Around 10 years after my first visit to Samoa (Where Lisa and I were laid low by food poisoning for nearly the entire time), we triumphantly returned for 8 days during the September school holidays--this time 'shackled' by two young children lol. All in all it was a lovely trip as the weather was fairly cooperative and we enjoyed relaxing days of snorkeling, wild sea-turtle action, and generous Samoan hospitality. Naturally I brought my bins (No scope though), and tried to document birds along the way though I didn't bird in any primary forest habitat.
General overview of Samoa for birders:
There is a fair amount of info online for those planning birding trips (particularly from more bird-dedicated ventures), but Samoa birding is generally fairly easy as most of the endemics are readily accessible on both main islands. The obvious exception is the Tooth-billed Pigeon (near extinct and no one really knows a reliable spot, particularly one accessible to the public). After that the Samoan White-eye is the next hardest as it requires tribal permission and a guide from the A'opo Village, then at least a full day hike up into the mountains and back. This CAN be arranged but obviously requires some planning. Samoan Island-Thrush and Mao are next in that they're present in nice bush on both main islands but require a bit more effort than the others which a casual holidayer like myself can find just by spending time in native bush near the coast (or interior) on both islands.
As mentioned previously I didn't bring a scope. I'd still recommend bringing one if you can though. Seawatching is still viable at appropriate locations and conditions--particularly where coral lagoons are minimal or absent (e.g. western capes of Savaii). Even if you're staying near a coral lagoon, I have found over my two trips that morning and evening can be great for evening passages of noddies, terns, and boobies. Most of these are local breeders/roosters but in certain winds I'm sure you might score other things too. Scopes are also handy for wader-sighting and IDing distant roosting terns or even forest-use like discerning a distant fruit-dove.
What about dogs? We noticed a significant reduction in the dog population since our first trip (on Savaii at least). I think many villages have made the decision to ban dogs (for tourist benefit) plus many international NGOs have worked hard to neuter etc thus reducing overall numbers. This is quite a good development as roving dog packs are not just a nuisance for birding, they can be a genuine danger to outsiders (as some of you might know from experience).
So what did we do?
Our itinerary was basically: Arrive in the night, stay at the Transit Motel near the ferry terminal (very basic place but well-located near airport/ferry and cost includes shuttle to/from airport or ferry terminal). On our first full day, we caught the 8am ferry from Upolu (smaller of the two main islands but location of capital city and international airport) to Savaii (largest island but generally more rural/traditional living than most of the other main Pacific Islands, still plenty of tourist accommodation options). On Savaii we caught a taxi for 1 hour up to the north coast where we stayed at Tailua Beach Fales (Manase village) for 5 nights. We mostly just chilled at our fale (like a Fijian 'bure' but more open-aired), and snorkeled every day, but we did rent a car for one day and circumnavigated the island (takes about 4 hours without side trips). On the sixth day we caught a ride back to the ferry, back over to Upolu, and then spent two nights in a more traditional tourist hotel on the beach near the airport (Sheraton).
*Note on the ferries: Samoan ferries between the two main islands are regular and reliable (much more so than our Tongan experience). There are two main boats run by the same company: https://www.ssc.ws/timetable-and-fares
--I would highly recommend prioritising the MV Lady Samoa if you have the choice (See current schedule which indicates both boats). The 'Lady' is a bit faster than the so-called 'express' but more importantly it is significantly larger so there is a lot more deck space (helps both with birding but also comfort and finding shade on those stinking hot days). For the non-birder, or sweat-inclined, the Lady also has a spacious indoor 'Tourist Cabin' which is air-conditioned and plays kids movies on the screens. *I see the older smaller boat (I forget what it's called) is still in port but not used much any more--this vessel has ZERO shade and ZERO seating space so you're basically leaning against a stairwell (if you're lucky) and when we lucked onto this boat 10 years ago, we were sharing the car deck with two large trucks loaded with copra (fermenting coconuts). Not a great way to cure your food-poising I dare say
--Luckily it appears all but retired.My birding style on these trips: Basically on these trips I do zero preparation as it's nice to have no pressure. You can't be disappointed if you don't know what to expect right? I bring a field guide and bins, and I go for morning walks when I get a chance, scan the horizon from accomodation, and bird opportunistically if we make ventures away from accomodation. It would certainly be possible to be more efficient with a more bird-centric approach, especially if you studied the calls/songs before hand (I rarely do). It's kind of fun to start from scratch--as even the common things can feel like a discovery. *Having said all that, I'm a strong believer in choosing strategically placed accommodation. So regardless of if you're on a hardcore birding trip, or just beaching it with family, it's very doable to find a place that is near native bush, or a good seawatching or wader site. Just check Google Maps or ebird and see what the options are.
