Chlidonias versus Vanuatu

MRJ said:
Should have asked - were you using a field guide/
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Birds of The Solomons, Vanuatu & New Caledonia by Doughty and Plant. My copy was published in 1999 but there might be more recent versions. The book is partly why I also want to go to the Solomons because then I'll have completed the title!

There is a more recent book called Birds of Melanesia: Bismarcks, Solomons, Vanuatu and New Caledonia by Guy Dutson, which I just looked up and I have it as well but not sure where it is. (My books are a combination of all around me, in boxes, and in another house).

The one I took with me (the Doughty and Plant one) is slim and light, the Dutson one is thicker and heavier. I just googled the weights - Doughty and Plant is c.400g while Dutson is c.950g. Really you could just take a list of birds on a bit of paper and would cope fine because there aren't a lot of species.
 
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Species List:
Or: What I saw while in Vanuatu.


BIRDS
Australasian (Swamp) Harrier Circus approximans
Eastern Reef Egret Egretta sacra sacra
Banded Rail Gallirallus philippensis sethsmithi
Vanuatu Megapode Megapodius layardi
Red Junglefowl Gallus gallus
Coconut Lorikeet Trichoglossus haematodus massena
Feral Pigeon Columba livia
White-throated (Metallic) Pigeon Columba vitiensis leopoldi
Pacific Imperial Pigeon Ducula pacifica pacifica
Red-bellied Fruit Dove Ptilinopus greyi
Tanna Fruit Dove Ptilinopus tannensis
Pacific Emerald (Green-winged) Dove Chalcophaps longirostris sandwichensis
MacKinlay's Cuckoo-Dove Macropygia mackinlayi mackinlayi
Pacific Kingfisher Todiramphus sacer santoensis
Vanuatu Kingfisher Todiramphus farquhari
Satin Swiftlet Collocalia uropygialis uropygialis
Uniform Swiftlet Aerodramus vanikorensis vanikorensis
Pacific Swallow Hirundo tahitica subfusca
Island Thrush Turdus poliocephalus vanikorensis
Fan-tailed Gerygone Gerygone flavolateralis correiae
Grey Fantail Rhipidura albiscapa brenchleyi
Vanuatu Streaked Fantail Rhipidura spilodera
New Caledonian (Melanesian) Flycatcher Myiagra caledonica marinae
Buff-bellied Monarch Neolalage banksiana
Southern Shrikebill Clytorhynchus pachycephaloides grisescens
Melanesian Golden Whistler Pachycephala chlorura intacta
Polynesian Triller Lalage maculosa modesta
Long-tailed Triller Lalage leucopyga albiloris
South Melanesian Cuckoo-Shrike Coracina caledonica thilenii
Silvereye Zosterops lateralis tropicus
Yellow-fronted White-eye Zosterops flavifrons brevicauda
Cardinal Myzomela Myzomela cardinalis tenuis
Dark-Brown Honeyeater Lichmera incana griseoviridis
White-breasted Woodswallow Artamus leucorynchus tenuis
House Sparrow Passer domesticus
Black-headed (Chestnut) Munia Lonchura atricapilla
Common Mynah Acridotheres tristis

MAMMALS
Pacific Flying Fox Pteropus tonganus geddiei
Vanuatu Flying Fox Pteropus anetianus aorensis
Brown Rat Rattus norvegicus
Polynesian Rat Rattus exulans exulans

REPTILES
Mourning Gecko Lepidodactylus lugubris
Brown-tailed Copper-striped Skink Emoia cyanura
Blue-tailed Copper-striped Skink Emoia impar
Pacific Blue-tailed Skink Emoia caeruleocauda
Vanuatu Green Tree Skink Emoia sanfordi
Pacific Green-bellied Tree Skink Emoia cyanogaster

.............................................

I made a list of the more "important" birds before I went to Vanuatu so I could mark them off as I saw them, and hence easily see which ones I was still missing. Despite not making it to Vanua Lava I did manage to cross most of them off the list. Below I will list the ones I missed - obviously this isn't every species on Vanuatu which I didn't see (e.g. I didn't see any seabirds, and I didn't visit any wetland areas), so it is mostly just the ones which are either endemic to Vanuatu or endemic to Melanesia.

These four I would have almost certainly seen if I had made it to Vanua Lava, but on Santo they are largely restricted to the hill or mountain forests:
*Baker's Imperial Pigeon
*Palm Lorikeet
*Vanuatu Honeyeater
*Rusty-winged Starling

*Pacific Robin (I have a feeling this might only live in the mountain forests as well, but I have seen it elsewhere in the Pacific anyway so not much of a miss)

The two parrotfinches are patchy in distribution, so I think more down to luck than anything.
*Royal Parrotfinch
*Blue-faced Parrotfinch (not a Melanesian endemic but I wanted to see it)

These ones I had no thoughts of actually seeing, but they are either endemic or near-endemic so need mentioning.
*Santa Cruz Ground Dove (almost extinct, although recently seen at Vatthe apparently)
*Mountain Starling (only found at the utmost heights of Santo mountains - it needs a proper expedition to see it)
*Santo Thicketbird (ditto, I think)
 
Chlidonias said:
I had mentioned that I really wanted to see the "white flying fox" which is what the Vanuatu Flying Fox is called locally, with the Pacific Flying Fox being the "black flying fox". There was a small camp in the middle of the forest but as far as I could tell they were all Pacific Flying Foxes. (A "camp" is what a flying fox roost is called). I took a bunch of photos but the bats were mostly back-lit against the sky so I didn't think the photos were worth showing.
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The above was written about the Loru Conservation Area. I only saw Pacific Flying Foxes here and then when I did see Vanuatu Flying Foxes at Vatthe Conservation Area I couldn't get any usable photos.

Just now I was looking again through the photos of the flying fox camp at Loru and realised that one photo showed a Vanuatu Flying Fox dead centre! I cropped the photo and tried to make it presentable, and did the same for another photo of some of the Pacific Flying Foxes in the camp. Both are shown below - you can see how the Vanuatu Flying Fox is brown with the head much the same colour as the body (although they are extremely variable - some have completely white heads) while the Pacific Flying Foxes have a black head and pale gold mantle.

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Vanuatu Flying Fox

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Pacific Flying Foxes
 
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