Vol 3 Land Resource Inventory Report - Department of Environment ...

Birds
Birds surveys during this visit were more opportunistic than methodical, conducted on
both days (31/10/09 – 1/11/09) on Makodraga with an extra day (2/11/09) for Makogai
Island.
Eighteen land birds were encountered on Makodraga, six of which are endemic to the Fiji
Islands while two are regional endemic species. Please refer to Table 2 for the list of
birds recorded during the survey.
Notable observations are that of the high frequency of Friendly Ground Dove
(Gallicolumba stairi) nests encountered, the lowest seen on a branch growing at around
1.7m above ground. Apart from the nests, another sign of successful breeding was the
capture of a juvenile feeding on the ground beneath a strand of Beach Hibiscus (Hibiscus
tiliaceus).
Figure 3.11: Signs of successful breeding for Friendly Ground Dove
An adult male was found dead with its head stuck in a notch on a dead tree trunk, in
which a pool of water had accumulated. (Refer to Figure 5)
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