I frequently do field survey around the forest, farmland, and paddy fields of Sonder town in Minahasa highland. There are interesting birds and butterflies that I saw. Some of them are shown below.
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| Van Hasselt's Sunbird? |
The bird above looks like a Van Hasselt's Sunbird. However, in Merlin and in the field guide book of Birds of the Indonesian Archipelago by James Eaton et. al., the spread of Van Hasselt's Sunbird does not reach Sulawesi island. The red colour of the above bird is only on his chest.
In Van Hasselt's Sunbird, the red colour extends from chest to his belly.
This can be a subspecies of Van Hasselt's Sunbird or another different species of a sunbird. More studies are needed to accurately identify this sunbird.
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| Turquoise Flycatcher |
This is Turquoise Flycatcher. The bird is small and can be found hopping around the branches of shrub plants in higher elevation forest and farmland of Sulawesi island. According to Merlin, this bird also occurs in Maluku and the Philipines.
Another interesting bird to see is Pale Blue Monarch. The male bird has got a thin dark line that devides his neck and chest. The nest of this bird has got the shape of a small cup and is attached to small branches of a tree or a shrub plant. Pale Blue Monarch eats insect.
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| Pale Blue Monarch in North Sulawesi |
Below is the picture of Sulawesi Hanging Parrot (Loriculus stigmatus). This is a male bird. He has got pale eye, and red patch on the forehead. The female one has got dark eye and does not have red patch on her forehead. They can be seen in fruiting and flowering trees. The plumage of both male and female Sulawesi Hanging Parrot is mostly green. This parrot is often seen eating tree bark.
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| Sulawesi Hanging Parrot |
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| Black-crowned White-eye |
Black-crowned White-eye is a small bird that likes to sit on the twigs of trees. We can easily recognize the bird from his black forehead, and thick white eye ring and whitish underparts.
Yellow-billed Malkoha (also known as Sulawesi Malkoha) is an endemic malkoha of Sulawesi island. It can reach a length of around 50 cm. The wings and tail are purple. Its upper bill is yellow.
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| Sulawesi Malkoha |
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| Sulawesi Scops Owl |
This Sulawesi Scops Owl usually comes out at dusk to look for prey and to find mating partner. The adult bird has got a length of 20 cm. I made this picture near a poultry and pig farm at the outskirt of Sonder town. At that time, I had to whistle mimicking his sounds in order to attract him to come out of his hiding place. He flew to a tree near where I stood and landed around 6 meters above me. I quickly aimed my camera and shot at the bird.
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| Black-naped Oriole |
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| Sulawesi Crimson Sunbird |
There are several species of
sunbird in Minahasa peninsula of North Sulawesi province of Indonesia, i.e. Sahul Sunbird, Brown-throated Sunbird, Black Sunbird and Crimson Sunbird. On page 452-453 of the first edition field guide book:
Birds of the Indonesian Archipelago - Greater Sundas and Wallacea by James Eaton et. al, it says that the Subspecies of Crimson Sunbird in Sulawesi island is called Sulawesi Crimson Sunbird (
Aethopyga siparaja flavostriata). It has got yellow streaking on scarlet throat and extensive red margins on upperwing as well as wider yellow rump.
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| Sulawesi Crimson Sunbird |
In addition to forest and plantation areas, Subdistrict Sonder also has got rice field sites which are the habitat of water birds such as White-browed Crake, Javan Pond Heron, Purple Heron, Cinnamon Bittern, Little Egret and Cattle Egret. We could also see other tropical birds in the paddy field areas such as Barred Rail, Buff-banded Rail, Isabelline Bush-hen, Collared Kingfisher, Zebra Dove, Rock Pigeon, Scaly-breasted Munia, and Chestnut Munia.
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| Javan Pond Heron (non-breeding plumage) |
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| Collared Kingfisher |
Getting to Sonder town in Minahasa Highland
The main gate to explore Minahasa Highland is Manado city. There are regular daily flights between Manado and some major cities in Indonesia such as Jakarta, Surabaya, Denpasar, Makassar, and Sorong. They are served by Garuda, Citilink, Batik Air, Lion Air, Super Air Jet, and TransNusa. There is also direct flight between Manado and Singapore served by Scoot Air.
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| Flight routes to Manado city |
It is easy to travel to Sonder town. From Manado city (the capital of the Province of North Sulawesi in Indonesia), visitors could go by car for approximately 1 hour.
Booking
If you are interested in traveling to Minahasa highland to do hiking, sightseeing and birdwatching, and want me to organize your tour, please, contact me by whatsapp to: +6281332245180 or by email to: peace4wp@gmail.com.
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