The birds (An annotated list): (45 species, which includes 9 new Samoan ticks and 3 world lifers)
*Please feel free to reach out if you have more specific questions about the sites mentioned or birding logistics*
Grey Duck (Pacific Black Duck): Widespread in low numbers. Restricted to freshwater ponds, lakes, and rivers. Majority of sightings were in pairs. Two lots of ducklings at a small pond on the Sheraton grounds.
Domestic junglefowl: I don't personally count this as a species but I see eBird Samoa considers even the domestic form an established feral (This should probably be rectified). Certainly chooks are numerous (Far more abundant in Samoa than the main Fijian islands or Tongatapu) are readily breed in rural forested areas. They are still a ragtag variety of various domestic types though and certainly supplimented by semi-private stock.
Feral Pigeon: Fairly common around human settlement. They of course do well in large settlements but have also taken to the old/larger fales and church towers.
Metallic Pigeon: I only saw one on my first trip to Samoa so it was nice to get good looks at 3-4 birds on this trip (Always fly-bys). I think they're possible anywhere, but particularly near native forest.
SHY GROUND DOVE: A very pleasant surprise as this is a lifer. I knew they were hypothetically possible but I had always assumed one had to go to offshore islands or remote forested peninsulas and even then, one might only get a glimpse of a bird flying away. This single bird was well-seen walking on the ground in a quiet part of the forest on the Sheraton Hotel grounds (Maybe 1min before it flew off). Based on ebird reports, it would seem this species is possible anywhere in native bush on both isalds, as long as it's out of the way from regular human/dog disturbance. A bit of luck and patience is required both to find one, and to watch it at length in the open. I count myself lucky indeed!
Many-coloured Fruit-Dove: Scarce but wide-spread. Can be common in some areas, particularly expansive native bush but on both trips I think I only heard a couple and never saw one.
Crimson-crowned Fruit-Dove: Common pretty much everywhere. Not only do you hear them all the time but they're also fairly easy to see compared to other fruit-dove species in my experience.
Pacific Imperial-Pigeon: Common and wide-spread. Readily seen flying overhead but flocks also cluster in fruiting trees.
White-rumped Swiftlet: Common and wide-spread but most active near dawn and dusk.
Banded Rail: Common everywhere. Great to see these birds are still abundant in Samoa (After a few trips to Fiji where mongoose no doubt is the culprit for them being so scarce). This species is most dense in wetland areas/rank grass but can be seen in any open-patch of grass, even in the heart of the two main islands.
Pukeko (Australasian Swamphen): Inconspicuous but widespread in thick/wet vegetated areas on both islands. Seen far more widespread than Fiji (where there is mongoose) and Tonga (where I understand they are persecuted).
WHITE-BROWED CRAKE: An overdue lifer. I actually targetted this species and it paid off. Like other crakes, these guys are probably more present than people realise. They are not well documented in Samoa but I basically found a decent-sized swamp on Google Maps that was walking-distance from our accomodation in Manase (Savaii), played a tape--and BAM--White-browed Crakes duetting loudly. Doesn't always work out that way but I'll take it! *Spottless Crakes are also supposed to be widespread but I still have yet to hear or see this species on any tropical Pacific Island.
