| Some species of birds spend most of their lives at sea in search of food. They are, for animal observers, an effective way to spot schools of fish from afar. But often they offer us a grandiose spectacle on their own. Here are some species that we can easily meet |
French Polynesia currently has 126 listed species of birds, including 27 species of seabirds. Among them, some can move several hundred kilometers from the coast, most return to their nesting site in the evening, but some may spend several days or even weeks at sea.
Discover the most frequently encountered species below.
| RED-FOOTED BODY sula sula |
He measures between 71-79 cm. Males and females are identical in appearance.
This bird is very polymorphic, that is to say that its plumage presents a great diversity of colors and intermediate shapes. All adults have red feet and a red-orange and blue mask at the base of the beak. Juveniles are brown with flesh colored feet.
It is a gregarious and sociable bird that groups together in more or less numerous flocks on the feeding or breeding grounds.
It is an excellent, graceful sailboat that can travel thousands of miles on migrations. To feed, it captures fish (fish of the Exocoetidae family) by diving between 4 and 10 meters deep, and can reach 20 meters with the help of its wings. Red-footed boobies frequently suffer from kleptoparasitism from frigatebirds, which harass them and force them to regurgitate their prey they have seized.
| BLAZY BROWN sula leucogaster |
It measures between 75-80 cm. It is a powerful-billed bird with a slender body, long, narrow wings, and a wedge-shaped tail. Brown Boobies have very dark hoods and upperparts. The head is blackish-brown, the neck and upper breast are less blackish and display a chocolate-brown tinge. The uppersides of the wings are darker. Underparts are whitish, from midbreast to undertail coverts.
Brown Boobies mainly forage for food in near-shore waters. They feed mainly on flying fish (exocete) as well as squid. However, numerous studies suggest that they feed opportunistically and that they consume almost all the aquatic resources they find, at least when they reproduce.
| PACIFIC FRIGATE fregata minor |
The Pacific Frigatebird measures between 86-100cm in length and its wingspan can reach two meters.
Adults have black plumage, with a white patch on the flank in the male and white markings under each wing in the female. Males have a red jugular pouch which they inflate during courtship.Legs are red to reddish brown. Females are generally larger than males. The beak is strong, powerful and hooked at its tip. Juveniles have russet plumage.
Frigates feed on young turtles and crabs on the beaches, squid caught on the surface of the sea. As a rule, they harass other seabirds (such as boobies) when the latter return to their nest in order to compel to return the captured food. This behavior seems to be mainly observed in females and young. However, they represent only a small part of the diet of the species.
| BROWN NODDI anous stolidus |
It measures about 40 cm, for a wingspan of 79 to 86 cm. In adults, the body and wings are dark brown. The tail is long and slightly indented. The head is topped by a pale lavender-grey cap, appearing white in the sun. The white crescent above the eye contrasts particularly well with his black eyes. The beak is black, the legs brownish-black. Male and female look identical.
It feeds on small fish at sea but rarely dives underwater like terns do. It sometimes comes to the surface to feed or rest.
It can be encountered within a radius of less than 50 km from the coast. The noddy will return in the evening to the ground in the coconut groves to rest there. It can nest on the ground, on bushes as well as in coconut trees.
| CRESTED TERN thalasseus bergii |
Crested terns feed mainly on fish 10 to 15 centimeters long. Opportunistically, they also take squid, crabs, insects as well as small turtles and other aquatic prey. You will find it near the coasts where it lives in groups.
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YELLOW-BAKED PHAETON phaethon lepturus |
The yellow-billed tropicbird is the smallest and most graceful of the tropicbirds. The adult has an immaculate white body with two black lines around the eye. Black feathers draw an incomplete “V” on the dorsal side of the body, clearly visible in flight. Two long white or yellow central feathers adorn the tail. The beak is yellow and the legs are blue then black at their end.
The yellow-billed tropicbird has a profile and a wingspan adapted to the open sea. It approaches the coasts as soon as the nesting period arrives where it spends a lot of time gliding to feed. You will find it in cavities in cliffs, trees or on the ground.