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This checklist includes all bird species found in Easter Island , based on the best information available at this time. It is based on a wide variety of sources that I collated over many years. I am pleased to offer these checklists as a service to birdwatchers.
Easter Island’s fauna, as a consequence of its extreme isolation, is scarce and very poor from the point of view of its diversity, which differentiates it notably from the rest of the Polynesian islands. Among the terrestrial fauna, the following species can be distinguished: mammals, sea birds and reptiles.
However, Easter Island animals have had a significant influence on the culture and diet of its inhabitants. Easter Island’s fauna, as a consequence of its extreme isolation, is scarce and very poor from the point of view of its diversity, which differentiates it notably from the rest of the Polynesian islands.
The highly endemic land bird faunas of the Hawaiian Islands and New Zealand evolved independently from those in the Polynesian heartland-the island groups from Tonga and Samoa to the Marquesas Islands that are the primary focus of this article. The prehistoric record of birds is extensive and well studied in the Hawai-
There are two types of seagulls (Sterna lunata) and (Sterna fuscata), known locally as Manutara, which tend to nest in the nearby motus or islets and about which the ancient Tangata Manu or “Bird Man” cult and ceremony used to be based.
From time to time, Honu or Green sea turtles and hawksbill sea turtles appear in Hanga Roa. The fishermen also tend to run into various types of sharks, but an attack has never been reported.
Oceana proposes the creation of a marine reserve in Hanga Roa Bay, where fishing would be regulated. If accepted by the islanders, well preserved coral reefs would greatly benefit and facilitate the recovery of local species.
According to the studies conducted by the organization, the island has suffered a worrying decrease in fish over the last few years, mostly due to overfishing. This shortage affects not only how the island’s marine ecosystem functions, but also the people of Rapa Nui whose economy and culture depend on these resources.
There are not much variety of Easter Island animals due to its extreme isolation. There is no native mammal in its terrestrial wildlife. There are specimens of Maori rats ( Rattus exulans) that were introduced by the first Polynesian settlers and only two species of reptiles: a Gekkonidae (Lepidodactylus lugubris) locally known as moko uru-uru kau and a lizard (Cryptoblepharus poecilopleurus paschalis) known as moko uri uri. There are no known species of snakes on the island.
This checklist includes all bird species found in Easter Island , based on the best information available at this time. It is based on a wide variety of sources that I collated over many years. I am pleased to offer these checklists as a service to birdwatchers. If you find any error, please do not hesitate to report them .
This checklist includes all bird species found in Easter Island , based on the best information available at this time. It is based on a wide variety of sources that I collated over many years. I am pleased to offer these checklists as a service to birdwatchers. If you find any error, please do not hesitate to report them .
There are 142 known native bird species in Hawaii, excluding those considered extinct or extirpated from these islands due to introduced invasive predators
The Zebra Dove is a rare bird that is considered to be one of the most beautiful birds in Hawaii. This is a small pigeon-sized bird that can be seen throughout most of Asia, and southern Australia but lives exclusively on two Hawaiian Islands, Kauai and Maui.
The Hawaiin petrel breeds during the summer months on the islands of Kauai, Oahu and Hawaii (Hawaii). During this time they feed on fish caught by surface-diving or fishing near breeding colonies.
In Hawaii, this bird is not only common, but also one of the most sought after pets by people living there. Rose-Ringed Parakeets feed on seeds, fruits and flowers , which can make them pests when feeding on agricultural crops.
Bird watching is a fun and educational hobby that has been enjoyed by people for centuries. If you have never been to Hawaii, you have never seen so many beautiful birds that are native to the island, and now is a great time to learn about them.
They can be most commonly seen on the coastal areas of Kauai, Oahu, Maui, Molokai and Lanai.
They are seen on Kauai, Oahu, Maui and the Big Island of Hawaii.
