Rarotongan birds, with notes on land bird status

Abstract

Observations made during visits to Rarotonga in July and August 1976 are detailed, with particular reference to land birds and petrels, a group not previously recorded. The outstanding feature of the land bird ecology is the apparent total restriction of the native species except Long-tailed cuckoo to the central primitive forests and adjacent second growth. The native land bird fauna consists of only five species: Long-tailed Cuckoo, Pacific Pigeon, Rarotonga Fruit Dove, Rarotonga Flycatcher and the Rarotonga Starling, of which the last three are endemic. The Flycatcher and the Starling are now very rare. The settled parts of Rarotonga contain virtually a single species, the introduced Myna. Although its presence suggests a restriction on the spread of native birds into settled areas, similar conditions elsewhere might indicate that other factors may well have been responsible for such a habitat restriction. Early information on land birds and their status dating from Gill's missionary times of the 1840s-1860s is noted. Observations of sea birds, especially the Herald Petrel, a probable breeding species, are given.