A boat ride in the dark, a torchlit path into the forest, and a silent wait as the sky greys. Then the calls start, and male red birds-of-paradise arrive to dance on bare branches above you, trailing crimson wires.
The red bird-of-paradise lives only on Waigeo, Gam and a few nearby islands. Its males gather at traditional display trees, called leks, and perform for females at dawn and again in the late afternoon.
You leave the homestay by boat in the dark to reach Sawinggrai on Gam before 5am. A village guide leads a 30-minute forest path to the display trees, where you wait in silence as the sky greys. The birds arrive calling, and the males dance on bare branches for about a quarter of an hour after sunrise: wings spread, heads bowed, the long red plumes and twisted tail wires shaking.
Saporkren, near Waisai, is the alternative site, where the tiny, jewel-coloured Wilson's bird-of-paradise displays on a cleared patch of forest floor from a hide. Arrange either walk through any homestay; the village charges a guide and entry fee. Wear dark clothes, bring binoculars, do not use flash.
Back at the homestay in time for breakfast and a morning snorkel.
Meet your boatman at the homestay jetty with a torch and cross to Sawinggrai, its stilt houses still asleep.
Pay the fee and follow your guide up the forest path behind the village, torches pointed down.
Sit or stand where the guide shows you, below the display trees, and wait for the first calls.
The males arrive and display in the treetops, then disperse. Hornbills often pass overhead.
Before leaving, look into the water under Sawinggrai's jetty: it's one of the best fish-watching spots in the Dampier Strait.
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Ask your homestay the evening before: they arrange the boat and contact the village guide. Costs are per boat plus the village fee.
Saporkren is a short drive from Waisai; homestays there run the Wilson's walk at dawn.
No flash, no talking, no playback calls. The leks are a source of income for the village: pay the fee without haggling.
Raja Ampat practical notes →Wikimedia Commons photographs are used under their licences; Pexels photographs under the Pexels licence.