Jut Wynne at Rano Kao Volcano conducting reconnaissance for the cliff work to take place in August. (Credit: Rafael Rodriguez Brizuela) On Easter Island, isolated in the middle of the vast Pacific Ocean, ten species of near microscopic insects are all that remain of the island's native species — at least for now. Hidden in volcanic caves that dot the island, the endemic insects of Rapa Nui eke out an existence in an increasingly imperiled habitat. Their ancestral homes, fragile gardens of moss and ferns, are endangered by tourists flooding into the tiny island, and hordes of invasive species threaten to crowd them out. The island may have been immortalized by its iconic Moai, monolithic stone statues standing some 40 feet tall, but its most important inhabitants are almost too small to be seen.
The island now hosts species from the mainland and other places, as well as hundreds of sheep and horses, as well as goats, domesticated descendants of the livestock owned by ranchers who worked the island in the early 1900s. Hidden under their feet, however, are some of the last true natives of Rapa Nui — ten species of insects endemic to the island. Wynne is visiting the island this summer to continue a nearly decade-long project of studying, classifying and hopefully conserving the insects.
The story of environmental destruction on Rapa Nui begins when humans arrived on the island. Polynesian sailors, carried over the waves in giant canoes, made landfall sometime between 800 and 1200 AD. They built a civilization on the verdant island, utilizing the tropical forests for boats and building materials, farming the virgin earth and fishing the bountiful seas. The population soon swelled, likely to around 15,000 inhabitants at its peak in the 17th century, but the population fell to around two or three thousand people by the time Europeans first arrived in 1722.
(Credit: Rafael Rodriguez Brizuela) The ecological shift brought on by human activity may have had devastating consequences for the species that had called the island home for millennia, and which were adapted to a specific kind of environment. What was once palm-dominated scrub forest became a grassland, erasing the natural habitat of dozens of species. The lost species included five kinds of land birds, sea mammals, insects and a type of giant palm tree called Paschalococos disperta, or the Easter Island Palm.
Hawaiioscia rapui (Credit: Jut Wynne) The 10 species he's discovered likely represent only a portion of what was once on the island. Records indicate that many more once crawled across the island, but were wiped out by changes to the ecosystem and invasive species. The remaining insects have likely all retreated underground, where conditions likely reflect the Rapa Nui ecosystem that existed before humans arrived. They live chiefly in gardens of fern and moss gardens that provide the cool, damp surroundings they prefer. These caves, scientists believe, may be the only places where these species exist.
American cockroaches, millipedes and others likely hitched rides on ornamental plants, and they now pervade the island, threatening to crowd out , and eat up, the natives. "These insects are in a constant struggle, in competition [with] and being predated upon by an overwhelmingly significant non-native arthropod or insect community," says Wynne. And because of that we believe that most of the insects on the island are indeed in danger of extinction." He hopes that the future may not be as bleak as the past on Rapa Nui, however. Wynne is a proactive conservationist on the island, working with the park system, the community and the government to increase awareness of the island's unique, yet invisible treasures. His efforts have met with some success already: the park has closed roads to automobiles and buses, reducing traffic in vital areas, and the park is working on a cave management system to monitor the insects' habitat. Wynne says that even small measures such as roping off areas where the insects are likely to be and putting up signs could have a large impact.
Jut Wynne at Rano Kao Volcano conducting reconnaissance for the cliff work to take place in August. (Credit: Rafael Rodriguez Brizuela) On Easter Island, isolated in the middle of the vast Pacific Ocean, ten species of near microscopic insects are all that remain of the island's native species — at least for now. Hidden in volcanic caves that dot the island, the endemic insects of Rapa Nui eke out an existence in an increasingly imperiled habitat. Their ancestral homes, fragile gardens of moss and ferns, are endangered by tourists flooding into the tiny island, and hordes of invasive species threaten to crowd them out. The island may have been immortalized by its iconic Moai, monolithic stone statues standing some 40 feet tall, but its most important inhabitants are almost too small to be seen.
The island now hosts species from the mainland and other places, as well as hundreds of sheep and horses, as well as goats, domesticated descendants of the livestock owned by ranchers who worked the island in the early 1900s. Hidden under their feet, however, are some of the last true natives of Rapa Nui — ten species of insects endemic to the island. Wynne is visiting the island this summer to continue a nearly decade-long project of studying, classifying and hopefully conserving the insects.
