Field guide to Birds of Melanesia

Bismarcks, Solomons, Vanuatu and New Caledonia

Guy Dutson

• Publisher: Helm
• Year: 2020
• Print ISBN: 9780713665406
• eBook ISBN: 9781472982902
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Sciences biologiques
• Subtopic: Zoologie

The perfect guide to the birds of Melanesia – New Caledonia, the Solomons, the Bismarcks and Vanuatu. Written by leading ornithologist Guy Dutson, this Helm field guide covers the species-rich Melanesia region of the south-west Pacific, from New Caledonia and the Solomons through the Bismarcks to Vanuatu. This book is an indispensable birdwatching guide for anyone travelling in this part of the Pacific, with its cover star being the Kagu, the region's most iconic bird species and a highly sought-after endemic of New Caledonia.. Species accounts include 650 superb illustrations allied with concise written information to aid quick and accurate identification. Comprehensive and authoritative, this is the ultimate guide to the birds of this remote and ornithologically fascinating stretch of the Pacific.

CASSOWARIES Casuariidae

Cassowaries are huge thickset flightless birds which are often hunted and sometimes kept as pets or reared for meat. Often detected by their large footprints and faecal mounds full of fruit stones.

DWARF CASSOWARY Casuarius bennetti

Plate 10

(Casoar de Bennett)

Description 105 cm. Huge dark flightless bird. Adult is glossy black with a low rounded helmet, bright blue neck and bright red on hindneck. Female is larger and more brightly coloured. Juvenile is small and pale brown, initially with about four broad dark brown stripes on back, then becoming plain warm or dark brown, and attaining adult colours after about two years. Three large toes leave distinctive footprints.

Similar species Adult is much larger than any other terrestrial bird. When seen or heard running away, may be confused with pigs. Chick differs from Melanesian Megapode by larger size, striped when small, then paler and plainer plumage, and usually seen with an adult.

Voice Very deep booms and grunts; much deeper than other birds.

Habits Forest from coast to mountaintops, especially in hills and lower mountains, but rarer and shy where hunted. Usually solitary but small juveniles are tended by the adult male. Booming display given with bill pointing between legs.

Conservation status Rare. Locally threatened by hunting. IUCN: Near Threatened.

Range New Britain, where probably introduced prehistorically and now widely distributed. Elsewhere, occurs across New Guinea and Yapen I.

MEGAPODES (SCRUBFOWL) Megapodiidae

Megapodes or scrubfowl are dumpy ground birds which forage by scratching the leaf-litter with strong feet. Nest sites range from single birds laying in rotting vegetation to thousands of birds congregating at communal nest grounds in volcanically heated soil or sand. Highly dispersive, flying long distances with slow strong wing-beats interspersed with glides, usually at night, and colonising tiny isolated islands. Chicks are independent and able to fly at hatching but often nocturnal and rarely seen.

MELANESIAN MEGAPODE Megapodius eremita

Plate 10

(Melanesian Scrubfowl; Mégapode mélanésien)

Description 34 cm. Fat grey-brown ground bird with large feet, thin neck and slight crest. Dark warm brown mantle and wings and dark grey head, neck and underparts. Naked skin on face and bill has variable extent and amounts of blue-grey, orange, red and pink, and yellow bill-tip. Legs are dull grey, brown or olive. Female is slightly brighter and browner. Chick is dark brown, paler on cheeks and underparts, with fine barring on upperparts. Immature is darker and plainer.

Similar species Distinctive dumpy shape, scratching habits, short stout legs, red facial skin and crest. Differs from immature Purple Swamphen by facial colours, crest, dark undertail and dumpier shape. Differs from ground pigeons by shorter tail and upright posture, especially when alarmed. From rails by stockier shape with shorter neck and legs. When flushed, differs from Purple Swamphen by faster flight, climbing more steeply upwards, and from immature Nicobar Pigeon by crest and longer, trailing legs. Chicks differ from small crakes by plain brown plumage.

Voice Varied, most commonly a repeated wailing upslurred kee-oow?, or upslurred then downslurred keee-ah or kee-ee-ah. Chicken-like chuckles poo-er, poo-er.... Low grunting ko—ko—ko—.

