10,000 Birds

SEPTEMBER 7, 2014

It’s a spectacular pigeon with long neck plumes and blue, green, and copper iridescence in its feathers (I mean, look at this bird ), and it lives on islands from the western Indian Ocean all the way out through northern Melanesia. Solomon Islanders say that the species was driven to extinction by cats and dogs introduced by Europeans.

Solomon Islands 278

Solomon Islands Guinea Mauritius Humane 278

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 sacer , ‘Eua, Tonga. Subspecies juliae , Espiritu Santo, Vanuatu. For example only a single subspecies from Vanuatu was sampled.

United Arab Emirates 182

United Arab Emirates Micronesia Tonga Vanuatu 182

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 sacer , ‘Eua, Tonga. Photo by author.

Samoa 172

Samoa Vanuatu United Arab Emirates Tonga 172