The Bottle Gourd (Hue, ‘Ue) of ancient Polynesia17/03/2026Gerald McCormack, CINHT The ancient Polynesians brought many plants into Polynesia from Melanesia and Asia. Was this the source of the Bottle Gourd or did it come from the Americas? In the Cook Islands there are 39 useful, or formerly useful, plants that were purposefully introduced by the [continue reading…]- Frigatebirds – Our Vulnerable Pirates17/03/2026Gerald McCormack, CINHT Frigatebirds are the largest seabirds residing in the Cook Islands, with wingspans of 180-220cm. They are uniformly black above, and black or black with a white breast below; their wings are long, angled, and sharp tipped; their tails are long, and deeply split into two [continue reading…]
- The Status of Cook Islands Birds -199617/03/2026Gerald McCormack, CINHT The Cook Islands is fifteen small islands (total land area 240km²), scattered over an area approaching the size of Western Europe, in the tropical South Pacific. Although the 18,000 residents, almost all Polynesian, carry New Zealand passports, the country has been [continue reading…]
- Identify Cook Islands Marine Turtles16/03/2026A recent newspaper story about a Green Turtle showed a Hawksbill Turtle in the photograph. What is the difference? Three species of marine turtle have been recorded in the Cook Islands: the Green Turtle, the Hawksbill Turtle, and the Loggerhead Turtle. Each has an oval shell (or carapace) covered [continue reading…]
- Rare Seabirds on Aitutaki and Rarotonga16/03/2026Gerald McCormack, CINHT Laughing Gulls Seagulls are such common seabirds in New Zealand, Australia and America, that it always comes as a surprise for visitors to find no seagulls in the Cook Islands, assuming they ignore the two plastic ones at the Deli in Foodland. Although seagulls seem like the [continue reading…]
- Pacific Pigeon (Rupe) – It’s Call16/03/2026The Pacific Pigeon (Rupe, Ducula pacifica) is the largest forest bird of the Cook Islands. It is dark green on the upper wings and back, with a pale grey neck, head and underside. The adult has a prominent lump on top of its beak. The sexes are identical in appearance. The pigeon has two [continue reading…]
- Cook Islands Fruit-Dove (Kūkupa)11/03/2026Gerald McCormack, CINHT The Cook Islands Fruit-Dove (Kūkupa, Ptilinopus rarotongensis) lives only on the islands of Rarotonga and Ātiu, making it a 2-island endemic of the Cook Islands. It was recorded on Ma‘uke in the 1820s but was lost sometime before 1970 – cause unknown. It was also in [continue reading…]
