Biodiversity

Mar

2026

Mato – Cyclones Make it Flower

Gerald McCormack, CINHT

Flowering Mato tree – Rarotonga, Cook Islands – Gerald McCormack

Rarotonga has one of the last pristine native-forests in Polynesia. The ancient Polynesian settlers removed the forest on the lower hills and as these became infertile they developed into the Fernlands. After European Contact, especially after 1823, many new plants were introduced and some of these were planted in the mountains, especially cotton, coffee, and bananas. A Disturbed Forest of Tree Hibiscus (‘Au, Hibiscus tiliaceus) and invasive shrubs now cover these areas. Inland of the Fernland and the Disturbed Forest there remains a near-pristine native forest, protected from people by being too steep for horticulture and by the absence of trees suitable for timber. Continue reading →

Mar

2026

Rimatara Lorikeet Reintroduction Programme

Gerald McComack, CINHT

Left: Adult Rimatara Lorikeet – Gerald McCormack. Right: illustration of traditional headress from Ātiu, using the feathers of the Rimatara lorikeet – Judith Kunzlé

It is planned to reintroduce the endangered Rimatara Lorikeet (‘Ura, Vini kuhlii) to Ātiu in the Cook Islands from Rimatara in French Polynesia in July 2007 to establish a reserve population. The programme is being implemented by four organisations: the Cook Islands Natural Heritage Trust (CINHT), an agency of the Cook Islands government; Te Ipukarea Society (TIS), the Cook Islands affiliate of BirdLife International; the Ornithological Society of Polynesia (MANU), the French Polynesia affiliate of BirdLife International; and Zoological Society of San Diego (San Diego Zoo).

The programme has the support of the President of French Polynesia, Oscar Temaru, the Ministre de l’Environment, the Cook Islands Government, the community of Rimatara, and the traditional chiefs of Atiu. Most of the funding will be provided by the 2006 British Birdwatching Fair through BirdLife International, with co-funding from Fonds Français pour le Pacifique, San Diego Zoo, NZ Department of Conservation, Air Rarotonga, and the Pacific Development and Conservation Trust. Continue reading →

Mar

2026

Long-tailed Cuckoo – Part 1

Gerald McCormack, CINHT

The Long-tailed Cuckoo (Karavia, Urodynamis taitensis) winters in tropical Polynesia and migrates to New Zealand in October and November to breed by duping other birds to incubate its eggs and raise its young. This post explores its behaviour in the Cook Islands and New Zealand and the discovery that it is a migrant.

Tropical behaviour

Long-tailed Cuckoo, adult on branch and in flight – Cook Islands, Ātiu – Gerald McCormack 2010-04

The Long-tailed Cuckoo is dark brown with pale brown spots topside and white with brown streaks below; its conspicuously long tail is dark brown with pale brown bars.

In the tropics the cuckoo is solitary, secretive and inconspicuous except for the occasional loud screeching “wrrrrisssSST” call from high in trees. They are sometimes seen in fast direct flight between trees or slinking along tree branches in search of insects and lizards.

On Ātiu, twice in March and once in November, I have seen gregarious behaviour of small groups with much chasing associated with a rattling “chi-chi-chi-chi-chi-chi” call. The significance of this behaviour is unknown.

Nesting birds in the Cook Islands, such as the Rarotonga Flycatcher (Kākerōri, Pomarea dimidiata) and the Rimatara Lorikeet (Kura, Vini kuhlii) react very strongly to the presence of a cuckoo and chase it away. In New Zealand the cuckoo is a well-known predator on the eggs and nestlings of other birds and presumably they do the same here when the chance arises. Continue reading →

Feb

2026

Cook Islands’ Needlefishes

Gerald McCormack, CINHT

Illustration showing identifying features of the four needlefish species found in Cook Islands

The Cook Islands’ biodiversity database lists 650 species of marine bony-fishes. In looking at the distribution of fishes across the Pacific it is obvious that there must be at least another hundred to be recorded locally. The Trust is always interested in information on new and unusual records.

For the needlefish family the database lists four species: Keeled Needlefish (Miro Va‘a-roroa, Platybelone platyura), Houndfish or Crocodile Needlefish (‘Aku, Tylosurus crocodilus), Reef Needlefish (‘Aku, Strongylura incisa ) and the Flat Needlefish (Pāpā, Ablennes hians).

The Keel-jawed Needlefish has been recorded across the South Pacific, but not specifically in the Cook Islands. However, it is an off-shore species and therefore very unlikely to have been caught in Ngatangi‘ia harbour.

Many species of fish have distinctive features and are reasonably easily identified from photographs, but some require a more detailed analysis of specimens. In the illustration we show some of the more conspicuous features of the four species of needlefish positively identified in the Cook Islands. Continue reading →

Feb

2026

Life in the Karekare Bee Hotel

Gerald McCormack, CINHT

Karekare Bee Hotel at 6pm on 28th December 2021 with suites numbered left to right

We built a small hotel to study the behaviour of the local Leaf-cutter Bee, which usually nests around March or April. The hotel had three 12mm holes about 50mm long drilled to overlap two blocks of wood so that separating them would open the holes for inspection. As a hotel, each hole is a suite and any occupying bee or wasp makes its own rooms by building partitions or doors. Within a suite, Room 1 is the first to be partitioned and will contain the oldest offspring.

Early morning on the 28^th December 2021 it was unexpectedly noticed that a large Tahitian Mason Wasp had already sealed Suite 2 with mud and was starting work on Suite 3, which she sealed in the early evening. Suite 1 remained vacant. Twelve days later, on the 9^th January the hotel was opened for inspection. Continue reading →

Biodiversity

Mato – Cyclones Make it Flower

Rimatara Lorikeet Reintroduction Programme

Long-tailed Cuckoo – Part 1

Tropical behaviour

Cook Islands’ Needlefishes

Life in the Karekare Bee Hotel

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