Chapter I Intro & Objectives - SPREP

PHOENIX ISLANDS PROTECTED AREA MANAGEMENT PLAN
Chapter III. Background, 3. Terrestrial Resources
Draft 1 March 2007
Clapp and Sibley (1967) reported new records of bird species for Abariringa (Canton),
Birnie, Enderbury, Manra (Sydney), McKean, Nikumaroro (Gardner), and Rawaki (Phoenix)
(see Table III-3.18 above).
Clapp (1968) reported the sharp-tailed sandpipers, Erolia acuminata, the pectoral sandpipers,
E. melanotos, and the sanderling, Crocethia alba, were observed on Rawaki (Phoenix).
Amerson (1968) lists the bird hosts for the tick, Ornithoros capensis and the O. capensis
group in Rawaki (Phoenix) (see Table III-3.11 above).
King (1973) reported that the guano miners’ house left on Rawaki (Phoenix) was providing
nesting sites for white terns and black noddies. Rawaki (Phoenix) had five species of
breeding procellariiforms, a blue-grey noddy population of about 10,000 birds, and a
population of about 45,000 lesser frigatebirds.
According to King (1973), birds were periodically harvested by the crews of copra boats that
serviced the Line Islands.
Garnett (1983) reported species of seabirds from Rawaki (Phoenix Islands). They included:
1) Bulweria bulweria,
2) Pterodroma alba,
3) Puffinus pacificus,
4) Puffinus nativitatis,
5) Puffinus lherminieri,
6) Nesofregetta albrigularis,
7) Phaethon rubricauda,
8) Sula dactylatra,
9) Sula leucogaster,
10) Sula sula,
11) Fregata minor,
12) Fregata ariel,
13) Sterna fuscata,
14) Sterna lunata,
15) Anous stolidus,
16) Anous minutus,
17) Procelsterna cerulea,
18) Gygis alba,
19) Pluvialis dominicus,
20) Numenius tahitiensis,
21) Erolia acuminata,
22) Crocethia alba,
23) Heteroscelus incanus,
24) Calidris melanotos,
25) Arenaria interpres.
In 2000, tens of thousands of primarily great frigatebirds were observed on Rawaki (Phoenix)
(Stone et al 2001). Other species observed included brown and masked boobies, red-foted
boobies, lesser frigatebirds, white fairy terns, blue-grey noddies, Procelsterna cerulean,
unidentified petrels, and whimbrels, Numenius phaeopus.
Neilson (2002) reported the presences of various bird species on Abariringa (Kanton), Birnie,
Enderbury, Manra, Nikumaroro, Orona and Rawaki (see Table III-3.22 above).
Neilson (2002) reported that Rawaki had the largest aggregations of birds in the Phoenix
Islands. Yoshinaga (2002) concurred with this statement. The rabbit population on Rawaki
did not appear to effect the bird population (Neilson 2002). Details on nesting colonies
observed were provided by Yoshinaga (2002).
In 2002, bird surveys were conducted on all Phoenix Islands, except McKean (Obura and
Stone 2003; Yoshinaga 2002; see Table III-3.23 above). No petrels, shearwaters, Pacific reef
herons, or blue-gray noddies were observed.
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