Exploring the Norfolk Island Group

Dannelboyz

Dannelboyz

Well-Known Member
It’s been almost half a year since I was on the islands of Norfolk and Phillip in the south Pacific, but it feels wrong not to write up a birding report on a place so few people here will get the chance to visit. For those of you who are unfamiliar with the location, the Norfolk Island Group consists of Norfolk Island and the smaller Phillip and Nepean Islands. Despite their location halfway between New Caledonia and New Zealand, these islands are Australian territory. Norfolk Island itself is roughly 7km across in each direction and consists of a national park covering the northern third of the island, an airport in the southwestern corner, and two small towns in the centre and south coast, respectively. It has a population of about 1,750 residents: a mixture of Australian and New Zealander retirees, and islanders descended from the mutineers on the Bounty who settled on Pitcairn’s Island. Phillip Island sits about 7km south of Norfolk Island and is much smaller at just 1km north-south and 2km east-west. It has no resident population.

While I am a birder at heart, my reason for going was actually unrelated to the birds. It was in fact a university-funded trip to study the ecology of an endemic species of giant centipede (Cormocephalus coynei) on Phillip Island for my Honours. My project was to study the diet, foraging behaviour, spatial movement and habitat use of the centipedes, particularly because Phillip Island is an island that has undergone serious habitat degradation and recent recovery, which I will talk about later. That said, I spent a total of over four weeks on Phillip Island and a week on Norfolk Island, giving me ample opportunity to explore the bird life on both islands.


Day 1: Burnt Pine, Norfolk Island
As a result of cyclone Oma passing through the Pacific at the time, my trip was delayed by a week. I arrived on Norfolk Island on the afternoon of February 24, 2019 from Melbourne via Sydney. Rain was bucketing down as we landed, making it virtually impossible to manage any birding on the first day. As a result, I saw nothing but a single Common Starling at the airport. The people of Norfolk Island are very friendly and despite me having no plan regarding travel, there were several buses waiting outside the airport to take passengers like myself to their respective accommodations. As I arrived at The Polynesian Apartments where I was staying, a Feral Chicken was lurking around the footpath, and a small group of Silvereyes was calling from the trees outside.

The Polynesian was a suitable accommodation for everything I needed – a small kitchen, a bed and a bathroom. John, who runs the place, is a great guy and takes pride in accommodating researchers like myself. He even offered to give me a lift to the supermarket to pick up any food I needed for the night. Admittedly, the main shops at the Norfolk Mall were only about three minutes’ walk away, but apparently the Norfolk Islanders love to drive everywhere. The driving culture is a little reminiscent of a particular scene in Toy Story 2! The motel itself has a relatively central location on the island (though I suppose that’s true for any accommodation in the township of Burnt Pine), which worked well for me because it meant that I was well-positioned to walk to any part of the island as long as I had a few hours to spare. My room had a view out into a clearing at the base of Mount Pitt, which I was quite satisfied with once the weather cleared.

After getting some food, I spent the rest of the evening in my room, but saw a small handful of species on the lawn outside. The first of these was a Sacred Kingfisher sitting on the clothesline behind the apartments. Unlike the Sacred Kingfishers I am used to on mainland Australia, the Norfolk Island subspecies norfolkensis does not migrate. The subspecies has a breeding population of about 1,000 pairs and while restricted to the islands of the Norfolk Group, it is locally common. Common Blackbirds and Feral Chickens were also running around outside, with Welcome Swallows and Common Starlings flying overhead. Right on dark, I saw my first lifer for the trip in the form of three Black Noddies flying high over the clearing.

In total, I saw seven species for the first day, including one lifer and one endemic subspecies. Next up, I will talk about my search for the four endemic Norfolk Island birds!

1 - Common Starling
2 - Feral Chicken
3 - Silvereye
4 - Sacred Kingfisher
5 - Common Blackbird
6 - Welcome Swallow
7 - Black Noddy
 
Sounds realy intresting ! Did you also take photos during your study / vacation because Norfolk Island is - as far as I could see - completly un-represented in the ZooCat Gallery and I'm sure there are a number of realy intresting species on the islands to start for example with the Giant centipede (Cormocephalus coynei), from which I had never heared before !
 
vogelcommando said:
Sounds realy intresting ! Did you also take photos during your study / vacation because Norfolk Island is - as far as I could see - completly un-represented in the ZooCat Gallery and I'm sure there are a number of realy intresting species on the islands to start for example with the Giant centipede (Cormocephalus coynei), from which I had never heared before !
Click to expand...
Yes, I did take photos, which I placed in the Australian Wildlife gallery, but they're a fair way back now (page 9-10): Australia - Wildlife - Page 9 - ZooChat