Pacific Golden Plover: Common in any open grassy area or coastline. They seem to form larger coastal flocks in Tonga and Fiji but on Samoa (perhaps due to less mammalian predators?) they are far more prevalent and tame on peoples' lawns etc. Even far from the coast, they're on the rugby pitches or back garden mowed patch, hanging out with the rails. The largest group I noted was around 45 at the high tide roost near our Manase accommodation. Otherwise mostly in singles or less than 5.
Whimbrel: 1 bird was noted on two different nights roosting on the same breakwater as the 45 PGPs mentioned above. I'll post a map with the location of this roost at the bottom. The first time I saw it was at sunset, and I tried to turn it into a Bristle-thigh but couldn't get a good enough view on the first night. I didn't see it at all the next day, then on the following evening, it flew in again---but in the middle of our family dinner. I raised an eye-brow at my wife, and she just said "Go". SO in front of on-looking palangi and locals alike, I waded fully-clothed into the ocean to walk around to the backside of this breakwater island thingie. The bird actually let me wade right up to it but depressingly it was indeed just a normal whimbrel. On the wade back I banged my shin on something hard and looked down to see a green sea-turtle. Still was a thumbs down signal back to the restaurant and some audible sighs (by the now assembled crowd of curious onlookers). Peace of mind at least--and this was my first whimbrel for the tropical Pacific--so still good right? Right? (The turtles by the way were freakin everywhere at that place which was awesome--but meant me bumping into one was not quite the consolation it might seem).
BRISTLE-THIGHED CURLEW: Yah BABBYYYYYY! Redemption. Literally the next day we had crossed back over to Upolu and checked into the Sheraton. I was not expecting more lifers on this trip (No ground dove at this point either), but when I saw a whimbrel-like object fly in off the ocean and dissappear behind some rocks on the beach I grabbed the bins and ran out. And there, for a few minutes only, was a gloriously cinnamon-rumped curlew. Unlike the whimbrel that probably roosted every day at the same spot, I didn't see this bird ever again so it may very well have been moving through the area (or perhaps put off by the enthusiastic fist-pumping white guy).
Wandering Tattler: Common in small numbers on rocky/reef coastlines. I max of 8-10 roosted on the breakwater mentioned above. None seen at the Sheraton which was more a sandy area. The coolest experience with these guys was on the day we did our round-Savaii roadie, we stopped in at a popular waterfall swimming hole spot (Afu Au). This is a lovely spot to cool off to just to take in a waterfall in native bush. Samoan Flycatcher is common here and I also saw Samoan Whistler and Fantail. But what was unexpected, was a pair of Wandering Tattlers that were constantly flying up and down the river chasing and calling to each other. Several times one of them landed at the top of the waterfall, and once one even landed in the re-forested lavafield just adjacent to the waterfall. To put this in NZ terms, it would be like visiting the Chasm near Milford Sound, hoping to maybe see a Brown Creeper or whio, then all of a sudden a grey shorebird rips by and lands on a rock. What the!? Tattler in the forest? On the river? This is actually their breeding habitat up in NW British Columbia and Alaska/Yukon (albeit less treed), and from doing a bit of reading, this is not particularly unusual for Samoa or Fiji (where they've been recorded 40km from the sea). Really cool.
Ruddy Turnstone: The #3 most expected wader in the tropical Pacific. Certainly less widespread than tattlers and PGP but I saw a small group both at the breakwater roost on Savaii, and one morning at the Sheraton (Birds passing likely through).
*LAUGHING GULL: The clear rarity of the trip. Spotted it from the ferry as we were coming into dock in Salelologa, Savaii. It was perched at the end of a concrete wharf that was off-limits to the public and heavily backlit, plus my phone's camera sucks so the digibin result was not ideal as you can see. It was still present 5 days later when we returned so hopefully sticks around for others. An apparent 3rd-cycle bird (sub-adult) with black primaries and some red starting to show in the bareparts. I haven't done much digging but I believe this is the 5th Samoan record and possibly first ever for Savaii (3 previously on Upolu and 1 on American Samoa).
