Used
with permission from Dick Watling from “Birds of Fiji, Tonga and Samoa”
and “Birds of Fiji and Western Polynesia” (Pacificbirds.com).
The
Wandering Tattler is a beachcomber. It is almost always seen on beaches or the
reef, using its long beak to pry small crabs, worms, and other delicacies out
of the sand or coral. It is a solitary bird, soberly dressed in gray. When disturbed,
the tattler's loud cries explain how it got its name.
The turnstone
was named for its way of feeding. These small, energetic, sociable birds like
to vigorously flip over small stones, bits of seaweed, or debris in search of
food hiding beneath. They can be seen either on the beach or in grassy areas.
The turnstone has a beautiful pattern of black and white patches on its back when
it flies, and in breeding plumage, it is a handsome bird with orange-brown, black,
and white patterning.
All
these tuli can usually be seen in such places as Sliding Rock and Pala
Lagoon from September to April. But in April/May, all but a few stragglers will
have left Samoa to take their long, long trip back to Alaska. So, the next time
you see some tuli, wish them a safe journey and try to imagine, maybe with
a little envy, their great adventure.
Incredible
flight of shorebirds (tuli) from American Samoa
to Alaska and Canada,
with a stopover in Hawaii.
During
the northern summer, all three tuli nest in Alaska and northern Canada. The plover
and the turnstone nest in the tundra, where their neighbors are caribou and grizzly
bears. The tattlers nest by icy mountain streams, sharing their world with mountain
sheep and golden eagles. But when the northern days grow shorter and colder, the
birds probably begin to dream of the beaches and reefs of Polynesia, for they
set out on one of the greatest of all animal journeys. From gathering places on
the coasts of Alaska, the tuli take off to fly non-stop over 3,000 miles of open
ocean to the Hawaiian Islands. These birds cannot land on the water and take a
rest -- their feathers are not waterproof, so if they land in the water, they
drown. Not only is this flight an amazing physical feat, but it requires tremendous
navigational abilities to find tiny specks of land lost in the featureless sea.
After a well-earned rest in Hawaii, the tuli take off again for another flight
over thousands of miles of ocean to reach Samoa.
Here, each kind of tuli
takes up a slightly different lifestyle. The Golden Plover is often seen on the
beaches, but even more commonly can be found searching for food on the short grass
of malae, parks, the golf course, and the airport. We can only hope it will not
be harmed from competing with the many myna birds that now occupy these areas.
Although this plover is plain brown during most of its stay in American Samoa,
it gets a beautiful new set of feathers just before it heads north: a golden-spangled
back and jet black underparts. The plover is the commonest tuli in Samoa, and
it features in many myths and legends. Tuli the Messenger is one manifestation
of Tagaloa, the supreme god of the ancient Samoans, and in one version of the
Samoan creation story, Tagaloa created the first dry land as a resting place for
tuli.
April/May
is the time of year when some familiar visitors leave American Samoa and begin
an incredible and perilous journey home. These visitors are the shorebirds, or
tuli. Three different kinds of tuli are common visitors here between
the months of September and April: the Pacific Golden Plover, the Wandering Tattler,
and the Ruddy Turnstone.
46. Shorebirds (o
tuli): incredible voyagers
