One of the great things about living on Sipuzae Island is that it has pretty good bird diversity even in the garden around my house (yes this one really is for the bird nerds). The part of Sipuzae Island I live has seen a fair bit of recent subdivision so much of the taller forest has been removed and the vegetation remaining is continually getting a hard time from guys with chainsaws who are creating more garden space or turning the last few large trees into firewood or building timber. The gardens themselves still contain a lot of vegetation, it just now happens to be dominated by food plants and not rainforest trees. Irrespective of all this there still seems to be a good array of birds kicking around.
In the last few months I have seen some pretty good birds and prior to Christmas the diversity was even better than it appears to be now. If you were to compare the birds I have around me here to what you find in a suburban backyard in either Australia or New Zealand the diversity here far surpasses what you would find in suburban backyards in either country. Prior to Christmas there were regular sightings of a Pacific Baza (to any non-birders still reading this it’s a small hawk) flying over the garden early most mornings and because its occurrence was so consistent I suspect that it may have been nesting close by before Christmas. Osprey is also pretty regular overhead and I also suspect they are resident on the Island. The most uncommon of all though is the Brahminy kite and I have probably seen these on no more than about half a dozen occasions, although I did disturb one in mid story in a coconut plantation in December which is certainly the closest I have approached these birds while here. I have very fond memories of seeing these birds for the first time when I travelled to Malaysia; to watch one of these birds casually drop down into the river and pluck a fish straight out of the water was an impressive sight for someone coming from a country with only one common bird of prey which generally only feeds off easily scavenged carrion.
There are three species of parrot that are reasonably common in my garden. These are Du Corps Cockatoo, Eclectus Parrot and Cardinal Lory. The Lories are by far the most common of all the parrots, but usually spend most of their time high in the surrounding Coconut Palms. Du Corps Cockatoo will often feed on Paw Paw and when there is not much activity in the garden I have often watched them come down and feed quite close to my house. The Eclectus parrots on the other hand very rarely venture into the garden and are more wary than the Cockatoos and if they are feeding on Paw Paw, even the slightest disturbance will see them take flight. One thing I will miss about this place when I do move into the new house, will be the flocks of Eclectus Parrots heading to their evening roost. Often there will be more than 100 of these beautiful parrots fly over in an evening. When I lived in Australia it was always a bit of a goal to head to Cape York to see these birds, so I feel pretty chuffed that what was such a localised bird in Australia is such a common feature of Island life.
Of the smaller birds in the garden there is reasonable diversity, but really the small birds have been a bit disappointing. There are the usual Yellow-bellied Sunbirds which are common but certainly not as abundant as I have seen them in other places in the Solomon’s.
When present, Singing Starlings are often in good flocks of 10 or more birds but at other times not even single will be present. There were quite a few juveniles present in the flocks visiting the garden prior to Christmas and this makes me think the period from when I arrived in early October to late December was when the bulk of the breeding occurred.
White-bellied Cuckoo Shrike are present but generally only as individuals or pairs and they are often usually higher in the canopy of the taller trees on the boundary of the garden. It’s quite normal to only see these birds one every 1 or 2 weeks in the garden.
Willie Wagtail are present only as individuals and sometimes are not present for a number of days on end. Possibly as a result of the recent rains the birds I have seen have been in full song. So it’s likely the rain may have triggered some breeding activity.
Yellow-faced Myna where present before Christmas and usually a single bird would appear at least a couple of times a week.
Uniform Swiftlet when present are usually in small groups of 2-4 birds and will spend a short time hawking around house then leave, not to be seen for a few days on end. Due to their mobility they are tricky to watch with Binoculars and I can’t think of a time since being here that I have had good view of these birds.
The Claret-breasted Fruit Dove is the only pigeon or dove that I have seen with any consistency and occasionally they will visit a fruiting tree close to the house. When they land in the tree they are pretty difficult to locate due to their green colouration and small size.
I guess the small rainforest birds are always going to find cultivated areas with little familiar habitat, high numbers of predators and quite a bit of disturbance difficult to adapt too. Sadly there are no Yellow-legged Pigeon or Black-Faced Pitta (both super rare forest birds) running around my garden, but I hope to see these birds or other uncommon forest birds when I get to spend more time on the main island in some of the better unlogged primary forest.
The one bird that is always great to see in my garden is the Melanesian scrub fowl. The eggs of scrub fowl are an important food source in the Solomon Islands, but here on Sipuzae I think their days could be numbered due to the number of very feral and hungry looking cats cruising around and I suspect breeding success is pretty low with these cats taking out many chicks. Basically it looks kind of like a chicken with an unusual body shape that looks like it tapers towards a small head and quite dull dark brown plumage over most of its body. They are very timid and when I do come across them they disappear into the closest undergrowth as quickly as they can.
There have been a few things that have made an appearance but only fleetingly in the garden or flying over.
One such bird is what I am 90% certain was a Nicobar Pigeon and the very brief view that I had of the bird was of one flying quickly and quite low level through the garden beside the house. It was enough of a glimpse to be pretty certain it was in fact this bird as it was big, blue and pigeony.
Only on three or four occasions have I seen Blyth’s hornbill on the Sipuzae Island and these birds are amazing. The first time I saw this bird was while lying in bed and hearing the distinctive whoosh, whoosh, whoosh of its wing beat before I looked out the window to see this quite large bird fly over. Any day that starts with getting a new ‘tick’ from your bed is a good day.
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