American Samoa wildlife investigations annual report FY96
Department of Marine and Wildlife Resources. 1996. American Samoa wildlife investigations annual report FY96. Bird studies. Department of Marine and Wildlife Resources. Pago Pago, American Samoa
Surveys of native forest bird species were conducted monthly at four on Tutuila, American Samoa (25 stations/month) during FY96. No hurricanes or other natural disasters struck the islands during this period, and slight increases and decreases were observed among native land bird populations. However, populations of almost all land birds remain far below the levels documented before Hurricanes Ofa and Val (1990 and 1991). In particular, populations of the Purple-Capped Fruit-Dove (Ptilinopus porphyraceus) remain very low (16% of their 1986 level, Table 1), and the Many-Colored Fruit-Dove (P. perousit) probably numbers less than 50 individuals in all of American Samoa. The Pacific Pigeon (Ducula paciflea) appears to have recovered well, with a population level 99% of its 1986 value. It is evident that recovery to pre-hurricane levels will take many years for most species.
- Type
- Published Report
- Authors
- Department of Marine and Wildlife Resources
- Date of Issue
- 1996-12
- Publisher
- Department of Marine and Wildlife Resources
- Units
- NPSA , PACN
- Keywords
- American Samoa, Birds (Aves), Many-colored fruit dove (Ptilinopus perousii), Pacific pigeon (Ducula pacifica), purple-capped fruit dove (Ptilinopus porphyraceus)