There's a few more photos I could probably add to the gallery, so I'll scan through what I've got. I did make sure to include the centipede and all endemic birds, plus the rarer seabirds. :)
 
Dannelboyz said:
It’s been almost half a year since I was on the islands of Norfolk and Phillip in the south Pacific, but it feels wrong not to write up a birding report on a place so few people here will get the chance to visit. For those of you who are unfamiliar with the location, the Norfolk Island Group consists of Norfolk Island and the smaller Phillip and Nepean Islands. Despite their location halfway between New Caledonia and New Zealand, these islands are Australian territory. Norfolk Island itself is roughly 7km across in each direction and consists of a national park covering the northern third of the island, an airport in the southwestern corner, and two small towns in the centre and south coast, respectively. It has a population of about 1,750 residents: a mixture of Australian and New Zealander retirees, and islanders descended from the mutineers on the Bounty who settled on Pitcairn’s Island. Phillip Island sits about 7km south of Norfolk Island and is much smaller at just 1km north-south and 2km east-west. It has no resident population.

While I am a birder at heart, my reason for going was actually unrelated to the birds. It was in fact a university-funded trip to study the ecology of an endemic species of giant centipede (Cormocephalus coynei) on Phillip Island for my Honours. My project was to study the diet, foraging behaviour, spatial movement and habitat use of the centipedes, particularly because Phillip Island is an island that has undergone serious habitat degradation and recent recovery, which I will talk about later. That said, I spent a total of over four weeks on Phillip Island and a week on Norfolk Island, giving me ample opportunity to explore the bird life on both islands.


Day 1: Burnt Pine, Norfolk Island
As a result of cyclone Oma passing through the Pacific at the time, my trip was delayed by a week. I arrived on Norfolk Island on the afternoon of February 24, 2019 from Melbourne via Sydney. Rain was bucketing down as we landed, making it virtually impossible to manage any birding on the first day. As a result, I saw nothing but a single Common Starling at the airport. The people of Norfolk Island are very friendly and despite me having no plan regarding travel, there were several buses waiting outside the airport to take passengers like myself to their respective accommodations. As I arrived at The Polynesian Apartments where I was staying, a Feral Chicken was lurking around the footpath, and a small group of Silvereyes was calling from the trees outside.

The Polynesian was a suitable accommodation for everything I needed – a small kitchen, a bed and a bathroom. John, who runs the place, is a great guy and takes pride in accommodating researchers like myself. He even offered to give me a lift to the supermarket to pick up any food I needed for the night. Admittedly, the main shops at the Norfolk Mall were only about three minutes’ walk away, but apparently the Norfolk Islanders love to drive everywhere. The driving culture is a little reminiscent of a particular scene in Toy Story 2! The motel itself has a relatively central location on the island (though I suppose that’s true for any accommodation in the township of Burnt Pine), which worked well for me because it meant that I was well-positioned to walk to any part of the island as long as I had a few hours to spare. My room had a view out into a clearing at the base of Mount Pitt, which I was quite satisfied with once the weather cleared.

After getting some food, I spent the rest of the evening in my room, but saw a small handful of species on the lawn outside. The first of these was a Sacred Kingfisher sitting on the clothesline behind the apartments. Unlike the Sacred Kingfishers I am used to on mainland Australia, the Norfolk Island subspecies norfolkensis does not migrate. The subspecies has a breeding population of about 1,000 pairs and while restricted to the islands of the Norfolk Group, it is locally common. Common Blackbirds and Feral Chickens were also running around outside, with Welcome Swallows and Common Starlings flying overhead. Right on dark, I saw my first lifer for the trip in the form of three Black Noddies flying high over the clearing.

In total, I saw seven species for the first day, including one lifer and one endemic subspecies. Next up, I will talk about my search for the four endemic Norfolk Island birds!

1 - Common Starling
2 - Feral Chicken
3 - Silvereye
4 - Sacred Kingfisher
5 - Common Blackbird
6 - Welcome Swallow
7 - Black Noddy
Click to expand...


This question isn't really natural history related though I'm reading your thread with interest..

My question, I read somewhere the people of Norfolk Island used to speak with a particular dialect or pidgin english inherited from the Pitcairn islanders that settled there-using perhaps elements of 'olde english' Have you noticed any traces of this in 2019?
 
