Vanuatu Birds News

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Vanuatu Petrel discovered breeding on Vanua Lava
December 2009
Stephen Totterman

The species Pterodroma occulta was described by Imber and Tennyson in 2001 and tentatively named Vanuatu Petrel. The first specimens were collected in Jan. 1927, east of the island Mere Lava and their provenance has since been unknown. After several exploratory visits to the Banks, I discovered a breeding colony of Vanuatu Petrels on Vanua Lava in Feb. 2009, 130 km northwest of the type locality. A full account has been published in Notornis (Totterman, 2009).

The local knowledge, support and patience of my Ni-Vanuatu friends on the islands was instrumental to this discovery. My field work to-date has been low-budget and informal. International experts and donated funds were not required. I hope that more, proper scientific work will be done to investigate the ecology of the Vanuatu Petrel and conservation status and this discovery will not simply precipitate a rash of twitching.

Notes on Trillers in Vanuatu
May 2009
By Stephen Totterman

Vanuatu has two Triller species: Long-tailed Triller Lalage leucopyga and Polynesian Triller Lalage maculosa. These birds are often confused by inexperienced observers. This article compares the two trillers in Vanuatu, their subspecies, distribution and field characters. Read the full article.

Dark-brown Honeyeaters on Malo
April 2009
By Stephen Totterman

In March 2009, I observed Dark-brown Honeyeaters at Nanuku Mission on 27 March 2009 and at Avunatari Village on 29 March 2009. The published range of this bird in Vanuatu is from Erromango to Ambrym (Bregulla, 1992). New records from Malo indicate a range expansion and villagers at Nanuku said the birds arrived around the year 2000, presumably from Malekula. A juvenile Dark-brown Honeyeater was photographed and the birds are most likely resident in small numbers on Malo.

Note: When reporting new and unusual species the record is more likely to be accepted if the bird has been photographed, video taped and/or recorded.

Collared Petrels confirmed to breed on Tanna
July 2008
By Stephen Totterman

A fact-finding visit to Tanna in July 2008 confirmed breeding of Collared Petrels Pterodroma brevipes. Two chicks were seen and photogaphed in the market house at Loanengo on Friday 4 July 2008. After this finding, villagers were interviewed and some empty burrows were visited.

There are several historical records of Collared Petrels from Vanuatu. Bregulla (1992) notes four specimens collected from scattered burrows in woodland above 300 m (1,000 ft) on the slopes of Mount Melon, Tanna on 1-2 April 1936. Procellarids display high levels of site fidelity and my investigations in 2008 indicate that petrels are still breeding in the same area. The local name is "Tekerkark" and chicks are collected every year, mostly in late June.

The Collared Petrel has been evaluated Near Threatened in the 2007 IUCN red list (BirdLife, 2007). Harvesting of chicks is definitely a concern although use of this traditional food resource is expected to be on the decline because modern foods are more easily won. From talking with locals I found that harvesting is not limited or monitored, the only rule is that adults can not be taken. A very approximate estimate is that hundreds of chicks are collected in a season and people do not feel that numbers are decreasing. Annual monitoring of actual numbers would be a useful conservation initiative.

Collared Petrel now a threatened species
February 2008
By Stephen Totterman

The Collared Petrel Pterodroma brevipes has been re-evaluated Near Threatened (formerly Least Concern) in the 2007 IUCN red list (BirdLife, 2007; factsheet). It has a small population presently known to breed only in Fiji on Gau. An initiative to survey historical breeding location of the Collared Petrel in Vanuatu is needed.

Collared Petrels have been collected in Vanuatu on Aneityum (February, 1859), Efate (June, 1926), at sea near Mere Lava (January, 1927) and breeding on Tanna in April 1936 (Bregulla, 1992). Also, there are unreferenced reports of breeding in the Banks Islands from August to March and on Tanna in April. The report from the Banks Islands lacks supporting evidence and might not be reliable. The scattered dates of historical records also indicate some uncertainty.