The story of environmental destruction on Rapa Nui begins when humans arrived on the island. Polynesian sailors, carried over the waves in giant canoes, made landfall sometime between 800 and 1200 AD. They built a civilization on the verdant island, utilizing the tropical forests for boats and building materials, farming the virgin earth and fishing the bountiful seas. The population soon swelled, likely to around 15,000 inhabitants at its peak in the 17th century, but the population fell to around two or three thousand people by the time Europeans first arrived in 1722.
(Credit: Rafael Rodriguez Brizuela) The ecological shift brought on by human activity may have had devastating consequences for the species that had called the island home for millennia, and which were adapted to a specific kind of environment. What was once palm-dominated scrub forest became a grassland, erasing the natural habitat of dozens of species. The lost species included five kinds of land birds, sea mammals, insects and a type of giant palm tree called Paschalococos disperta, or the Easter Island Palm.
Hawaiioscia rapui (Credit: Jut Wynne) The 10 species he's discovered likely represent only a portion of what was once on the island. Records indicate that many more once crawled across the island, but were wiped out by changes to the ecosystem and invasive species. The remaining insects have likely all retreated underground, where conditions likely reflect the Rapa Nui ecosystem that existed before humans arrived. They live chiefly in gardens of fern and moss gardens that provide the cool, damp surroundings they prefer. These caves, scientists believe, may be the only places where these species exist.
American cockroaches, millipedes and others likely hitched rides on ornamental plants, and they now pervade the island, threatening to crowd out , and eat up, the natives. "These insects are in a constant struggle, in competition [with] and being predated upon by an overwhelmingly significant non-native arthropod or insect community," says Wynne. And because of that we believe that most of the insects on the island are indeed in danger of extinction." He hopes that the future may not be as bleak as the past on Rapa Nui, however. Wynne is a proactive conservationist on the island, working with the park system, the community and the government to increase awareness of the island's unique, yet invisible treasures. His efforts have met with some success already: the park has closed roads to automobiles and buses, reducing traffic in vital areas, and the park is working on a cave management system to monitor the insects' habitat. Wynne says that even small measures such as roping off areas where the insects are likely to be and putting up signs could have a large impact.
This is a list of the bird species of Easter Island. The avifauna of Easter Island include a total of 51 species, of which 6 have been introduced by humans.
This list's taxonomic treatment (designation and sequence of orders, families and species) and nomenclature (common and scientific names) follow the conventions of The Clements Checklist of Birds of the World, 2021 edition. The family accounts at the beginning of each heading reflec…
Order: Gruiformes Family: Rallidae
Rallidae is a large family of small to medium-sized birds which includes the rails, crakes, coots, and gallinules. Typically they inhabit dense vegetation in damp environments near lakes, swamps or rivers. In general they are shy and secretive birds, making them difficult to observe. Most species have strong legs and long toes which are well adapted to soft uneven surfaces. They tend to hav…
Order: Charadriiformes Family: Scolopacidae
Scolopacidae is a large diverse family of small to medium-sized shorebirds including the sandpipers, curlews, godwits, shanks, tattlers, woodcocks, snipes, dowitchers, and phalaropes. The majority of these species eat small invertebrates picked out of the mud or soil. Variation in length of legs and bills enables multiple species to feed in the same habitat, particularly on the coast, w…
Order: Charadriiformes Family: Laridae
Laridae is a family of medium to large seabirds and includes gulls, terns and skimmers. Gulls are typically gray or white, often with black markings on the head or wings. They have longish bills and webbed feet. Terns are a group of generally medium to large seabirds typically with grey or white plumage, often with black markings on the head. Most terns hunt fish by diving but some …
Order: Suliformes Family: Fregatidae
Frigatebirds are large seabirds usually found over tropical oceans. They are large, black-and-white, or completely black, with long wings and deeply forked tails. The males have colored inflatable throat pouches. They do not swim or walk and cannot take off from a flat surface. Having the largest wingspan-to-body-weight ratio of any bird, they are essentially aerial, able to stay aloft fo…
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