The rainforest, agricultural land, lake, and paddy fields of Minahasa is the habitat of various species of tropical birds that are unique and beautiful. Some of them include Black-crowned White-eye, Black-naped Oriole, Sulawesi Cuckoo Dove, Chestnut Munia, Scaly-breasted Munia, Sulawesi Hanging Parrot, Sooty-headed Bulbul, Sahul Sunbird, Brown-throated Sunbird, and a lot more.
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| Black-naped Oriole, White-breasted Woodswallow, Pale Blue Monarch, Crimson Sunbird, Collared Kingfisher, Sooty-headed Bulbul |
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| Yellow-billed Malkoha |
The birding sites that are easy to be reached by visitors are Talawaan and Mount Tumpa at the outskirts of Manado city, and the Nature Reserve of Tangkoko. For the Highland of Minahasa, Sonder town is the recommended destinations. Tounelet forest should be in the list of places to go especially early in the morning.
The farmland, rice fields and forest sites at the outskirts of Sonder town are the habitat of Collared Kingfisher, White-breasted Woodswallow, White-browed Crake, Cattle Egret, Little Egret, Hair-crested (white-eyed) Drongo, Zebra Dove, Finch-billed Myna, Sulawesi Pygmy Woodpecker, Sulawesi Drongo, Turquoise Warbling Flycatcher, Yellow-sided Flowerpecker, Gray-sided Flowerpecker, Mountain (Warbling) White-eye, Crimson Sunbird, White-faced Cuckoo Dove, Sulawesi Cuckoo Dove, and a lot more.
Where is Minahasa and How to get there?
The main gate to Minahasa highland is Manado city which is the capital of North Sulawesi Province of Indonesia. Visitors need to fly from their country to one of the major cities in Indonesia such as Jakarta, Surabaya, Denpasar Bali, Makassar and Balikpapan. After that, they could continue their trip to Manado city by one of the domestic airlines such as Garuda, Citilink, TransNusa, Lion Air, and Batik Air.
There are international direct flights between Singapore and Manado which is served by Scoot Air and between Guangzhou China and Manado city of Indonesia served by China Southern Airlines.
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| Flight routes between Manado city and major cities in Indonesia such as Jakarta, Surabaya, Denpasar, and Sorong |
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| Sonder town is the recommended destination for birdwatching |
If you are interested in taking a birdwatching trip to Minahasa and are looking for a guide who can accompany you and organize your trip, please, contact me (Charles Roring) by email to: peace4wp@gmail.com or by whatsapp to: +6281332245180.
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