10,000 Birds

AUGUST 27, 2014

Thing is, I saw, as I logged into eBird, that the milestone had already passed, which was odd, because I hadn’t seen many birds in New Zealand this year, and certainly would have remembered a lifer (my last was the Parasitic Jaeger ). Hopefully someone will give these species some more inspired names than this.

Tonga 178

Tonga Fiji Samoa Vanuatu 178

10,000 Birds

DECEMBER 28, 2014

The colorful Purple Swamphen ( Porphyrio porphyrio ) lives in wetlands from Portugal and Senegal all the way east to New Zealand and the Samoan Islands, and a feral population is now well established in Florida. Above: Swamphen in Australia by James Niland).

Papua New Guinea 201

Papua New Guinea Philippines New Zealand Florida 201

10,000 Birds

JUNE 8, 2011

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. I wasn’t there for birding per se, just a chance to get away from New Zealand’s winter in a sunny tropical island.

Tonga 167

Tonga New Zealand Samoa Fiji 167

10,000 Birds

AUGUST 7, 2013

In his comment in last week’s post on the Marlborough Sounds , Beat writer Jochen described the New Zealand Fantail as one of the best birds in the world. wakawaka, the New Zealand Fantail is a delightful inhabitant of New Zealand, and one of my favourite local birds. Fantails don’t do necks.

New Zealand 178

New Zealand Samoa Fiji Killing 178

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 174

Samoa Vanuatu United Arab Emirates Tonga 174