Maluku Utara, Maluku, Indonesia |
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| Halmahera Cuckooshrike - Foli Track, Maluku Utara, Maluku, Indonesia |
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| Rufous-bellied Triller - Foli Track, Maluku Utara, Maluku, Indonesia |
In addition to the birds, the butterfly diversity was quite high while we also noted several lizard species.
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| Pointed Line Blue (Ionolyce helicon) - Foli Track, Maluku Utara, Maluku, Indonesia |
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| Smooth-eyed Bushbrown (Orsotriaena medus) - Foli Track, Maluku Utara, Maluku, Indonesia |
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| Arhopala adherbal - Foli Track, Maluku Utara, Maluku, Indonesia |
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| Lamprolepis smaragdina moluccarum - Foli Track, Maluku Utara, Maluku, Indonesia |
Most of our birding time on Halmahera was spent in the higher elevations of Uni-Uni Mountain. We found just about everything that we looked for including all of the parrots found on the island (favourites included Moluccan King-Parrot and Chattering Lory), displaying Great Cuckoo-Doves, Moluccan and Variable Goshawks, Paradise-crows (our second bird-of-paradise), Scarlet-breasted Fruit-Doves, Dusky Megapodes and good views of the iconic Ivory-breasted Pitta.
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| Moluccan King-Parrot - Uni-Uni Mountain, Maluku Utara, Maluku, Indonesia |
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| Chattering Lory - Uni-Uni Mountain, Maluku Utara, Maluku, Indonesia |
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| Moluccan Goshawk - Uni-Uni Mountain, Maluku Utara, Maluku, Indonesia |
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| Blue-capped Fruit-Dove - Uni-Uni Mountain, Maluku Utara, Maluku, Indonesia |
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| Variable Goshawk - Uni-Uni Mountain, Maluku Utara, Maluku, Indonesia |
The rarest find here was a pair of Nicobar Pigeons feeding on the forest floor, the first eBird record for this mountain.
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| Nicobar Pigeon - Uni-Uni Mountain, Maluku Utara, Maluku, Indonesia |
Nocturnal excursions were very productive on Halmahera, and we easily found Moluccan Owlet-Nightjar and Moluccan Scops-Owl. We spent our final morning in the Sidangoli area where we watched a White Cockatoo near its nest and had a close flyover of a Pygmy Eagle. A stop at the outskirts of the city produced Moustached Treeswift and Halmahera Swiftlet, but then it was time to head to the docks and take a speedboat back to Ternate.
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| White Cockatoo - Sidangoli area, Maluku Utara, Maluku, Indonesia |
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| Therates sp. - Sidangoli area, Maluku Utara, Maluku, Indonesia |
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| Gasteracantha audouini - Sidangoli area, Maluku Utara, Maluku, Indonesia |
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| Moustached Treeswift - Sidangoli area, Maluku Utara, Maluku, Indonesia |
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| Halmahera Swiftlet - Ternate, Maluku Utara, Maluku, Indonesia |
Our final activity of the tour was a visit to a feeding station for North Moluccan Pitta. We needed patience but were greatly rewarded when the adorable little ball of colour came into view. What an end to an amazing tour of Sulawesi and Halmahera! The next morning, Del and Marcie continued on as they had plans to bird Ambon, Seram, Timor and Java. I had one final day in Ternate (highlight was a Moluccan Dwarf-Kingfisher at the hotel!) and then it was time for me to fly back to Canada.
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| North Moluccan Pitta - Ternate, Maluku Utara, Maluku, Indonesia |
In total, our group found 253 bird species between Sulawesi and Halmahera in 16 days. It was an incredible trip and I hope I will have the opportunity to return again.
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| Blyth's Hornbills - Uni-Uni Mountain, Maluku Utara, Maluku, Indonesia |
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