GUADALCANAL

The capital city of Honiara acts as our base for the tour, and we will be flying in and out of here to go between islands. We will often take the opportunity to switch out our luggage at the hotel, depending on the requirements for each leg of the trip. There are several access points to good forest, which will allow us to see our first of the multi-island endemics, such as Sanford’s Sea Eagle, Pied Goshawk, Solomons Cockatoo, Yellow-bibbed Lory, Cardinal Lory, MacKinlay’s Cuckoo-Dove, Ultramarine Kingfisher, Woodford’s Rail, Solomons Brush Cuckoo, Buff-necked Coucal, White-billed Crow, Solomons Cicadabird, Solomons Monarch, Chestnut-bellied Monarch, Steel-blue Flycatcher, Oriole Whistler, cockerelli White-winged Fantail, Solomons Rufous Fantail, Midget Flowerpecker, and Brown-winged Starling. More widespread Melanesian endemics include Song Parrot, Finsch’s Pygmy Parrot, Claret-breasted Fruit-Dove, Melanesian Kingfisher, and Central Melanesian Cicadabird. In terms of the island’s true endemics, we will target Guadalcanal Boobook, Guadalcanal Dwarf Kingfisher, Black-headed Myzomela, and White-eyed Starling (strictly speaking, also shared with Bougainville, but extremely rare there). Anyone wishing to attempt the tougher highland endemics will have to join the extension…

SANTA ISABEL

After a two-hour walk from the coast up to Tirotogna Village, we will get settled in before an initial spotlighting session will hopefully already provide us with Solomons Frogmouth. Now placed in an endemic monotypic genus, the species is very far removed from all others across Australasia! West Solomons Boobook is usually fairly easy, but only good luck will allow us to see the amazing Fearful Owl (which is often heard but typically remains out of sight unless our excellent local team can find us a roost). The other main drawcard here is Black-faced Pitta, the easternmost representative of this excellent family of birds. It is sometimes tricky to see, but we will have several days to maximise our chances. Other specialties include North Solomons Dwarf Kingfisher, Red-capped Myzomela, Yellow-throated White-eye, and the endemic subspecies of Woodford’s Rail.

RENNELL

The most relaxed island on our tour, this entirely flat atoll offers largely unafraid endemics and thus excellent opportunities for photography, which are not regular elsewhere in the Solomons! The island’s endemics include the stunning Rennell Shrikebill and Bare-eyed White-eye, alongside the imaginatively named Rennell Whistler, Rennell Fantail, Rennell Gerygone, Rennell White-eye, and Rennell Starling. This is also the best place to see the newly-split Vanikoro Island-Thrush. Endemic forms of Australian White Ibis, Song Parrot, and Cardinal Myzomela may all be considered future splits, while the striking Silver-capped Fruit Dove is a near-endemic not easily seen elsewhere. Much of the other avifauna here has a decidedly Vanuatuan influence, so we can also expect Pacific Kingfisher, Pacific Imperial Pigeon, and Melanesian Flycatcher. We will also see the endemic Rennell Flying-fox among the more numerous Pacific Flying-fox.

WESTERN ISLES

Aided by island-hopping speedboats, we will be birding across five different islands in this beautiful province. First on Tetepare, the paradoxically-named Dark-eyed White-eye and threatened Solomons Nightjar will be our primary goals, alongside our first Western Isles endemics like the gorgeous White-capped Monarch and Crimson-rumped Myzomela, with plenty of albina White-winged Fantail. This is the best site for Melanesian Megapode and Beach Kingfisher, plus we may also see Little Kingfisher, Island Imperial Pigeon, Moustached Treeswift, and potentially Dugong. 

Crossing to Kolombangara, we have our first chance for Heinroth’s Shearwater. This poorly-known species is thought to breed inside the crater rim, and we can usually expect to see at least one over the subsequent days while moving between islands in this area. On the island itself, we will search out the flightless endemic Roviana Rail, along with Western Isles endemics like New Georgia Dwarf Kingfisher and Solomons White-eye. This is also the best place to see a particularly stunning Solomons endemic, the Duchess Lorikeet, as well as North Melanesian Cuckooshrike. Those who are able to hike up to the summit of the volcano will hopefully be rewarded with the enigmatic Kolombangara Leaf Warbler, plus Kolombangara Monarch, Kolombangara White-eye, Solomons Island-Thrush, pallescens Island Leaf Warbler, centralis Oriole Whistler, plus a chance for both Meek’s Lorikeet and Pale Mountain Pigeon.

