For 2 consecutive mornings (8 to 9 Oct. 2026), I ran 2 birding tours at the outskirts of Manado city. Our destination were the rainforest and farmland areas
My first birding trip was with Simone - a birdwatcher from Germany. At 05:00, I and my driver picked her up at Sutan Raja Hotel (around 30 minutes ride from Sam Ratulangi International Airport). We arrived at the birding site at around 05:30. When we got off the car, we immediately were welcomed by the calling sounds of various species of birds. I saw Barred Rail walking on a dry path at the side of water stream. Yellow-billed Malkoha and Bay Coucal hopped around the branches of a tree in front of us. I played the recorded sounds of them to attract them to get closer to us. We had to change position several times to see them using our binoculars.
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| Lilac Kingfisher at a farm forest in the suburb of Manado city |
As we walked deeper into the forest, we saw Green Imperial Pigeon, Sulawesi Crow and Brahminy Kite sitting on the branches of trees of a hill in the right of us. We spent around 15 minutes watching these birds. After that, we continued our birding walk along the concrete path again. We saw Pacific Swallows and Glossy Swiftlet. There was also a Chinese Sparrowhawk sitting on a horizontal branch of a tree around 20 meters from us. We could only see its back.
On the way back, we walked along different route which was a dirt path. We were able to see Minahasa Hooded Pitta and Sulawesi Pitta. There were small birds like Yellow-sided Flowerpecker and Gray-sided Flowerpecker.
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| Sahul Brush Cuckoo |
When we focused our attention to birds in trees, we did not realize that there was a Minahasa Hooded Pitta standing in front of us. We tried to take picture but he hopped quickly into the bush near water stream. I played the sound of the birds several times and walked away from the bird to give him enough space to show up. In less then five minutes we could see the Minahasa Hooded Pitta again for quite long, around 15 minutes. I was able to make some videos of the birds. We also saw Sulawesi Pitta. He hopped along the dirt path and made a lot of stops to look for food. It was our lucky morning. We could see other birds such as Green-backed Kingfisher, Sulawesi Hanging Parrot, Gray-rumped Treeswift, Zebra Dove, Sulawesi Crow, Collared Kingfisher, and Pale Blue Monarch. We completed our morning birding tour near the airport of Manado city at 10:00. We brought her to airport at around 12:30. It was a fantastic birding experience. She flew back to her country via Jakarta.
My next early morning birding trip was with a couple from China. They lived in a city near Beijing. They contacted me at night. After sending them the program and agreed on a price, I and my driver picked them up at Victoria Inn at 05:00. We went to the birding site immediately and then started birding at around 05:30. We saw a lot of birds including Sulawesi Dwarf Hornbill, Brahminy Kite, Bay Coucal, and Yellow-billed Malkoha. My birding experience with these Chinese tourists were even better. We saw Lilac Kingfisher, Hair-crested Drongo, Minahasa Hooded Pitta, Sulawesi Pitta, Yellow-sided Flowerpecker, Gray-sided Flowerpecker, Black Sunbird, Collared Kingfisher, Sulawesi Hanging Parrot, and Pale Blue Monarch. We returned to Victoria Inn at 10:00. They were very happy with the early morning birding trip at the outskirts of Manado because they could see Minahasa Hooded Pitta and Sulawesi Pitta.
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| Sulawesi Pitta in a farm forest at the outskirts of Manado city |
If you are interested in taking a birding tour from Manado city to birding site at the suburb area or from Tomohon town to forest and farmland in Minahasa highland and want me to organize your trip, please, contact me (Charles Roring) by email to: peace4wp@gmail.com or by whatsapp through this contact link.
