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Bird books for Vanuatu

Birds of Vanuatu
Henrich Bregulla
Anthony Nelson, Oswestry, 1992.

This book is the most detailed and accurate reference for Vanuatu. It's well written and a good reference book but not really suitable for field use. It's fairly bulky, the plates are poor and several species are not illustrated. The distribution information is quite accurate but not complete for some remote islands and not recent. Also, Bregulla was quite generous in accepting unusual record reports from only one observer and without physical evidence (eg Oriental Plover Charadrius veredus, Pectoral sandpiper Calidris melanotos and Papuan Myna Mino dumontii).

 

Birds of The Solomons, Vanuatu and New Caledonia
Chris Doughty, Nicolas Day and Andrew Plant
Christopher Helm, A&C Black, London, 1999.

This book is modern, compact and light weight with good plates, making it the field guide of choice. However, the details are few and not well referenced. The distribution maps for several species in Vanuatu are not accurate (and even misleading), the maps are small, two mysterious islands are illustrated north of Erromango and there are no geographical reference maps with the island names. We hope to see an updated and corrected edition in the future. A copy of Bregulla's (1992) distribution lists is helpful (essential) in the field. Since nearly all birders would be using this guide in Vanuatu it is worth listing some doubts and errors in the table below.

 

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Corrections and notes to Birds of The Solomons, Vanuatu and New Caledonia
Common
name		 Scientific
name		 Remarks regarding Birds of the Solomons, Vanuatu and New Caledonia
Australasian Grebe Tachybaptus novaehollandiae Breeds in Vanuatu and probably occurs in suitable habitats throughout the group (Bregulla, 1992).
Australian Pelican Pelecanus conspicillatus The text says 'periodic occurrence' but the map shows resident throughout Vanuatu. Vagrants have been recorded on Aneityum (Bregulla, 1992).
White-faced Heron Egretta novaehollandiae Recent records on Aneityum, Tanna and the Torres Islands. Bregulla (1992) is out of date regarding this species.
Masked Lapwing Vanellus miles Missing in the field guide. This bird has been recorded in the Solomon Islands and there is a new record from Vanuatu in March 2006.
Brown Goshawk Accipiter fasciatus Recorded only on Aneityum and possibly from Efate (Bregulla, 1992). We have recent records from Tanna and Efate. The map shows all of Vanuatu.
New Hebrides Scrubfowl Megapodius layardi Recorded in Vanuatu from Efate northwards (Bregulla, 1992). The text says 'throughout Vanuatu'. The map shows central and northern Vanuatu but excludes the Banks and Torres islands.
Tanna Ground-Dove Gallicolumba ferruginea This species most likely doesn't exist (Bregulla, 1992).
Shining Bronze-Cuckoo Chrysococcyx lucidus The Australian subspecies plagosus is presented as the local subspecies. Essentially there are two subspecies occuring in the region: the migraratory lucidus which breeds in New Zealand and the resident layardi of New Caledonia, Vanuatu and the Santa Cruz islands (Higgins, 1999).
Long-tailed Koel Eudynamys taitensis A rare visitor to Vanuatu (Bregulla, 1992).
Cardinal Myzomela Myzomela cardinalis The Vanuatu race has a black belly unlike the Solomons race illustrated (noted in text). It is worth illustrating.
Dark-brown Honeyeater Lichmera incana Recorded only in central Vanuatu from Malekula and Ambrym south to Erromango (Bregulla, 1992). The map shows all of Vanuatu.
Fan-tailed Gerygone Gerygone flavolateralis Recorded in central and northern Vanuatu from Emae to Vanua Lava (Bregulla, 1992). The map shows all of Vanuatu.
Golden Whistler Pachycephala pectoralis The female whistler of the Vanuatu race looks different to the Solomons race illustrated (see Bregulla, 1992). It is worth illustrating.
Streaked Fantail Rhipidura spilodera Recorded in Vanuatu from Efate northwards (Bregulla, 1992). The map shows all of Vanuatu.
Buff-bellied Monarch Neolalage banksiana Recorded in Vanuatu from Efate northwards to Vanua Lava (Bregulla, 1992). The text says 'throughout Vanuatu'. The map includes southern Vanuatu and omits the Banks and Torres islands.
Southern Shrikebill Clytorhynchus pachycephaloides Recorded in Vanuatu from Erromango northwards (Bregulla, 1992). The map indicates all of Vanuatu.
White-breasted Woodswallow Artamus leucoryncus Not recorded north of Gaua in the Banks and Torres (Bregulla, 1992). The map indicates all of Vanuatu. Recent records from Vanua Lava.
Melanesian Cuckoo-Shrike Coracina caledonica Recorded only from Santo, Aore, Malo, Malekula and Erromango. The map indicates all of Vanuatu.
Common Myna Acridotheres tristis Recorded on Santo, Aore, Malo, Paama, Epi, Efate and Tanna (Bregulla, 1992). The map includes Erromango.
Silver-Eye Zosterops lateralis No records on Aneityum or Futuna (Bregulla, 1992). The map includes Aneityum.
Red-headed Parrotfinch Erythrura cyaneovirens This species is found only on Samoa (Birdlife, 2004b). See E. regia.
Royal Parrotfinch Erythrura regia The text says 'geographically separated from Red-headed Parrotfinch' but the map is correct and includes Efate and Aneityum. Bregulla (1992) mentions two races of E. cyaneovirens and proposed the sinking of the two races into E. c. regia which is now an endemic species of Vanuatu E. regia.
Black-headed Munia Lonchura malacca The text says it is still present in 'small numbers' around Luganville. Recent records show it has spread along east Santo and to Big Bay and to Malekula.
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