On a visit to Tanna in March 2006, I was told by villagers at Imakie that people from the Loanengo area collect seabird chicks from burrows on the slopes of Mount Melen in July and August. This report disagrees with Guy Dutson's note from 1998 that local people on Tanna reported hole-nesting birds were very rare (BirdLife, 2007). The breeding season agrees with knowledge in Fiji where young are found in the nest from May to August (BirdLife, 2007).

Audubon's Shearwater Puffinus lherminieri is also believed to breed on Tanna with historical records from the months December to March (Bregulla, 1992). If seabirds are breeding in July and August, they are probably not Audubon's Shearwater.

Little Tern spotted again, this time on Efate
February 2007
By Stephen Totterman

During a low tide visit to Malapoa Point, Port Vila, on 9 Febraury 2007, a single Little Tern was seen roosting with Great Crested Terns. This is our second location for Little Terns in Vanuatu, the first known record is from Malekula in December 2004. Better quality photos were taken this time to confirm the identification.

With this new record it appears that very small numbers of Little Terns are occasional non-breeding visitors to Vanuatu during the summer months, perhaps even regular.

A new record for Vanuatu, Masked Lapwings on Tanna
March 2006
By Stephen Totterman

Two adult Masked Lapwings Vanellus miles were seen at the Whitegrass Airport on Tanna in March 2006. This report is the first known record of Masked Lapwings in Vanuatu. With more extensive black colouring on the cap, hind neck, sides of the breast and smaller facial lappets, the Tanna birds appear to belong to the subspecies novaehollandiae. The birds were photographed to support the identification.

Elsewehere in the region, two birds of the subspecies novaehollandiae were recorded from the Solomon Islands in 1984 (Blaber, 1990). They are seen regularly at two airfields in Fiji and suspected to breed (Dick Watling 2008, personal communication). We are interested in knowing of any recent observations from New Caledonia. This bird is not in the field guide (Doughty et al, 1999).

Note: When reporting new and unusual species the record is more likely to be accepted if the bird has been photographed, video taped and/or recorded.

A visit to the Reef Islands
September/October 2005
By Stephen Totterman

The Reef Islands are located between Mota Lava and Ureparapara in the Banks Group and are the only coral cays in Vanuatu. I visited the Reef Islands from 29 September to 2 October 2005 and noted perhaps the first bird lists from this location. 16 species were found.

The Reef Islands are enclosed by a long horseshoe shaped reef which protects a lagoon with sandy shallows. There are five small islands inside, mostly sand built up over fossil coral and at low tide one can walk between the islands. Vegetation cover on the Reef Islands is low with hardy bushes, casuarinas and other beach trees. Only Rowa island has large trees and these make it appear to be higher than it actually is; it is actually a low heap of coral rag rising no more than about 3 metres above sea level. Two of the islands, Enwot and Wotansa, have shallow, brackish ponds. There were Melanesian people living on the Reef Islands until 1939 when they moved to neighbouring islands after a severe tropical cyclone.

The diversity of land and freshwater birds is low on the Reef Islands with 8 species recorded versus 17 on neighbouring Mota Lava. I did not find any pigeons, doves or parrots during my brief visit. There does appear to be suitable habitat on the islands for ground-doves yet no Emerald Doves Chalcophaps indica were detected. Vanuatu Scrubfowl Megapodius layardi was found on all of the four islands visited.

Shorebirds are well represented and fairly abundant on the Reef Islands and 6 species were recorded. The list includes Greater Sand Plovers Charadrius leschenaultii, the second site in Vanuatu where they have been seen. There were Grey-tailed Tattlers Tringa brevipes on the sand flats and there must be Wandering Tattlers Tringa incana along the exposed, rocky seashores but they were missed.

There were unexpectedly few seabirds and terns seen during my visit. Only Great Crested Terns Sterna bergii were found. The Reef Islands should be suitable for breeding Black-naped Terns Sterna sumatrana but none were seen. September is early in the season for most breeeding seabirds.