I was eagerly awaiting for this thread since you told me you were going to write about it. Well-written and a great start to an excursion not many people tend to do!
 
Pertinax said:
This question isn't really natural history related though I'm reading your thread with interest..

My question, I read somewhere the people of Norfolk Island used to speak with a particular dialect or pidgin english inherited from the Pitcairn islanders that settled there-using perhaps elements of 'olde english' Have you noticed any traces of this in 2019?
Click to expand...
Yes, there are definitely traces of pidgin, especially amongst the people who are descended directly from the mutineers. Generally, people seem to just speak like any Australian would, with thick Aussie accents. However, I did notice when talking to each other, a couple of the rangers used a few words/phrases which I didn't understand at first. A couple that I heard a fair bit were "What a way ye?" and "W'about you gwen?" which mean "How are you?" and "Where are you going?" respectively.

---

I apologise for taking so long with this second part. I have been doing a lot of writing recently between Honours and various applications, so I’ve had little desire to write for this as well!


Day 2: Burnt Pine to the Norfolk Island Botanic Gardens

With the weather clearing up and sunny skies overhead, I woke early to give myself the day to explore the island. My main targets were the four endemic bird species: the Norfolk Island Parakeet, Norfolk Island Robin, Norfolk Island Gerygone and Slender-billed White-eye. None of these species are found on Phillip Island, where I would be spending most of my time, so I wanted to make sure I took every opportunity to search for them while I was on the main island.

Before heading out for the day, a little birding from the motel added White-faced Heron and Crimson Rosella to my list – both species I am very familiar with from Melbourne. The introduced rosellas unfortunately compete with endemic parakeets for nesting sites. As I walked out into the town of Burnt Pine I had a glimpse of another lifer flying overhead, the White Tern. These noddies were once called Fairy Terns, however that name now belongs to a Sternula species. Having seen both species, I have to admit that it would have suited the White Tern far better. These birds are spectacular as they dive up and around the Norfolk Pines high over the island. They are about as white as an animal can be, with only a distinctive black eye patch and strongly upturned grey bill to contrast against their glowing plumage. Standing outside anywhere on Norfolk Island in good weather, you need only look up to just about guarantee a view of these birds.

Continuing through the town, I saw House Sparrows around a café, alongside other introduced island birds and Silvereyes in various gardens. Further along, I saw my first Song Thrush on a patch of lawn along Taylors Rd. This species is introduced to Melbourne but I am yet to see one there. With it was a Pacific Golden Plover and a few European Greenfinch feeding on the ground. I headed up towards the Botanic Gardens and National Park along Grassy Rd, where I heard my first endemic species calling from a garden. The Norfolk Island Gerygone has a typical gerygone call: a distinctive musical warbling that is quite beautiful, if not extremely repetitive. It is a rather small and grey passerine with a dark loral stripe, and is differentiated from other gerygones by its long bill. Further along the road, a small flock of California Quail were spotted on a patch of grass. Strangely, this feral population was a lifer for me, despite the fact that I had spent two weeks in California the previous year.

Soon enough I arrived at the Botanic Gardens, which is a small portion of the National Park just south of the main park. In total, the walk is about 15 minutes uphill from Burnt Pine, but I took my time birding and arrived 50 minutes after leaving my apartment. Its close proximity to town makes it perhaps the most accessible location on the island where one could see all the endemic bird species in a short period of time. I should note that while most people on Norfolk Island drive everywhere, if you are reasonably fit you can easily get to any part of the island by walking. I found that walking to different locations gave me the opportunity to find interesting birds along streets and in gardens, so unless you are in a rush you don’t need a car to get around the island.

The entrance of the gardens consists of a small gate leading to a boardwalk. At the start of this boardwalk, I noticed that White Terns were ‘nesting’ in the trees. Although rather than building a nest, an egg is laid directly on an exposed branch and once it hatches, the fluffy chick clings on to the branch with its strong claws until it has fledged. While watching the terns, I also noticed the familiar call of a Grey Fantail and quickly located the bird. This is a subspecies endemic to the island, but it did not look or sound particularly distinct from the mainland birds I am used to. Plenty of gerygones were calling all around and while it was difficult to manage a clear view, I imagine it would be difficult to miss these birds on a visit here. Further along the boardwalk near the Information Centre, a larger passerine flew down and landed on the boardwalk rail. This was a Golden Whistler, or “Tamey” as the locals call them. It is a surprise that this subspecies has not been split from the Golden Whistlers on mainland Australia, as they look remarkably distinct. Male Norfolk Island Golden Whistlers lack the vivid yellow plumage, black hood and white throat of mainland males, instead resembling female birds.