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Brown Noddy: Fairly common breeder in Savaii. Similar to White Tern, they can be seen flying to/from interior of Upolu and are common offshore (Bait-ball flocks seen from ferry both times and once binned some offshore from land on Savaii). Our Upolu hotel is in the Apolima Strait so was far worse for seawatching than the north coast of Savaii.
Black Noddy: 1 bird seen on the second ferry crossing.
Bridled Tern: Probably more common offshore than I could tell on my brief ferry crossings but I just saw one for sure; it was mixed in with a feeding frenzy of noddy and boobies on the first ferry crossing of the Apolima Strait.
Black-naped Tern: None seen on Savaii but they're fairly easy to see around the Upolu side-ferry terminal and the lagoon in front of the Sheraton. Inshore lagoon tern.
Great Crested Tern: Uncommon. I only saw a couple on the whole trip. Both times nearish the ferry terminal on Upolu. Not sure why there are so few (I saw none on my first Samoan trip where we covered even more ground), as they are abundant on Tongatapu and the Fijian main islands.
White-tailed Tropicbird: Just saw 1 from the first ferry crossing. These guys can be readily seen at a few inland sites on Upolu as they nest/roost there (e.g. Dave Parker's Ecolodge near Apia). Clearly not as common elsewhere compared to Rarotonga, Tongatapu etc.
Wedge-tailed Shearwater: At least 3 out in the middle of Apolima Strait on our return journey.
Lesser Frigatebird: Like my first Samoan trip, my impression is that this is the more common species on the Samoan Islands. Only saw a few (they can turn up anywhere any time it seems).
Great Frigatebird: Only 1 confirmed (over our Savaii fale).
Red-footed Booby: Quite common offshore, with 100+ seen every evening off the northern Savaii coast transiting from west to east. Also common on Apolima Strait ferry.
Brown Booby: Singles seen twice (Surprising really as they are generally more common than RFs on other islands I've been to, including my memories of Upolu).
Reef Heron: Fairly common but not too numerous around the coast. *All dark morphs*. One bird seen fishing in a tidal creek amongst shrubs.
Barn Owl: Heard once at night near the Sheraton (large cane field nearby).
Flat-billed Kingfisher: Widespread on both islands and fairly common in open forest and powerlines a la Sacred.
Blue-crowned Lorikeet: Only one seen (Flying over Afu Au waterfall), but I wasn't really in extensive native bush.
Samoan Myzomela: Common in gardens and forest edges.
Eastern Wattled Honeyeater: As with the Myzo. Saw fledglings being fed.
Polynesian Triller: Common and conspicuous as the two above.
Samoan Triller: Just like my first trip to Samoa, I only saw one (and briefly at that). Am I missing something? I thought they were supposed to be easier.
Samoan Whistler/Samoan Fantail/Samoan Flycatcher: These 3 are far less easy to find than the honeyeaters mentioned above but they're still quite widespread on both main islands. It seems that any decent patch of secondary/primary forest has them.
Red-vented Bulbul: Common around human settlement
Polynesian Starling: Widespread and fairly common but not always conspicuous like their Samoan cousins.
Samoan Starling: Probably the most ubiquitous bird in Samoa considering they use any habitat involving trees. Raucous and conspicuous, and I watched one raid a bulbul nest (Native 1: Colonist: 0).
Common Myna: The most common myna on Upolu but far less numerous on Savaii (Probably making up less than 5% of the myna population on that island).
Jungle Myna: Common on both islands (helps that they had a headstart by a few decades on commons). My guidebook said they had only established in eastern Savaii (circa 2010ish) but I can confirm they're common all over now.
Map:
For anyone staying in the Matatau Bay area (one of the touristy lagoons of Savaii--which is still not that touristy), here are a couple useful spots to know about that I referred to earlier. The yellow circle shows the rocky breakwaters where waders roost at high tide. And the green line shows the dyke path that's great for birding and iNaturalisting (e.g. Loads of butterflies). The green circle is where White-browed Crakes and pūkeko are.
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