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Kiunga, a great lowland birding spot in Papua New Guinea

Kiunga is a small river port sited on the upper reaches of the Fly River in the remote Western Province of Papua New Guinea. It is surrounded by vast tracts of swamp forest and lowland rain forest, and one thing that has become clear over recent years is just how good the area is; a sort of lowland equivalent of Ambua for species diversity. When we first started going there in 1991, there were 7 really special birds that we were particularly looking for: Southern Crowned Pigeon (one of the world's most incredible species), Flame Bowerbird, New Guinea Flightless Rail, Large Fig-Parrot, Little Paradise-Kingfisher, White-bellied Pitohui and Yellow-eyed Starling. The Big 7 were all extremely difficult to find, with really only the Crowned Pigeon, Yellow-eyed Starling, Large Fig-Parrot and Flame Bowerbird being found with any degree of regularity. The situation 8 years later is that we now have a very good chance of seeing them all except the Flightless Rail, which still eludes all western birders here (though I have seen the footprints!). In addition to these rare birds, we now also find Long-billed Cuckoo and White-spotted Mannikin regularly, and have a chance of Forest Bittern.

The supporting cast is an amazing selection of lowland rainforest species, among them being the truly stunning King Bird of Paradise. We have several great spots to watch the males of both this species and the incredible Twelve-wired Bird of Paradise, one of which has a song post right by the Fly River that is very reliable just after dawn. Glossy-mantled Manucodes are very common along the river, and we have good sites for Trumpet Manucode as well, plus a lek of Greater Bird of Paradise that has been active for decades and figured in Attenborough's "Birds of Paradise" documentary. Raggiana Birds are also common, but be aware that the two species are hybridising here with many males showing mixed characters.

Mouth watering species like Blue Jewel-babbler are quite common, and there is a fair chance of both Hooded and Blue-breasted Pitta if they are calling. Hooded Monarch is another local rarity that is regularly found, and I have twice seen Southern Cassowary at a local lodge that caters for birders, surprising a calling female earlier this year and then seeing a male cross the track later.

Parrots are conspicuous here, the noisy Red-cheeked is common, and we often see Greater Streaked and Dusky Lories. There are three species of Fig-Parrot here too, the beautiful orange headed and rather rare Large, the common Orange-breasted and the quite widespread Double-eyed. The Yellow-capped Pygmy-Parrot, joint holder of smallest parrot in the world along with the other Micropsitta, is also here and often permits good views, foraging like an aberrant nuthatch along branches. Palm Cockatoos are quite frequent along the river, and we are sometimes lucky enough to find the rare and spectacular Vulturine (Pesquet's) Parrot.

Kingfishers are well represented too, and there is one site where, on consecutive visits, we saw Common, Little and White-tailed (Buff-Breasted) Paradise-Kingfisher within 250m of each other on the same morning. The river usually produces Azure Kingfisher, and occasionally Little, whilst migrant Sacred are common in the austral winter. The large and noisy Rufous-bellied Kookaburra is a frequent sight, and we hear and usually manage to see the delightful diminutive and skulking Yellow-billed Kingfisher. Perhaps the most bizarre of all the kingfishers here though is the Hook-billed, whose descending mournful liquid whistle is a characteristic sound of dusk and dawn in the forests. Seeing it is another matter, as it is one of the all time great skulkers in dense thickets, but sometimes we get lucky as was the case last year when one flew in and nearly knocked my hat off as I played a tape of the call. I had of course just proclaimed that this species doesn't respond to tapes, so we got amazing close range views, almost certainly by a nest site.

Mysteries remain: There is but one record of Broad-billed Fairywren from Kiunga and no-one has seen it for over a decade, yet it ought to be here (probably in the wettest dankest reaches of the swamp forest!), and why is Blue-black Kingfisher seemingly absent? You never know with Kiunga, we still seem to find new things each time we visit. On my most recent visit in June 2000 I added Bat Hawk, Wallace's Fairywren, Painted Quail-thrush and Rufous Monarch to the seen in the Kiunga area list, whilst Marbled Frogmouth was an addition to the heard list.

Accommodation is basically at Kiunga Guest House, or you can now stay some 4 hours up-river in a very basic but beautifully sited landowner lodge called Akame Lodge. Come and see for yourselves, it is a world class spot.

Phil Gregory, Cassowary House, Blackmountain Road, Kuranda 4872.

Website: www.cassowary-house.com.au

e-mail sicklebill@austarnet.com.au