Habits Forest, often heavily degraded forest and thickets, from sea-level to at least 1500 m. Especially common around nesting grounds in volcanically heated soils or decomposing vegetation. Singles, pairs and small groups forage on forest floor. When flushed, flies heavily and noisily with broad rounded wings and trailing legs, steeply upwards, often perching high to look back at observer.

Conservation status Fairly common. Largest nesting grounds on New Britain may host tens of thousands of birds. Often common on smallest islands but uncommon on large non-volcanic islands. Often hunted, eggs over-collected, and locally declining. Not threatened.

Range Endemic across Admiralties, St Matthias Is, Bismarcks and Solomons, from Ninigo to Santa Ana including smallest islands but not Rennell or Temotu, where subfossil bones may relate to this or another species. Eastern birds are paler and more rufous and have been separated as subspecies M. e. brenchleyi. Birds of Long and Umboi show some characters of New Guinea Scrubfowl M. decollatus, which is paler, browner, longer-crested, with different bare-part colours and calls, and intergrades occur on Karkar.

VANUATU MEGAPODE Megapodius layardi

Plate 10

(New Hebrides Scrubfowl; Skrab Dak: Namalau; Mégapode de Layard)

Description 32 cm. Dark chicken-like ground bird with large feet and thin neck. Sooty brown with bright red naked facial skin and bright yellow legs. Female is duller, especially legs. Chick is dark brown, paler on cheeks and underparts, with fine barring on upperparts. Immature is darker and plainer.

Similar species Adult has distinctive yellow legs and red facial skin contrasting with blackish plumage. Also differs from Red Junglefowl by dumpier shape, shorter tail and darker, more uniform plumage. From immature Purple Swamphen by dark undertail and dumpier shape. From ground pigeons by shorter tail and stands alert rather than crouching when alarmed. When flushed, differs from Purple Swamphen by stronger flight, usually steeply upwards. Chick differs from crakes and Red Junglefowl chick by plainer brown plumage, and is independent of adults unlike junglefowl.

Voice Loud wailing upslurred ko-wah followed by a descending series of wo-wo-wo- quacks. Repeated took-tooorrrr, trailing off in volume.

Habits Forest, rarely logged forest, and absent from other habitats except coastal vegetation adjacent to coastal nesting grounds. Singles, pairs and small groups forage on forest floor, sometimes alongside Red Junglefowl, from sea-level to c.800 m, at higher altitudes more often in valleys. Often shy, running away when disturbed or flushing with rounded wings and trailing legs.

Conservation status Varies in abundance, usually uncommon and localised but may be abundant close to communal nesting grounds. Threatened by habitat loss and over-collection of eggs. IUCN: Vulnerable.

Range Endemic to Vanuatu. Breeds on most islands from Torres Is to Efate. Appears to be extinct on Tanna.

PHEASANTS Phasianidae

Fat ground birds with a short bill, head and neck, foraging by scratching on the ground. Similar to megapodes but pairs nest singly and rear their chicks. Fly heavily with noisy whirring wing-beats interspersed with glides. Forest species fly up to roost in trees. Turkeys are very large species introduced from America. Quail are tiny short-tailed grassland birds. Junglefowl, pheasant and peafowl are familiar introduced species, males often with ornate plumage and long tails.

WILD TURKEY Meleagris gallopavo

(not illustrated)

(Dindon sauvage)

Description Male 110 cm; female 85 cm. Huge ground bird with long drooping tail. Plumage is dark brown with green, bronze and chestnut gloss, and fine b...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Title Page
• CONTENTS
• ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
• INTRODUCTION
• MELANESIAN ORNITHOLOGY
• BIRDWATCHING IN MELANESIA
• CONSERVATION
• USING THE PLATES AND SPECIES TEXTS
• ISLAND GROUPS OF MELANESIA
• CHECKLIST OF THE BIRDS OF MELANESIA
• COLOUR PLATES
• SPECIES ACCOUNTS
• GAZETTEER
• eCopyright