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

Birds of the Fiji Islands
Dick Watling, Birdlife International, Posa Skelton
What are birds?
Birds are perhaps one of the most enigmatic groups of living creatures having evolved
since the Jurassic period (150-200 million years ago) to exist in almost all the landmasses
of earth. Their unique characters of wings, two feet, warm-blooded and egglaying
warranted their placement under the class Aves (phylum Chordata, sub-phylum
Vertebrata). The exact number of living bird species is not known, but an estimate of
around 10,000 species has been suggested.
Why are they important?
Birds are important ecologically, through pollination of wild and agricultural plants to
dispersal of seeds to new environment. While some birds feed exclusive on plants, others
are predators, feeding on small insects, reptiles, mammals, even other birds, such as the
Fiji Peregrine Falcon (Falco peregrinus), the Swamp Harrier (Circus approximans) and
the Fiji Goshawk (Accipiter rufitorques). From a human perspective birds were once
commonly used for sending and receiving messages (homing pigeon [a variety of the Fiji
feral pigeon] - Columba livia), for fishing (cormorant – Phalacrocorax spp.) and as food
(eggs, poultry, guano). Because of the vast distances covered by migrating birds (e.g.
Pacific golden plover – Pluvialis fulva), they can become carriers of some diseases.
Birds also make admirable flagships, being better known to local people and in traditional
culture and they are vital environmental indicators.
History of bird research in Fiji
A summary of the historical account of Fijian birds can be found in Dick Watling‘s
(2001) ‗A guide to the birds of Fiji & Western Pacific‘. Bird exploration of Fiji can be
categorised into three phases.
1. First phase: early European exploration (1820s to late 1880s). During this period
the French explorer Jules Dumont d‘Urville collected a few specimens from Fiji.
The US Wilkes Exploring Expedition followed with surveys from 1838-1842 with
a few species noted.
2. Phase two: 1920-1940 includes the Whitney South Sea Expedition. The
application of science in bird surveys becomes more coherent than previous
expeditions.
3. Phase three: 1950-today – modern taxonomic treatise.
Research activities on the birds of Fiji are in progress with recent efforts to document the
population of the Fiji Petrel.
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