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Snow Mountain Robin Petroica archboldi is one of three bird species that occur only in the Snow Mountains of Indonesian New Guinea and nowhere else on Earth. This little gem appears to be genuinely confined to Peak Trikora or Wilhelmina and Peak Jaya or Carstenz, reliably setting in above 4,000 m elevation only.

Snow Mountains of New Guinea

The discovery in 1938 of the densely populated and agriculturally advanced Grand Balim Valley in the heart of the Snow Mountains by American mammalogist, explorer and millionaire, Richard Archbold, and the massively supplied, 14 months' expedition he mounted under the auspices of the American Museum of Natural History, may well have been the last great feat of the age of exploration. Among the scores of novelties brought back from the field were no less than 40 undescribed bird taxa, four of which received full species status.

Following in Archbold's footsteps, a superb selection of New Guinea's wonderfully diverse montane avifauna can be seen when hiking through cultivation and upper montane forests up the Ibele Valley onto the Lake Habbema alpine plateau at 3,200 m elevation above the timberline, in the shadow of Peak Trikora. Here, in some of the most splendid mountain scenery this side of the Himalaya, lives MacGregor’s 'Bird of Paradise' Macgregoria pulchra. This monotypic genus has been treated as a bird of paradise by virtually all authors. However, T. Iredale observed living birds and back in 1956 already indicated that Macgregoria is instead a member of the honeyeater family Meliphagidae, a conclusion which more recently was reinforced by molecular and morphological evidence.

Only three bird species, namely Orange-cheeked Honeyeater Oreornis chrysogenys, Snow Mountain Robin Petroica archboldi and Black-breasted Munia Lonchura teerinki, appear to be genuinely confined to the Snow Mountains but a staggering 33 montane restricted-range species occur. Snow Mountain Quail Anurophasis monorthonyx, Archbold's Owlet-Nightjar Aegotheles archboldi, Short-bearded Melidectes Melidectes nouhuysi, Lorentz’s Whistler Pachycephala lorentzi, Splendid Astrapia Astrapia splendidissima, and Snow Mountain Munia Lonchura montana do range further to the east into the Star and Victor Emanuel Mountains. The latter mountains lie across the border in Papua New Guinea and were first sighted by the great Italian explorer L. M. D'Albertis while cruising the upper Fly River in 1867. D'Albertis named this lofty range for his King.

New Guinea Snow Mountains endemic birds (3 species)

Orange-cheeked Honeyeater Oreornis chrysogenys
Snow Mountain Robin Petroica archboldi
Black-breasted Munia Lonchura teerinki

Restricted-range species (33 species)

Snow Mountain Quail Anurophasis monorthonyx
Painted Tiger-Parrot Psittacella picta
Modest Tiger-Parrot Psittacella modesta
Bare-legged Swiftlet Collocalia nuditarsus
Archbold's Owlet-Nightjar Aegotheles archboldi
Archbold's Nightjar Eurostopodus archboldi
Chestnut Forest-Rail Rallina rubra
Archbold's Bowerbird Archboldia papuensis
Leaden Honeyeater Ptiloprora plumbea
Olive-streaked Honeyeater Ptiloprora meekiana
Rufous-sided Honeyeater Ptiloprora erythropleura
Black-backed Honeyeater Ptiloprora perstriata
Sooty Melidectes Melidectes fuscus
Short-bearded Melidectes Melidectes nouhuysi
Belford’s Melidectes Melidectes belfordi
MacGregor’s 'Bird of Paradise' Macgregoria pulchra
Papuan Thornbill Acanthiza murina
Greater Ground-robin Amalocichla sclateriana
Alpine Robin Petroica bivittata
Smoky Robin Peneothello cryptoleucus
Black Sittella Daphoenositta miranda
Papuan Whipbird Androphobus viridis
Lorentz’s Whistler Pachycephala lorentzi
Sooty Shrike-thrush Colluricincla umbrina
Wattled Ploughbill Eulacestoma nigropectus
Crested Bird of Paradise Cnemophilus macgregorii
Loria's Bird of Paradise Cnemophilus loriae
Short-tailed Paradigalla Paradigalla brevicauda
Brown Sicklebill Epimachus meyeri
Splendid Astrapia Astrapia splendidissima
Alpine Pipit Anthus gutturalis
Mountain Firetail Oreostruthus fuliginosus
Snow Mountain Munia Lonchura montana

