TBC 16 DAY ITINERARY

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).

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 four different islands in this beautiful province, based out of a comfortable hotel on Gizo. Here, the Endangered endemic Gizo White-eye will entertain us behind town before we set our sights further afield. One day will see us head over to Kolombangara, the crossing giving 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. Once on land, we'll focus on the flightless endemic Roviana Rail and beautiful White-capped Monarch.  This is also the best place to see the truly stunning Duchess Lorikeet, as well as North Melanesian Cuckooshrike. Some other Western Isles endemics are not always easy to find close to the coast, but we will do our best to see New Georgia Dwarf Kingfisher, Crimson-rumped Myzomela, Kolombangara Monarch, and Solomons White-eye. We will also spend time on islands to the north in search of Vella Lavella White-eye and Ranongga 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.

MALAITA

This island used to hold relatively few endemics, but recent taxonomic shifts have changed that! 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.