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| Kagu! |
2001 Somewhere between Islands in the Subantarctic Ocean
The Subantarctic is a region in the southern hemisphere, located immediately north of the Antarctic region. This translates roughly to a latitude between 46 degrees and 60 degrees south of the Equator. The subantarctic region includes many island in the southern parts of the Indian Ocean, Atlantic Ocean and Pacific Ocean, especially those situated north of the Antarctic Convergence.
Ten years ago, in the of Spring 2001, I was having a glass of wine before dinner in Enderby's Bar on board the Akademik Shokalskiy, a Russian research vessel turned tourist ship out of New Zealand. We were plowing through heavy seas on our way to one of the seven Subantarctic Islands of New Zealand in search of birds on land, birds at sea, and any marine mammal that surfaced near the ship or lounged on the shore.
Rough Seas winnow out the queasy, and there weren't many people enjoying a drink. I struck up a conversation with a birder from England. It turned out to be a memorable talk.
He expounded, "There are--how many bird species in the world--8000+? Well, it occurred to me that I was never going to be able to see all of them and I've been birding a long time. In analyzing my list, however, I came to realize that I have seen representatives from many of the bird families. So I was struck by the bright idea of seeing all the families - not all the birds - just all the families. That gets my number down to 235 -- that should be easy, eh? Much more do-able. Brilliant, eh? That's the idea behind my next trip. After this voyage, I'm off to New Caledonia to see a Kagu and add a family to my list. Since they only occur on New Caledonia, one needs must go there."
I'd never heard of a Kagu and was fuzzy where in the world New Caledonia was.
He explained, "Kagus are those rare birds having a family all to themselves - the proverbial monotypic family. The family is Rhynochetidae and the Kagu resides there in solitary splendor with no living related genera or species. Fortunately, they are fairly easy to see or so they say. New Caledonia is a group of islands in the Pacific east of Australia."
I sipped my wine and said,"Now that is truly cool" and tucked the idea away, thinking, "I'd like to see a Kagu."
September 2011 Parc de la Rivière Bleue, New Caledonia
Parc de la Rivière Bleue is a national park in the southern end of Grande Terre island of New Caledonia and which provides safe haven for the very endangered Kagu (Cagou in French).
Everything we'd read and heard assured us that all we had to do was turn up in New Caledonia, drive to Parc de la Rivière Bleue, stroll along the road through the forest - et voilà - Le Cagou. So-o-o, we took our time the first day and as British birders say, "we dipped," or in other words, we struck out; we got to the Park too late in the day and there were no Kagus to be seen. In fact after saying "bon jour" and relating, "nous voulons voir un Cagou,"we were told, "Cagous are now nesting and tending their one chick. They have only the one, are very protective and are now difficult to see." Great.
There was a picture of a Kagu displaying on the sign at the park entrance, as well as a helpful one in the forest identifying the spot where they are to be seen. Not so that first day.
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| Red-throated Parrotfinch |
Well there were other birds about and we saw a little stunner as we left - a flash of red and green called a Red-throated Parrotfinch.
We'd traveled a long way, so we weren't giving up. The second day we were on the road well before dawn and headed toward the park. We were the first ones in, and the shuttle driver (no private cars in the park proper) dropped us at the beginning of the moist forest corridor.
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| KESD and the Kagu |
He/she (there is little sexual dimorphism - so "he" from now on) was scratching in the litter for snails and earthworms. He seemed fairly unconcerned by our presence unless we got too close, then he would move off a bit, sometimes with amazing speed and a long stride, but he didn't bolt. They are flightless and rely on running to escape predators.
He foraged and tossed leaves looking for succulent bits.
It took ten years to complete the Kagu connection. Thanks for the tip; well worth the wait.
Images, still and video, by Julian and KES Donahue.
For more about the Kagu: http://www.sandiegozoo.org/animalbytes/t-kagu.html
