10,000 Birds

AUGUST 27, 2014

I’ve written before about how the Collared Kingfisher is a million splits waiting to happen (not happened yet), and the golden whistlers of the Pacific have been split now (giving me on from Fiji, one in Australia and one in Vanuatu), but I hadn’t really expected the Wattled Honeyeater to be a split. Photo from ‘Eua, Tonga.

Tonga 175

Tonga Fiji Samoa Vanuatu 175

10,000 Birds

JUNE 8, 2011

I certainly did when I visited the two southern islands of Tonga a few years ago. The two endemic species found in Tonga are not found in these islands, and the other species present are also found on more traditional destinations of Fiji and Samoa. But here’s the thing. It didn’t used to be.

Tonga 165

Tonga New Zealand Samoa Fiji 165

10,000 Birds

SEPTEMBER 7, 2014

In 2001, Trevor Worthy described a set of bones from Fiji as a new species of very large, flightless pigeon: the Viti Levu Giant Pigeon ( Natunaornis gigoura ). A large, extinct relative of the (barely) extant Tooth-billed Pigeon described above was described in 2006 from remains found in Tonga ( Steadman 2006 ).

Solomon Islands 275

Solomon Islands Guinea Mauritius Humane 275

10,000 Birds

MARCH 23, 2011

The Collared Kingfisher isn’t the most widespread kingfisher in the world (a distinction that would probably go to the Common Kingfisher or the Pied Kingfisher ), but it is close, ranging from the African coast of the Red Sea through to Tonga and American Samoa. Subspecies pealei , National Park of American Samoa.

Samoa 168

Samoa Vanuatu United Arab Emirates Tonga 168

10,000 Birds

SEPTEMBER 23, 2015

All the way back in 2011 I wrote about the confusing taxanomic enigma that is the Collared Kingfisher , a species that ranges from the Red Sea to Tonga in a bewildering variety of forms. Subspecies pealei , National Park of American Samoa. Subspecies sacer , ‘Eua, Tonga. Subspecies vitiensis , Fiji. Bryan Harry, USNPS.

United Arab Emirates 176

United Arab Emirates Micronesia Tonga Vanuatu 176