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Fiji's Red Shining Parrot

Twelve hundred miles west of French Polynesia lies the small island kingdom of Tonga where we spent more than four months. From there we sailed west to Fiji with its two large islands of Vanua Levu and Viti Levu and many smaller islands offshore. Isolated by many thousands of miles from major continents, these small groups of islands have fewer species overall than we saw nearer S. America.  In both Tonga and Fiji, as in French Polynesia, the majority of our naturalist explorations have had to do with marine life, but we've been thrilled to learn about the endemic birds and reptiles of Fiji, and in both countries we have loved seeing the many fruit bats that fly above the treetops each evening, and hang upside-down like oversized gray and tan seed pods from the trees during the days.

This section is divided into three pages: one for a variety of animals, one just for birds, and one for plants of Tonga and Fiji.  See Fr. Polynesia Flora and Fauna for more on that region. In addition, see the Marine Mammals page for photos and information on humpback whales, dolphins and other marine mammals we have encountered across the Pacific.

Although Tonga and Fiji lack the diversity of terrestrial plants and animals found on large continents, there are many endemic species that have evolved on these islands. Most indigenous species are related to those of Malaysia and Indonesia, with a few exceptions. The underwater diversity is great, and we address that in the underwater pages.

Binoculars and camera in hand, we spend many hours exploring our environment.  On board, we use several valuable reference books to terrestrial flora and fauna:

A Field Guide to the Birds of Hawaii and the Tropical Pacific by Pratt, Burner, and Berrett.

Seabirds: An Identification Guide by Harrison

A Naturalist’s Guide to the Tropics by Lambertini

Tropical Plants by Lotschert and Beese

And, less technical, but easy reading and full of anecdotes are The Lonely Planet Guides to Tonga and Fiji which help put each country into perspective geologically, environmentally, and culturally.

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