Top 20 Most Common Bird in Papua New Guinea

The largest of all fantail birds, the willie-wagtail is quite tame and therefore widespread in urban habitats. This active and fearless bird will defend its territory from significantly larger birds and animals. The willie-wagtail is an important bird in Australian Aboriginal folklore, often considered to be the bearer of bad news.

The Torresian crow is a large corvid, about the same size (48–53 cm in length) as the Eurasian carrion crow but with a more robust bill and slightly longer legs. The plumage of the Torresian Crow is glossy black on the back and dull black on the breast with inconspicuous throat hackles. Its tail is broad and has a distinctive square-shaped tip. Its bill is dark grey and about the same length as the head. The legs and feet are a similar dark grey color with pink foot soles. The Torresian crow has the typical white iris of the other Australasian Corvus species with a fine, blue eye-ring. However, it can be distinguished from most except the little crow by the base of the head and neck feathers being white. The white feather bases are revealed when ruffled. Birds of this species characteristically shuffle their wings after alighting. Sexes are identical in their appearance; however, juveniles lack glossy dorsal feathers and have brown eyes, rather than white, up to about nine months of age. The Torresian crow is not to be confused with the Australian raven which has an almost identical appearance. Despite their visual similarities, the Australian raven and crow have very different and unique calls.

Black Kite is a bird of prey known for its aerial skills and hunting ability. Its striking appearance makes it a fascinating species to observe, and it can often be seen soaring through the skies. Black Kite is highly adaptable and can be found in a variety of habitats, making it a common sight in many areas.

The brahminy kite is distinctive and contrastingly coloured, with chestnut plumage except for the white head and breast and black wing tips. The juveniles are browner, but can be distinguished from both the resident and migratory races of black kites in Asia by the paler appearance, shorter wings, and rounded tail. The pale patch on the underwing carpal region is of a squarish shape and separated from Buteo buzzards. The brahminy kite is about the same size as the black kite (Milvus migrans) and has a typical kite flight, with wings angled, but its tail is rounded unlike the Milvus species, red kite, and black kite, which have forked tails. The two genera are, however, very close. The call is a mewing keeyew.

Just as its name implies, the little house Sparrow socializes with humans more than any other bird species. Able to adapt and thrive in almost any habitat, excluding the extremes such as deserts and mountain peaks, this species was once restricted only to North Africa and Eurasia but now is found across the globe. Unfortunately, this opportunistic eater is not completely harmless—it can cause considerable damage to crops.

The mountain myzomela, elfin myzomela, or midget myzomela (Myzomela adolphinae) is a species of bird in the family Meliphagidae. It is found in New Guinea. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests and subtropical or tropical moist montane forests. This species was named in honour of Adolphine Susanna Wilhelmina Bruijn.

The Torresian imperial pigeon is a large plump pigeon, 38-44 centimetres (15-17.5 inches) in length, and with a 45 cm (18 in) wingspan. It is entirely white or pale cream, apart from the black flight feathers (remiges), part of the tail (rectrices) and spots on the undertail coverts. The head can be brown, soiled by eating fruit.

The eclectus Parrot is famous for its striking coloration. The male boasts brilliant green feathers and an orange-red beak, while the female is draped in rich red plumage and has a black beak. It is native to tropical rainforests in the Pacific and is highly valued for its beauty and intelligence. It is also known for its ability to mimic human speech, making it a popular pet. The striking difference between males and females has earned this species recognition as one of the most unique in the avian world.

The helmeted friarbird (Philemon buceroides) is a species of bird in the family Meliphagidae.

The black-capped lory (Lorius lory) also known as western black-capped lory or the tricolored lory, is a parrot found in New Guinea and adjacent smaller islands. It is a colourful and relatively robust lory (31 cm). There are seven subspecies, all with green wings, red heads and body around the wing, a black cap, grey-black cere, yellow underwings, and blue legs and belly. Most also have a blue nape and mantle (area between wings on the back). It remains overall widespread and common, but the subspecies cyanuchen is relatively rare, with fewer than 5000 individuals remaining.

Among the largest of the white cockatoos, the sulphur-crested Cockatoo has a stunning yellow crest and a dark-colored bill. It is often kept as a pet, and can make an excellent companion for the right owner, but is very tricky to keep. The sulphur-crested Cockatoo has a long lifespan and is quite intelligent, vocal, and very active.

The fawn-breasted bowerbird (Chlamydera cerviniventris) is a medium-sized, up to 32 cm (13 in) long, bowerbird with a greyish brown spotted white plumage, a black bill, dark brown iris, yellow mouth and an orange buff below. Both sexes are similar. The female is slightly smaller than the male. The Fawn-breasted Bowerbird is distributed throughout New Guinea and northern Cape York Peninsula, where it inhabits the tropical forests, mangroves, savanna woodlands and forest edges. Its diet consists mainly of figs, fruits and insects. The nest is a loose cup made of small sticks up in a tree. The bower itself is that of "avenue-type" with two sides of wall of sticks and usually decorated with green-colored berries. A common species in its habitat range, the Fawn-breasted Bowerbird is evaluated as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. The following is an account by expedition naturalist John MacGillivray from the Narrative of the Voyage of H.M.S. Rattlesnake 1846-1850 Vol I. pp. 323-325. It describes the first recorded observation and specimen collection of the Chlamydera cerviniventris. ″Two days before we left Cape York I was told that some bower-birds had been seen in a thicket, or patch of low scrub, half a mile from the beach, and after a long search I found a recently constructed bower, four feet long and eighteen inches high, with some fresh berries lying upon it. The bower was situated near the border of the thicket, the bushes composing which were seldom more than ten feet high, growing in smooth sandy soil without grass. Next morning I was landed before daylight, and proceeded to the place in company with Paida, taking with us a large board on which to carry off the bower specimen. I had great difficulty in inducing my friend to accompany me, as he was afraid of a war party of Gomokudins, which tribe had lately given notice that they were coming to fight the Evans Bay people. However I promised to protect him, and loaded one barrel with ball, which gave him increased confidence, still he insisted on carrying a large bundle of spears and a throwing-stick. Of late Paida's tribe have taken steps to prevent being surprised by their enemies. At night they remove in their canoes to the neighbouring island Robumo, and sleep there, returning in the morning to the shore, and take care not to go away to a distance singly or unarmed. While watching in the scrub I caught several glimpses of the tervinya (the native name) as it darted through the bushes in the neighbourhood of the bower, announcing its presence by an occasional loud churr-r-r, and imitating the notes of various other birds, especially the leather-head. I never before met with a more wary bird, and for a long time it enticed me to follow it to a short distance, then flying off and alighting on the bower, it would deposit a berry or two, run through, and be off again (as the black told me) before I could reach the spot. At length, just as my patience was being exhausted, I saw the bird enter the bower and disappear, when I fired at random through the twigs, fortunately with effect. So closely had we concealed ourselves latterly, and so silent had we been, that a kangaroo while feeding actually hopped up within fifteen yards, unconscious of our presence until fired at. My bower-bird proved to be a new species, since described by Mr. Gould as Chlamydera cerviniventris, and the bower is exhibited in the British Museum."