Finally, we will be based on Gizo, where the Endangered endemic Gizo White-eye will entertain us for one morning. An island-hopping day trip to the north featuring two separate landings will see us targeting Ranongga White-eye and Vella Lavella White-eye, plus hopefully the newly-split Vella Lavella Monarch, and two very distinctive subspecies: the dot-breasted lavellae White-winged Fantail, and the beautiful melanonota Oriole Whistler. The latter seems to prefer the central parts of these islands which are difficult to reach, but we will aim to try.

MAKIRA

There is a lot of hiking on “Sky Island”, as the locals call it, so named for the perpetual clouds. However, after we hike in from the coast (aided by a small canoe to make thirteen river crossings!), we will arrive at the welcoming Na’ara Village and be immersed in some exceptional birdlife. This is the best island on which to see three rare Columbiformes: the bizarre Crested Cuckoo-Dove, the scarce Yellow-legged Pigeon, and the elegant Chestnut-bellied Imperial Pigeon. There are another fifteen extant endemics: White-headed Fruit-Dove, Makira Dwarf Kingfisher, Makira Boobook, Sooty Myzomela, Makira Honeyeater, Makira Cicadabird, Makira Starling, Makira Fantail, Makira Flycatcher, Makira Thrush, Makira Leaf Warbler, White-collared Monarch, Shade Bush Warbler, Mottled Flowerpecker, and Grey-throated White-eye. The endemic longirostris Spangled Drongo looks like it probably should have been split on sight, and if we have extra time we might be able to spend a morning on the offshore island of Ugi for the all-dark ugiensis Chestnut-bellied Monarch and dark-throated ugiensis Rufous Fantail.

NENDO

A far-flung outpost of the Solomons, this is the largest island in the Santa Cruz province and holds the Endangered and striking Santa Cruz Shrikebill. There are four other specialties, these being Nendo Whistler, Temotu Rufous Fantail, Sanford’s White-eye, Santa Cruz White-eye, and Rusty-winged Starling. There is also an endemic orange-breasted form of Pacific Kingfisher. On a satisfactorily calm day during our stay, we will make the crossing to Tinakula, a small volcano to the north of Nendo. Being entirely rat- and cat-free, endangered Santa Cruz Ground Doves persist here in good numbers, despite being extinct elsewhere in the Solomons and extremely rare in the Vanuatu highlands (the species may soon be uplisted to Critically Endangered). Similarly, Palm Lorikeets are prolific, and we should see these threatened parrots feeding in coconut palms. Other birds on Tinakula include the endemic, distinct subspecies of Polynesian Starling (separated from the nearest birds in Fiji by over 1000 kilometres of open water), wintering Pacific Long-tailed Cuckoo, and the Melanesian endemic Red-bellied Fruit Dove. Tropical Shearwaters are thought to breed on the island and may be seen when crossing from Nendo.

MALAITA

This island has some of the least accessible forest, but due to recent taxonomic shifts there are now an enticing set of endemics to find! We hope to record Red-vested Myzomela, Malaita Dwarf Kingfisher, White-gorgeted Fantail, Malaita Monarch, Malaita Cicadabird, Malaita White-eye, and Malaita Boobook (which at the time of writing has never been photographed, though we heard it on our last visit!). Malaita Fantail is similarly unknown, occurring only on the highest peaks, so we will aim to explore any new roads that might get us to the right altitude. Several distinct endemic subspecies include Woodford’s Rail, Midget Flowerpecker, and a white-eyed form of Brown-winged Starling.

GUADALCANAL HIGHLANDS EXTENSION

This expedition will be extremely strenuous (more so than the main tour) and requires three full days of off-trail hiking to reach our camp on the upper slopes of Mount Popomanaseu, behind Honiara. We will have a team of machete-wielding porters, but the going will still be tough. The rewards, however, are great, with avian specialties here having only been seen by a very small handful of mostly historical birders! The top bird is, of course, the near-mythical Moustached Kingfisher, but we will also be wanting the lovely Hooded Whistler, Guadalcanal Honeyeater, Guadalcanal Fantail, Guadalcanal Thrush, Guadalcanal Thicketbird, and Guadalcanal White-eye, plus more chances for Meek’s Lorikeet, Pale Mountain Pigeon, and Solomons Island-Thrush.