Do you want to get up at 3am every day, travel for hours along dodgy roads, hike through darkness for no good reason only to have to wait hours for it to get light, suffer exhaustion, sleep deprivation, eat meagre meals and feel so tired that your eyes cannot focus on birds any more, you lie down to sleep in the middle of the road and spend endless hours searching for Drab Whistler?
No, neither do I.
Having led a birding tour to Sulawesi and Halmahera, in the past, that matched the above description it took me a long time before I headed back to those endemic-filled islands. However, in October 2025 I found myself back in north Sulawesi, just a short trip to what I had considered the best location on my previous visit; Tangkoko Nature Reserve in the far northeastern part of Sulawesi. We saw some awesome birds, without having to exhaust ourselves, enjoying pleasant accommodation and good food, including Knobbed Hornbill, Sulawesi Lilac Kingfisher and Rusty-backed Thrush to mention a few. I have written an article about the visit here - Birding Wonders at Tangkoko.
Our short trip took in three different birding locations, all within a reasonable drive from each other and the trip was relaxing, well-planned and well-executed; nothing like my previous experience.
Planning the Next Trip
The islands of Sulawesi and Halmahera both contain high numbers of endemic birds, at times almost every bird you see is unique to the islands, or at least the region. Some of the birds here are really standout species, the sort of birds that make people want to travel to see.
If pittas excite you then Sulawesi Pitta is a really beautiful one and a bird that frequents a feeding station at Gunung Mahawu, meaning that there is a high chance of getting exceptionally good views of it. On the island of Halmahera the similar North Moluccan Pitta has its own stakeout to visit and the largest of the pittas, Ivory-breasted Pitta, can be seen at a couple of different stakeouts!
Halmahera is also the home to Standardwing Bird-of-Paradise, a weird-looking bird that has an equally weird courtship display and the good news for birders is that it is fairly abundant with several lekking trees known by local guides where the bird can reliably be seen doing its early morning performance.
On the island of Sulawesi one of the specialities is Maleo. This is a type of large scrubfowl, with a helmeted headpiece, that lays its eggs in geothermally heated soil. No parental care is needed as the soil keeps the eggs warm until the young emerge and these are able to fly as soon as they are born.
Add to that a huge collection of exciting kingfishers, great night birding and colourful parrots a well-planned birding tour to these islands can be fantastic.
I have taken great care to design an itinerary that streamlines travel and manages time well in order to create a memorable birding experience for all the right reasons - Sulawesi & Halmahera Birding Tour.