The yellow-faced myna grows to a length of between 23 and 26 cm (9 and 10 in) and is one of the largest species of starling. The head has short black feathers glossed bluish-purple on the forehead and at the base of the upper mandible, but most of the head is bare yellowish-orange skin. This forms a wide patch around and behind the eye and includes a bib on the chin and the sides of the throat. The neck, central throat and mantle are black glossed with purple while the back, wings, breast and belly are black glossed with green. The rump is white, the lower belly is golden-yellow and the undertail-coverts are white. The short, squarish tail is black. The iris is usually yellow, but in some parts of New Guinea may be brown. The bill and legs are yellow.

The whistling kite ranges in size from 50–60 cm (20–24 in), with a wingspan between 123–146 cm (48–57 in). Weights range from 380–1,050 g (13–37 oz) an average of 600g-750g for males and 750g-1000g for females. As with most raptors, females are larger and heavier than males; though there is considerable overlap between the sexes, females can be up to 21% larger and 42% heavier. Southern birds are also larger than those found in the tropics. Male and female plumages are the same. Adult birds are a pale buff on the head, breast and tail, with browner wings and black flight feathers. Immature birds are a heavily streaked reddish-brown with prominent pale spots on the wings. Throughout their lives, whistling kites have bone-colored legs and feet, which are unfeathered. Overall, the whistling kite looks small-headed and long-tailed, with wingtips falling well short of the tail tip when the bird is perched. Though its legs are short, the bird walks easily on the ground. Whistling kites soar on slightly bowed wings, with their long flight feathers often well-splayed. The striking pattern on their underwings is distinctive.

The hooded mannikin is a small munia. It is whitish below, brown above and has a golden to orange rump. It is unlikely to be confused with other birds in its range. The juvenile is similar in appearance to the much larger in size juvenile great-billed mannikin L. grandis.

The bird is a relatively small pigeon and varies in length from 19 to 21 centimetres (7.6 to 8.4 inches). The peaceful dove has a pink-grey breast with chequered grey-brown wings. Thin striations of black appear around the neck and nape area and descend down the back. The eye is greyish-white and a blue-grey ring surrounds the eye that tapers off and joins the beak/cere. The juveniles are paler and less striated. They also have a duller eye ring. The nape is similar to that of the bar-shouldered dove in that the nape feathers are striated but differs in that the bar-shouldered dove does not have striated throat feathers like the peaceful dove. Furthermore, the nape feathers are grey-brown in colour compared to the vivid copper colour seen with bar-shouldered doves. Calls of the peaceful dove are high-pitched "doodle-doo", "co-co-coo" and "croorrr!".

50 to 70 cm (20 to 28 in) in length, the pheasant coucal is a large heavy-set bird adapted for living on the ground, reminiscent of a pheasant in shape. Birds in breeding plumage have black heads, necks, breasts and bellies, barred chestnut wings and long black, brown and cream barred tails. Outside the breeding season, their black head and underparts moult to a white-streaked chestnut colour. The pheasant coucal's summer voice is a low descending 'boop boop boop'. Its winter voice is a sharp hissing.

Pacific reef herons are medium-sized herons, reaching 57 to 66 cm in length. They have a wingspan of between 90 and 110 cm and reach an average weight of 400 grams. The species displays an unusual, non-sexual dimorphism, with some members having entirely white plumage ('light' morph) and others (the larger portion) being charcoal-grey ('dark' morph). The reason for the colour variation or "morph", is unknown, though it is most commonly thought to be related to camouflage. The plumage of immature herons tends to be browner and duller in colour. Pacific reef herons have very short, yellow legs, and the grey variety's throats and chins are marked by a narrow, white stripe. They have brown beaks, gold-yellow coloured eyes and the surrounding areas of their faces are normally of a greenish to yellow cast.

The victoria Crowned Pigeon has striking blue and maroon feathers topped off with a majestic crown of feathers, making it look like it's straight out of a storybook. This species of pigeon is one of the largest in the world and boasts a peaceful and serene disposition.

Belford's melidectes (Melidectes belfordi), also known as Belford's honeyeater, is a species of bird in the family Meliphagidae. It is found in New Guinea. Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist montane forest. Its common name and Latin binomial commemorate George Belford, the son of a Samoan chief, who collected natural history specimens for Sir William McGregor, the Lieutenant Governor of British New Guinea in the late nineteenth century.