Caribbean Landfalls | Pacific Landfalls | Indian Ocean Landfalls | Pacific Newsletters | Indian Ocean Newsletters | Flora and Fauna

    Located approximately 3,500 miles from the S. American continent, and about the same from the Australian continent, the French Polynesian islands almost define the word "isolation." After the astounding wildlife of the Galapagos, French Polynesia seemed somewhat sterile in terms of birds and land animals. The plants, however, are as varied and magnificent as those of the Eastern Caribbean, and the underwater life is bountiful and exciting.

LAND FAUNA     The largest land animals are the small yellow geckos that inhabit the trees and eaves of the island homes. Large, nocturnal coconut crabs leave evidence of their existence by their 8 - 12" holes in the sand. More obvious are the  hermit crabs which scuttle about on the sandy shores scavenging for food and new and better shells to inhabit.  There are no dangerous land animals and no snakes in French Polynesia.

While hiking over the top of Moorea with friends Karen and Jon, we suddenly heard Jon yelp. A 3" brown spider had launched itself onto his collar from one of the Tahitian chestnut trees.  He didn't let it sit on his shoulder long enough to prove that "there are no poisonous spiders in French Polynesia."

While driving around Huahine (in the Society Islands) we came upon a stream in which live the islander's sacred blue-eyed eels. We thought we would be lucky to find an eel. To our surprise, about a dozen of the two- to three-foot brown eels emerged from behind a retaining wall to check out the bread crumbs we tossed on the water. Fresh water eels (and crabs) can be found in most of the Society Islands streams.

BIRDS

    The bird life in French Polynesia is scant compared to the Americas, or Australia, with introduced species slowly pushing out the endemic land birds. In 1903 the aggressive Indian myna was imported to help wipe out a beetle. It has also wiped out several endemic birds by robbing their nests. The island of Maupiti (the western-most inhabited island in the Society Islands) brags more native birds than elsewhere due to the lack of mynas. In addition to the mynas a few song birds can be seen flitting from branch to branch such as the red-vented bulbul, common waxbill, chestnut-breasted mannikin, and silvereye. A very common companion along trails and roadsides was the tiny blue faced zebra dove, not endemic, but introduced from Australia to Tahiti in 1950. It is also known as the barred or peaceful dove.

    More than 27 species of sea birds migrate to and from the islands, though a few do nest here. Commonly seen over the anchorages are magnificent frigate birds, the all-white fairy terns, great terns, and black and brown noddies with a distinctive white patch on the head. Other avian friends of ours from the Galapagos are the red-footed boobies and masked boobies.

    For identification we use two books: Sea Birds by Peter Harrison (450 pp), and A Field Guide to The Birds of Hawaii and the Tropical Pacific by H. Douglas Pratt, P. Bruner, a D. Berrett (450 pp).

Boobies and frigate birds soar and circle above the sea in the late afternoon. This shot was taken on the day we left Maupiti to sail to the Kingdom of Tonga. We occasionally saw sea birds hundreds of miles from land. Most were petrels or shearwaters. They are very difficult to positively identify while on the wing, at sea.

A red-footed boobie rests on the ocean between acrobatic flights and dives to capture a meal just outside the reef in Bora Bora. Despite their name which implies a clown-like appearance and demeanor, we find the boobies to be graceful and strikingly beautiful with their blue faces, clearly delineated feather colors, and bright red feet. Also common in the islands are the brown boobies with their brown heads, back and wings, and white breast. They, too, have light blue on their bills, but less than the red-footed boobies.

Up | FP Flora

West Indian F & F | Venezuelan F & F | SW Caribbean F & F | Galapagos F & F | Fr. Polynesia F & F | Tonga & Fiji F & F | Australia F & F | SE Asia F & F | Sri Lanka F & F | Marine Mammals

FP Landfalls | Marquesas Letters | Tuamotus Letters | Diving | FP Flora & Fauna | S Pacific Cruising

Caribbean Landfalls | Pacific Landfalls | Indian Ocean Landfalls | Pacific Newsletters | Indian Ocean Newsletters | Flora and Fauna