kagu (Rhynochetos jubatus)

Riviere Bleue national park, August 2010. This park is the last stronghold for the kagu, holding over half the remaining wild population.

Thanks. I got very few halfway decent shots of wild bird species because of light conditions, general skittish-ness, etc, but I have some better photos of captive kagu taken at the Noumea Zoo which I shall upload in due course (along with horned parakeet, Ouvea parakeet, etc)

the kagu are actually fairly easy to find. There was a reasonably affable one that frequented the camping area in the late afternoon for half an hour or so on each of the days I was there. The one in this photo was a random find in the forest about half an hour's walk from the camping area.

Tourists are taken into the main part of the park by shuttle (presumably to avoid people tearing the place up with their private cars) and the drivers know where various kagu hold territories and can entice them out simply by calling "kagu kagu" and scratching up the leaves by the roadside. Not many people actually stay in the park - most are just day-trippers from Noumea - so that is how those visitors normally see the kagu. The park itself is easy to access, especially if you have a car (its only about 45 minutes drive from Noumea). If you're on the bus like me, then you need to get off on the highway, walk 2.5km to the HQ then another 10km to the point where the shuttle is, then that takes you the next 10km to the forest.

The other bird I particularly wanted to see at Riviere Bleue was the crow honeyeater, a massive black honeyeater that is more endangered than the kagu. I did see four individuals which I was extremely pleased about, but they are so shy that photos were out of the question. I like taking photos of the wildlife I see but its not really too important to me if I don't get brilliant shots, because I rather prefer watching them doing their thing than experiencing them only through a camera lens.