Widespread goodies

Salvadori’s Teal Salvadorina waigiuensis
Mountain Kingfisher Syma megarhyncha
Goldie's Lorikeet Psitteuteles goldiei
Papuan Lorikeet Charmosyna papou
Yellow-billed Lorikeet Neopsittacus musschenbroekii
Orange-billed Lorikeet Neopsittacus pullicauda
Brehm’s Tiger-Parrot Psittacella brehmii
Madarasz Tiger-Parrot Psittacella madaraszi
Sooty Owl Tyto tenebricosa
Grass Owl Tyto capensis
Jungle Hawk-Owl Ninox theomacha
Large Owlet-Nightjar Aegotheles insignis
New Guinea Woodcock Scolopax rosenbergii
Papuan Harrier Circus spilothorax
Black-mantled Goshawk Accipiter melanochlamys
Meyer's Goshawk Accipiter meyerianus
Black-throated Honeyeater Lichenostomus subfrenatus
Lesser Ground-robin Amalocichla incerta
White-winged Robin Peneothello sigillatus
White-eyed Robin Pachycephalopsis poliosoma
Ifrit Ifrita kowaldi
Lesser Melampitta Melampitta lugubris
Superb Bird of Paradise Lophorina superba
King-of-Saxony Bird of Paradise Pteridophora alberti
Torrent-lark Grallina bruijni
Island Thrush Turdus poliocephalus
Grey-winged Longbill Toxorhamphus poliopterus
Tit Berrypecker Oreocharis arfaki
Crested Berrypecker Paramythia montium
Papuan Parrotfinch Erythrura papuana

Related links

Read on about our short birding break to the Snow Mountains of New Guinea.

Read on about our Best of Papua birding expedition visiting the Snow Mountains of New Guinea.

Read on about our Easy Papua birding expedition visiting the Snow Mountains of New Guinea.

Browse our check-list of the birds of Papua.

Papua birding hotspots

Just three birds are endemic, but a staggering 33 montane restricted-range species occur.
Homeland of avian delights such as Archbold's Bowerbird, MacGregor’s 'Bird of Paradise', Short-tailed Paradigalla, Brown Sicklebill, and the gorgeous Splendid Astrapia.
The possibility to combine bird watching with a real hiking adventure off the beaten track, in some of the finest mountain scenery between Himalaya and Andes.

Sadly, the eternal tropical snow on Mount Trikora or Wilhelmina in the Snow Mountains of New Guinea has now vanished completely, revealing only glinstering limestones. Lorentz and Habbema
Habbema certainly sounds most exotic and one would almost swear that it is therefore a local Papuan toponym. However, this alpine lake was in fact named for the Dutch Lieutenant Habbema who's military detachment supervised the 1909 Lorentz Expedition to New Guinea led by Dr. H. A. Lorentz. The expedition came first to reach the tropical snow at the base of the jagged summit of Mount Trikora, then called Wilhelmina, an achievement which earned Lorentz the hero status back home. Interesting detail: each Dayak-porter the expedition employed apparently was rewarded with a tatoe of a snow-clad mountain with a dragon. The 1909 Lorentz Expedition, however, ends catastrophically. During the descent of Mount Trikora, of which the actual summit was never reached, Lorentz falls down and breaks a few ribbs. One Dayak-porter gets lost in the thick fogg and dies of exhaustion. Then, due to lack of food on the return journey, the rest of the expedition nearly succumbs. One Dutch soldier disappears without a trace in the dense forest, and a second Dayak-porter dies totally enfeebled. Eventually, the party manages to reach the expedition vessel 'Arend' which lay anchored on an inland jungle river, still known as the North or Lorentz River. In 1913 the actual summit of Trikora was reached on a Dutch military expedition led by Captain A. Franssen Herderschee. Sadly, the snow caps on Trikora have now vanished completely, revealing only glinstering limestones.