Samoa's starlings

Starlings are a group of birds with a real image problem. Over much of the world, “starling” means just one thing - the Common, or European Starling. This plump, short-tailed, oily black bird was originally found in Europe, but it has spread across the cool, temperate countries of the world, from the US to China, and from Australia to Argentina. Everywhere it goes, this bird becomes a pest in both cities and the countryside, often driving out native birds and destroying fruit crops.

However, starlings are much more than this one obnoxious species. Most starlings are found in the tropics, and they are a varied, interesting and often beautiful family of birds. In the Pacific, starlings are a characteristic and important part of our native birdlife. In fact, the most unique of all our birds in American Samoa is the fuia or Samoan Starling.

All illustrations on this page used with permission from Dick Watling from “Birds of Fiji, Tonga and Samoa” and “Birds of Fiji and Western Polynesia” (Pacificbirds.com).

Why is the fuia so special? Well, not because of its appearance. With its dull brownish-black color, the fuia could hardly be called beautiful. No, the fuia is special because it is the only American Samoan bird that is “endemic” to Samoa. This is a word used by scientists to describe something found in only one place. The fuia is found only in the islands of American and western Samoa. All our other birds are found in at least one other group of islands. Therefore, if the fuia became extinct in the Samoas, there wouldn't be a single one left in the world.

Fortunately, there is little danger that the fuia will become extinct. It is a survivor, a real Samoan success story. It is the most adaptable bird we have, equally at home in Pago Pago, in small villages, in plantations and in the rainforest. The secret to its adaptability is its eating habits - a fuia will eat almost anything. They gobble down a wide variety of fruit, from the hard seeds of the mamala tree to the big stinky fruits of nonu bushes, from the leathery fruits of lau pata to the soft figs of the mati. They also love insects, including big stick insects, caterpillars, and other agricultural pests. Therefore, fuia are friends to farmers, and deserve our protection. Fuia even eat lizards, and indulge their taste for sweets with visits to lick up the nectar of gatae flowers. Because of their broad diet, fuia can always find food, and can live almost anywhere there are trees.

As in most Samoan birds, male and female fuia look almost the same. The species seems to nest in all months of the year. Fuia nests are usually placed in hollows in trees: snapped-off coconut trunks are favorite nest sites. They will also nest among the dense fronds in the top of a coconut, and even use man-made nest sites, like cracked telephone poles. Fuia eggs are pale blue.

We don't really know very much about the social life of the fuia: for example, do they mate for life? Do they defend territories from other fuia? Do they stay in one small area, or do they move all around the island? It would be interesting to know more about this most Samoan of our native birds.

The fuia is not our only native starling; it has a small and shy cousin, the miti vao, or Polynesian Starling. Although much less common than the fuia in Samoa, the miti vao has a wider range, being found in Fiji, Tonga, and Niue as well as American and western Samoa. Unlike the fuia, the miti vao is almost entirely a bird of the forest, rarely seen in plantations, much less villages. The reasons for this aren't clear. It seems to have a broad diet, though not quite as accepting as the fuia. It eats both insects and fruit, and is often seen feeding on hard-seeded fruit like mamala and taputoi, though we don't know if this is because the miti vao prefers such food or because the more aggressive fuia drives it away from softer, more nutritious fruit.

Across most of Tutuila you may have some difficulty finding the miti vao. There are a few places where they seem to be more common: Maloata on the west end of the island, between Afono and Vatia on the north side, and along the Mt. Alava Road. Look for a small, short-tailed bird with a grayish back, a pale breast with darker streaking, and white eyes. Its quiet but musical whistles and trills are very different from the harsh screeches and piercing whistles of the fuia. Miti vao nests are placed in hollows and holes, as are fuia nests. They usually lay two pale blue eggs with brown specklings. So few nests have been found here that we really don't know what time of the year this species prefers to breed, or if they may nest at any time. The miti vao is a species that apparently declined after hurricanes in 1990-91. We can only hope that populations will increase over time, provided that enough good forest remains to give this species the wild habitat it needs.

One interesting thing about the miti vao is that there is a very different form of this bird in Manu'a. There, the miti vao are very dark on both upperparts and underparts, with heavy dark streaking on the breast. To become so different, the Manu'a birds must have been separated from those on Tutuila for a long time, probably thousands of years.

Unfortunately, the native fuia and miti vao aren't Samoa's only starlings. Since the 1980's, two other members of the starling family have invaded Tutuila, and are now among our commonest birds. These are the black and white mynas that are common from Pago Pago Harbor to Leone. Two species of mynas are established here, both of which were originally native to India. The Common Myna is brownish black, with a yellow bill and a yellow patch of bare skin around the eye. The Jungle Myna is similar, but is darker and slimmer, with an orange beak and no yellow skin around the eye. Both species have large white patches in the wings and tail. The Common Myna is a major pest in many parts of the Pacific, including New Zealand, Hawaii, Fiji, Cook Islands, and French Polynesia. The Jungle Myna has become established only in Fiji and in the Samoan islands. Both species eat almost anything and are very happy in cities and villages, where they eat garbage and nest under roofs even in occupied buildings. These unwelcome invaders can damage guavas and other fruit crops, can spread disease, and may compete with our native birds in villages. So far, the mynas have not yet spread to the Manu'a Islands. It is important that we prevent their spread, and reserve American Samoa, as much as possible, for our native birds, including our native starlings, the fuia and the miti vao.

Pepper Trail, DMWR

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