I briefly visited the information centre at the gardens, which is an interesting experience. It is not very large and has several displays with life-sized sculptures of some endemic species. These were however rather poorly created, and I was disappointed that taxidermy displays were not used instead. One of the more interesting displays in the information centre is a series of satellite images of Phillip Island, showing how bare it was just forty years ago and how quickly it has recovered since - but I will talk more about the story of this island later. Out the back of the building, I saw a Feral Chicken scratching through the litter, and my second endemic species of the trip, the Slender-billed White-eye! In comparison to the abundant silvereyes, this white-eye has a greenish-yellow breast and a longer more down-curved bill. They are much larger than Silvereyes and their calls, while similar, are shorter and deeper. This species is also restricted to forested habitats on the island, whereas Silvereyes are easily found across the island, in both forested and urbanised areas.

As I made my way deeper into the National Park down the Rainforest Gully Circuit, I saw a few individual Pacific Emerald Doves moving around in the litter. Shortly afterwards, I saw my third endemic species: the Norfolk Island Robin. This was also the first Endangered species of my trip, with perhaps only a couple hundred pairs remaining. I managed to find seven birds during my time in the Botanic Gardens and while rare, they are easy enough to find. Like the Scarlet Robins I am familiar with in Melbourne, males have a striking red breast with a white cap, but both of these features are more extensive than in the Scarlet Robin. Females are also very colourful, with orange underparts, but no white cap or black upperparts as in the male. Every time I detected these robins in the National Park, they remained relatively close to the ground and were usually found in pairs.

In total, I spent just under two hours at the Botanic Gardens. I saw just 14 bird species, but they included three lifers and two subspecies lifers. This meant that I had now seen every endemic species and subspecies, except for the Norfolk Island Parakeet. It was only 10AM and I had all day to search through the National Park, so I certainly felt hopeful. Next, I will talk about my exploration of the National Park and my efforts to find the last of the endemic birds!

8 - White-faced Heron
9 - Crimson Rosella
10 - White Tern
11 - House Sparrow
12 - Song Thrush
13 - Pacific Golden Plover
14 - European Greenfinch
15 - Norfolk Island Gerygone
16 - California Quail
17 - Grey Fantail
18 - Golden Whistler
19 - Slender-billed White-eye
20 - Pacific Emerald Dove
21 - Norfolk Island Robin
 
Day 2 (continued): Norfolk Island National Park

With one endemic left on the target list, I headed off towards the National Park. The main entrance into the National Park is only a little north of the Botanic Gardens, following Mt Pitt Rd. Along the road, I saw several White Terns and Silvereyes, with a surprising group of three Slender-billed White-eyes feeding in a relatively exposed group of trees. They gave excellent views and I was able to obtain a clear picture of one of the birds. Gerygones were heard too: these would have to be the most common native bird on the island, given that all other common species are recent introductions. Even the Silvereyes, which are perhaps the most common species on Norfolk Island, are self-introduced.

At about quarter past 10, I arrived at the entrance to the National Park. The road here is quite steep and takes you right to the top of Mt Pitt. I didn't encounter anyone else walking up the road, but I would highly recommend walking as the forest on either side is excellent for endemics. I saw many gerygones, fantails, white-eyes, a whistler and four robins before reaching the top. I also saw a single European Goldfinch, which is apparently a rare species on the island and not often seen by visiting birders.

The view from the top of Mt Pitt is beautiful. You can easily see the entire island from here, as well as distant views of both Nepean and Phillip Islands. This was actually my first opportunity to see Phillip Island, and it was exciting to think I was about to spend several weeks out there. Its exposed red soil and cliffs contrasted noticeably with the lush green of the grassy fields and stands of pines covering Norfolk Island. It is easy to see why some locals who are less ecologically-minded than myself do not support the recovery of the island, as the view is quite striking. From here, you could also look down on large numbers of White Terns and Black Noddies soaring over the island in all directions.

