The Tuamotu sandpiper (Prosobonia parvirostris) is an endangered member of the large wader family Scolopacidae, that is endemic to the Tuamotu Islands in French Polynesia. It is sometimes placed in the monotypic genus Aechmorhynchus. In the local Tuamotuan language, it is apparently called kivi-kivi.

Description

The long Tuamotu sandpiper is a small, short-winged, mottled brown bird with more or less barred underparts. Its short sharp beak is more like that of an insectivorous passerine than a wader. There are two colour morphs which intergrade. Pale birds are medium brown above and white below, with light barring or spotting on the breast and whitish streaking on the head. The bold supercilium and the chin are also white. The rectrices are brown with white tips and white triangular markings on the outer webs. Dark phase birds replace medium with darker brown and white with light buff or tawny white. The flanks are brown, and the entire underparts are heavily barred that colour.

The iris is brown, the beak is blackish and the legs and feet are dirty yellow to dark olive grey; the toes are not webbed.

Females and males are alike, the former having a tendency to be slightly larger and paler on average.

Distribution

The species has been recorded in modern times from the following atolls, listed from northwest to southeast:

  • Rangiroa, Niau, Kauehi and Fakarava in the Palliser Islands.
  • Raraka<!-- Greenway also has "Rataka", but misspellings frequent in that source. EarthSearch gazetteer does not know "Rataka" -->, Katiu, Tahanea, Tuanake, Hiti and Tepoto (Ofiti) in the Raeffsky Islands,
  • Puka-Puka in the Disappointment Islands,
  • Anuanuraro in the Duke of Gloucester Islands,
  • Nukutavake and Pinaki between Raeffsky and Acteon Islands,
  • Tenararo, Vahanga, Tenarunga, Matureivavao, Marutea Sud and Maria Est in (or near) the Acteon Islands,
  • Morane, south of the Acteon group, and
  • Makaroa, Kamaka and Manui in the Gambier Islands.

Ecology and behavior

This bird lives on undisturbed atolls where it feeds in open areas, including the shores and beaches, and scrubland; it is more rarely found in Pandanus thickets. It takes insects such as ants, leafhoppers and wasps in the coral rubble and leaf litter, also taking some vegetation.

The call is a soft, high whistle or piping, transcribed as meh by the Whitney South Seas Expedition.

It breeds at different times on different islands, generally between April and June. Nests are placed on the lagoon shore and consist of nothing more than a slight hollow in the shoreline coral and shell debris which is lined with grass stems or similar vegetable matter. The clutch is believed to be two eggs, which are white with purple and violet blotches, similar to a smaller version of the upland sandpiper's eggs. One two-egg clutch is in the American Museum of Natural History collection (specimen AMNH 5299).

Status

The Tuamotu sandpiper is threatened by introduced rats and habitat destruction caused by the spreading cultivation of coconuts, and is listed as endangered. Although it had a much wider range historically (see also below), it now survives on a small number of rat-free islands, namely Anuanuraro, Tenararo, Morane and one other atoll.

  • Peale, Titian R. (1848): Tringa parvirostris. In: United States exploring expedition during the years 1838, 1839, 1840, 1841, 1842 under the command of Charles Wilkes, U.S.N. 8 (Mammalia and Ornithology): 235–236. C. Sherman, Philadelphia. JPEG fulltext

Further reading

  • del Hoyo, J.; Elliott, A. & Sargatal, J. (editors) (1996): 57. Tuamotu Sandpiper. In: Handbook of Birds of the World, Volume 3: Hoatzin to Auks:515, plate 43. Lynx Edicions, Barcelona.
  • Greenway, James C. (1967): Sandpipers of the Tuamotu Archipelago. In: Extinct and Vanishing Birds of the World (2nd ed.): 260–263. Dover Publications, New York.
  • Hayman, Peter; Marchant, John & Prater, Tony (1986): Shorebirds: an identification guide to the waders of the world. Houghton Mifflin, Boston.
  • ARKive – images and movies of the Tuamotu sandpiper (Prosobonia cancellata)
  • Natural History Museum: William Ellis' plate 64. Retrieved 11-SEP-2006.