Tuamotu Sandpiper

South Sea Runner ( Prosobonia cancellata )

The South Sea Runner ( Prosobonia cancellata ) is a Polynesian species of bird in the family of the Waders. It is endemic to the Tuamotu Archipelago in French Polynesia. In Pa'umotu, a Polynesian language, it is also called kivi - kivi.

Discovery and specification

For the first time the South Sea Runner was probably by John Latham described on 1 or January 2, 1778. An exact specification at this stage was very difficult as there are still other subspecies of Prosobonia in Polynesia, an area the size of China, announced. However, the description of Latham could be relatively safe place in the nomenclature of Gmelin. The type was still at home in the 18th century on many atolls of Polynesia before it was clearly decimated by rats and cats.

Description

The South Seas runner is 15.5 to 16.5 cm long, narrow, has short wings and is mottled with brown. Its short sharp beak is typical of an insectivore. One can distinguish two types of the plumage. For one thing, a little paler, medium brown, with white spots on the chest or white bars on the head. The wing feathers are in this plumage also medium - brown with white tips and triangular white marks at the ends.

The second plumage is of a darker brown, the white parts of the plumage are darker than the first, and go about in a yellowish brown. Also, the wings and the breast are now dark brown. The iris of the South Seas runner is also brown, the beak colored black, the feet are dirty - yellow to olive - green. Males and females are very similar, the toes are not grown together.

Dissemination

The South Sea Runner is indigenous to the following atolls of the Tuamotu Archipelago (2002):

  • Rangiroa, Ngiou, Kauehi and Fakarava, atolls of the Palliser Islands.
  • Puka Puka to the Îles du désappointement (islands of disappointment )
  • Anuanuraro, an atoll in the Îles du Duc de Gloucester,
  • Nukutavake and Pinaki between Raevski and Actéon Islands,
  • Tenararo, Vahanga, Tenarunga, Matureivavao, Marutea Sud Est and Mary near the Actéon Islands,
  • Morane, south of the Actéon group, and
  • Makaroa, Kamaka and Manui, islands of Gambier.

On Kiritimati he is extinct.

Way of life

The South Seas runners often lives on uninhabited, remote atolls, where it prefers open areas such as beaches and coasts. Less often you meet him near the thicket of hollow roots of pandanus trees that are typical of the Tuamotus.

His favorite food represent insects, ants, grasshoppers, wasps and other insects that it finds in coral debris and leaves residues. More rarely it feeds on plants.

Its typical song is a high-pitched whistle, a MEH sound, first described by Harry Payne Whitney.

The South Seas runner breeds mostly from April to June, but the breeding season may vary from atoll to atoll. The nests are then usually at the edge of the Atoll Lagoon and consist of remains of corals, small branches and leaves. The eggs, usually two pieces are white with violet and purple spots, similar to the brood nest of prairie runner.

Today, the South Sea Runner is threatened with extinction. Of the Europeans entrained rats and piecemeal destruction of its habitat through use and occupation of the population have shrunk to an estimated 250-1000 animals. Help Getting Started the shrinking inventory is the establishment of biosphere reserves by UNESCO on atolls of the Tuamotu group. The protection against rats that damage the sand runners, especially its open brood scrim would prevent further decimation of the species.

Swell

  • Prosobonia cancellata in the Red List of Threatened Species IUCN
  • Description by James Cook (English )
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