Over the course of about two hours, I had traversed the National Park from west to east and arrived at a lookout for Elephant Rock. To get here, I had walked down Red Road Track and the Bridle Track in search of my target, the Norfolk Island Parakeet. Unfortunately, I hadn't even manage to hear one. The lookout to Elephant Rock is a steep drop-off but this location is excellent for close views of many seabirds. Black Noddies and White Terns, with fish lining their beaks, flew just metres beside me. Below me, I managed my first distant glimpse of Grey Ternlets, a cliff-nesting noddy species. I also saw about twenty Red-tailed Tropicbirds from the walk along the coastline here. These magnificent large seabirds look rather majestic in the air, and most displayed long red tail streamers. As I scanned the ocean, I noticed a loud, rapid chirping call to my right and saw two Pterodroma petrels twisting and twirling through the air. These were Black-winged Petrels, the only Pterodroma regularly seen on the main island. They are a small petrel and very active. About eight birds were seen in total, often flying right over my head. My fourth lifer for the location came in the form of a small scattering of Masked Boobies on Elephant Rock itself. These large birds do not breed on Norfolk Island, but are easy to see on any neighbouring islets.

After about an hour of walking along the coast, I continued south along the Red Road Track to exit the National Park. During this walk, while in a patch of thicker vegetation I managed more great views of a larger flock of Slender-billed White-eyes. However, the highlight for the day was yet to come. After a few 'false alarm' parrot calls which turned out to be Crimson Rosellas, I heard a distinct undulating call. This call sounded a little like the squeaking of someone vigorously washing a window, albeit much more rapid. Knowing exactly who this call belonged to, I looked around in excitement and eventually saw the bird fly in and land on a branch just a few metres above, clearly eyeing me over. This Norfolk Island Parakeet, or Green Parrot as it is known by the islanders, is quite a rare bird. Just twenty years ago, only four breeding females remained. There are now thought to be a few hundred parakeets left, but they are still threatened as a result of competition for nest hollows and predation of nestlings by invasive species. They are a beautiful parrot, perhaps only slightly smaller than a rosella with all green plumage except for a distinctive blue wing-bar, red cap and red spot behind the eye. They have previously been considered conspecific with the Red-crowned Parakeet of New Zealand, but they are larger and genetic analysis has shown that Norfolk Island Parakeets diverged early within the Cyanoramphus genus. I watched this parrot for about ten minutes, snapping a few pictures before it flew off again. It wasn't the best lighting, being a rather dark patch of forest, but I was ecstatic to have seen one!

With all endemics now ticked off, I was more than satisfied with my first full day on the island. I headed back towards Burnt Pine, arriving back at my accommodation around 3 o'clock. Here, I met Nicholas Carlile, a researcher from Sydney who I would be going over to Phillip Island with. Nicholas is a really down-to-earth guy and an expert on Pterodroma petrels. He has been coming to Phillip Island multiple times each year to study the Kermadec Petrels. However, he is perhaps better known for his work on Lord Howe Island. He was one of two scientists who climbed Balls Pyramid to find the last remaining population of Lord Howe Island Stick Insects, over eighty years after they became extinct on Lord Howe. This year, he has been living out on Lord Howe Island with his family during the rat eradication program.

I spent the rest of the day sorting out food for myself and relaxing in my room. It seemed unlikely with current weather conditions that we would be able to make it out to Phillip Island for at least a couple days. I heard more parakeets calling from outside the motel, but I was unable to locate them. Regardless, it had been a fantastic day and my focus on the days ahead was to find the remaining migrants, vagrants, self-introduced species and seabirds! Aside from birds, there is little wildlife to see on Norfolk Island. A few butterfly, cockroach and spider species were common but the only mammals on the island are introduced and primarily nocturnal. Both native lizards have gone extinct on the island.

22 - European Goldfinch
23 - Grey Ternlet
24 - Red-tailed Tropicbird
25 - Black-winged Petrel
26 - Masked Booby
27 - Norfolk Island Parakeet
 
Have you heard about whether Ring-necked Pheasants currently exist on the island? Christian's 'Norfolk Island ...the birds' says that pheasants died out there, but according to eBird, a person saw at least one on the island in 2014.
 
Cassidy Casuar said:
Have you heard about whether Ring-necked Pheasants currently exist on the island? Christian's 'Norfolk Island ...the birds' says that pheasants died out there, but according to eBird, a person saw at least one on the island in 2014.
Click to expand...
I would be very surprised if there are still any on the island, and saw no evidence of them myself. Two reports from 2014 on eBird are from the same person, and both are single birds seen a day apart several kilometres from each other. I'm not sure if someone on the island is keeping them, but it's always possible that if so, there could be a few free-roaming. I saw Muscovy Ducks and Greylag Geese on the island, but the general consensus is neither of these are in established populations. Perhaps there's a similar situation with pheasants, hence why they're not often reported?
 
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