Watching New Guinea Vulturine Parrot

Vulturine Parrot

This is the picture of New Guinea Vulturine Parrot (Psittrichas fulgidus) that I saw in Sakofsiah mountain range of West Papua. There were three of them that stayed in the fig tree for quite long. They ate the fruits and took a rest for several hours there. Because of continuous hunting, road construction and conversion of rainforest into monoculture palm oil and cacao plantations, the population of the bird decreases rapidly. IUCN has put the bird into the Status of Vulnerable. A different approach has to be done to preserve the natural habitat of this parrot, other tropical birds and wild animals.

Andaer ridge forest in Vogelkop region of West Papua

Ecotourism is one of the solutions to protect them. Local villagers could work as guides, cooks, and porters when tourists come to their village to watch Vulturine Parrot and other birds.
To watch tropical birds in the forest, visitors need to make some preparation and bring suitable birding devices. A good pair of 10×42 or 12×50 binoculars is needed to see birds and animals. For taking pictures, I highly recommend a bridge camera such as the Nikon P900 or Nikon P1000. Users of D-SLR camera can buy telephoto lens Sigma 150-600 mm or Tamron 150-600mm G2.
Visitors need to fly to Manokwari or Sorong city if they want to go hiking and birdwatching in the forest of Mount Sakofsiah. I suggest that visitors travel in a group of 4 people so that they can share the cost. Birds that can also be seen in the region are Wompoo Fruit Dove, Sulphur-crested Cockatoo, Palm Cockatoo, Eclectus Parrot, Mountain Peltop, Long-tailed Buzzard, Pinon Imperial Pigeon, and Magnificent Bird of Paradise, Lesser Birds of Paradise, Magnificent Riflebird, Rufous-bellied Kookaburra, Yellow-faced Myna, Oriental Dollarbird, Blyth's hornbill, and at lot more.
The duration of the tour to Andaer ridge forest should be at least 4 days. If the trip to Mount Sakofsiah is included, we need at least 6 days in total to accomplish the tour.
Bringing raincoat, sleeping bag, and plastic bags to cover camera and other electronic devices in case of raining is highly recommended. When visitors participate in this tour, they have to be physically fit because the trip may involve long walk along mountain ridge and camping in the forest to see more wildlife and birds.
If you are interested in watching Vulturine Parrot, please, contact me by email to: peace4wp@gmail.com or whatsapp: +6281332245180.