Cruising yachts sometimes visit the Reef Islands and it is hoped there are some bird watchers amongst them who can contribute notes to VanBirds.

A colour flagged Grey-Tailed Tattler reported from Efate
September 2005
By Stephen Totterman

A Grey-tailed Tattler Tringa brevipes with a blue colour flag on the left tibia was observed feeding on the coral flats with other Tattlers at Malapoa Point near Port Vila in September 2005. The observer, Bo Totterman, is an experienced shorebird watcher from Australia and was visiting Vanuatu on holiday. He reported his observation to the Australasian Wader Studies Group (AWSG) who replied that this bird was flagged on Hokkaido, Japan sometime since 1997.

This may be the first shorebird leg flag sighting ever reported from Vanuatu. Observers are encouraged to be look carefully for flags on waders, report them to the AWSG and contribute to our understanding of the migration of birds in the East Asian-Australasian Flyway.

A visit to Mere Lava
March/April 2005
By Stephen Totterman

Mere Lava is a small volcanic island 52 km southeast of Gaua in the Banks Group. There have been no reports on the avifauna of this island for many years and no visiting ornithologists in living memory. I visited Mere Lava from 22 March to 24 April 2005 and found 25 birds species, five of these are new for the island. I also noted evidence of a breeding population of Audubon's Shearwater Puffinus lherminieri.

Chestnut-bellied Kingfishers on Aore
March 2005
By Stephen Totterman

On two visits to Aore island in March 2005 I found Chestnut-bellied Kingfishers Todirhampus farquhari to be widespread and fairly common. Most birds were detected by call only, and one was observed calling from a perch. References state this Vanuatu endemic species has been recorded only on Santo, Malo and Malekula (Bregulla, 1992). Since Aore is a relatively large island next to Malo and Santo it's not too surprising to find Chestnut-bellied Kingfishers on Aore.

Two new birds for Vanuatu found on the islands off Malekula
December 2004
By Stephen Totterman

A flock of 20 Greater Sandplovers Charadrius leschenaultii in non-breeding plumage were found on Uripiv Island (Malekula) in December 2004, which is the first known record for Vanuatu. This sandplover breeds in west and central Asia during the northern summer and is a widespread non-breeding visitor along the coasts of the Indian and Pacific oceans from Africa through to Australia (Hayman et al, 1996). I observed the sandplovers closely on more than one day and from my experience with shorebirds in Australia and East Africa am confident they were not Mongolian Plovers Charadrius mongolus. Photographs were taken to support the identification.

Again on Uripiv Island, a flock of 4 small terns was spotted in December 2004. Unlike non-breeding Fairy Terns Sterna nereis, these terns had black bills (not bicoloured) and the dark carpal bar on the wing was seen. These features indicate they were non-breeding Little Terns Sterna albifrons (Doughty et al, 1999) and this is the first record for Vanuatu we know of. Also, the Fairy Terns of New Caledonia would be expected to be in breeding plumage in Summer. Photographs support the identification.

Left to right: Little Tern, Black-naped Tern, Little Tern.

These two observations show how little is known about Vanuatu's shorebirds and seabirds, a fact acknowledged in Bregulla (1992). These birds could well be regular non-breeding visitors to Vanuatu and I hope to see them again.

Note: When reporting new and unusual species the record is more likely to be accepted if the bird has been photographed, video taped and/or recorded.

Black-headed Munias on Malekula
December 2004
Stephen Totterman

On a tour of Malekula in December 2004 I found Black-headed Munias to be widespread, around the "dog's head" (north) and down the east coast to Tisman.

This is the first report of Black-headed Munias Lonchura mallaca outside of Santo we know of. We don't know when, where and how they were introduced to Malekula. The island is close to Santo so they may have self-introduced.

Update Dec-05: Since publishing this story we have uncovered earlier sightings of this bird on Malekula from 1999 (Steve Gibb, pers. comm.) and 2000 (Birchenough et al, 2003).