1.3 First Records of the Long-tailed Cuckoo 

 (Eudynamis taitensis) on Caroline Atoll, 

 Southern Line Islands, Republic of Kiribati 



DAVID H. ELLIS . CAMERON B. KEPLER, ANGELA K. KEPLER*, and KATINO TEEB'AKI 

 US Fish & Wildlife Service. Patuxent Wildlife Research Center, Laurel, Maryland, USA 



US Fish & Wildlife Service, Patuxent Wildlife Research Center, Southeast Research Station, Athens, Georgia, USA 

 Wildlife Conservation Unit, Christinas Island, Republic of Kiribati 



Introduction 



The long-tailed cuckoo {Eudynamis taitensis) performs 

 what is perhaps the most remarkable overwater migration of 

 any land bird (Lack. 1959). It breeds in New Zealand and is 

 known to winter in the islands of the central Pacific Ocean, with 

 stragglers seen as far as Palau to the west and Pitcaim to the east 

 (Bogert. 1937). Although the Line Islands are along the 

 northeastern perimeter of this range, the cuckoo has never been 

 reported for the Line or Phoenix Islands (Pratt etai, 1987). In 

 1883. when Dixon (1884) visited Caroline Atoll (10°S. 150°W) 

 at the southeastern end of the Line Islands, he reported that a 

 colleague had heard "the notes of a singing bird." but no land 

 bird was collected. In June 1965, biologists from the Pacific 

 Ocean Biological Survey Program visited Caroline Atoll but 

 failed to detect land birds (Clapp & Sibley. 1971 ). 



We encountered the long-tailed cuckoo on four islets 

 during our 22-29 September 1988 survey of all 39 islets of 

 Caroline Atoll as part of a research team from the Soviet 

 oceanographic research vessel Akademik Korolev. Harsh 

 monosyllabic or disyllabic call notes, presumably of this species, 

 were first heard on three islets: South. Pisonia. and Long (see 

 Kepler et a/., Subchapter 1.1. this volume, for islet locations). 

 Then, on 25 September, a single bird, probably of this species, 

 was heard and briefly seen on South Island. On 26 September, 

 an individual was positively identified (CBK; ca. 25 m; xlO 

 binoculars) on Nake Island. 



In an attempt to capture this species, or any other 

 undiscovered land bird, we operated mist nets at three locations 

 on the atoll. In 14.5 net hours (daylight hours only; ATX 

 4-shelf nets. 2.6 x 12 m; mesh size 36 mm) beneath a 10-15 m 

 Cocos canopy on South Island, only a single bristle-thighed 

 curlew (Numenius tahitiensis) was captured. On Long Island 

 two nets along a Pisonia-Cocos interface (canopy at 6-8 m) 

 were unsuccessful in 27.5 net hours. Finally, on 28 September 



we collected a male long-tailed cuckoo on Long (US National 

 Museum No. 607191) in 1.5 net hours along a Pisonia- 

 TournefortialCordia interface with a short canopy (4-6 m) 

 where two of us ( AKK, KT) had heard and followed a cuckoo- 

 sized land bird for about 20 minutes the day before. 



The following measurements of the specimen were taken 

 immediately after collection: mass 125 g, length 411 mm 

 (central rectrices still growing so measurement was to the tip of 

 the worn rectrices adjacent to central rectrices). culmen 

 25.4 mm, and wing chord 179 mm. Soft part colors within 

 30 minutes of death, compared with Smithe's ( 1 975 ) color key, 

 were ridge of bill. No. 219 Sepia; lateral margin of bill, No. 86 

 Pale Neutral Gray; lower mandible, No. 53 Buff-yellow; iris. 

 No. 124 Buff; foot pad, No. 153 Trogon Yellow; and dorsal 

 surface of foot and tarsus. No. 150 Bunting Green. 



These records establish the long-tailed cuckoo as a 

 winter visitor to the Line Islands. Since our 1988 visit, we 

 learned from correspondence and personal discussions with 

 the atoll's only human inhabitants and wardens, Ronald and 

 Anne Falconer, that cuckoos occasionally occurred in 

 April. 1989, near their dwelling on Motu Ana-Ana. the 

 southernmost leeward islet. This was confirmed by AKK with 

 further sightings on two subsequent trips to Caroline in March 

 and May 1990 (Kepler. 1990). Our original observations at 

 five widely scattered locations (the most distant were 9 km 

 apart) suggested that several individuals were present on the 

 atoll during our visit. Subsequent observations suggest that 

 this species disperses regularly to Caroline Atoll and perhaps 

 some others of the better-vegetated Line and Phoenix Islands 

 as well. 



We are pleased to thank Mr. Harold J. O'Connor and Mr. Steve 

 Kohl (US Fish & Wildlife Service) and Professor Alia V. Tsyban 

 (Goskomgidromet. USSR ) for organizing the Third Joint US-USSR 

 Bering & Chukchi Seas Expedition that made these observations 

 possible. 



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