Indonesia Highlights: Bali Extension 8/16/2025-8/23/2025

ebird.org/tripreport/398334

We arrived in Denpasar on Indonesian Independence Day. After a great lunch, we headed first to a bus depot for Java Sparrow, then to a rice field for Javan Kingfisher, followed by tracking down Javan Owlet. It was a good start.

For the next two days we were based in the mountains at Handara Golf Club and the Bedugul Botanic Gardens. Birding was great, with many highlights ranging from Little and Ruddy cuckoo-doves, Black-backed Fruit-Dove, a vagrant Shining Bronze-Cuckoo, Ruddy-breasted Crake, Black Eagle, Javan Hawk-Eagle, Flame-fronted Barbet, Freckle-breasted Woodpecker, Yellow-throated Hanging-Parrot, Scarlet Minivet, Tenggara Whistler, Black-winged Flycatcher-Shrike, Bar-winged Prinia, Javan Bush-Warbler, Crescent-chested Babbler, Fulvous-chested Jungle-Flycatcher, Javan Whistling-Thrush, White-crowned Forktail, and Javan Flowerpecker to rattle off a few.

We then transferred to Mimpi Resort and spent two full days exploring the west coast of Bali. Here it is mostly dry monsoonal woodlands with farming country and riparian pockets of vine forest. Again, it was very good birding. In the woodlands we had great views of Green Junglefowl, Orange-breasted Green-Pigeon, Black-thighed Falconet, Chestnut-headed Bee-eater, Rufous-backed Dwarf-Kingfisher, Common Flameback, Black-thighed Falconet, Mangrove Whistler, Hair-crested Drongo, Racket-tailed Treepie, Horsfield's Babbler, and special mention to two stars of the show—the showy Bali Myna and its equally endangered relative the Black-winged Myna. One surprise was a released confiscated Javan Pied Starling, a species that is extinct in the wild due to cagebird trapping.

On the coast and in nearby fields we found Lesser Adjutant, Woolly-necked Stork, the rare Malaysian Plover, a Siberian Sand-Plover, Javan Plover, Barred Buttonquail, and White-headed Munia.

Having done so well with an extra day, we caught the ferry across to East Java and spent most of the day at Gunung Ijen. We were lucky to see the rare Gray-breasted Partridge and a fine perched Javan Hawk-Eagle. Other great birds for our trip included Wedge-tailed Green-Pigeon, Dark-backed Imperial-Pigeon, Orange-breasted Trogon, Checker-throated Woodpecker, Javan Banded-Pitta, Sunda Minivet, White-bellied Fantail, Orange-spotted Bulbul, Indigo Flycatcher, Aberrant Bush Warbler, and White-flanked Sunbird. On the return ferry we spotted a Brown Booby. Quite lucky!

The Bali and East Java birds are included in the complete eBird trip report for the Indonesian Highlights tour, with several photos there as well. It was a successful finish to our time in Indonesia—an incredibly friendly, biodiverse country with a lot of delicious food.

Thank you for traveling with me.

Dion Hobcroft

The birds recorded on this tour can be found at: https://ebird.org/tripreport/398334

Description for the next departure of this tour.

Dion Hobcroft’s upcoming tour schedule.