A lone Mallard has appeared on Niue, although no-one knows how it got there or where it came from. The locals are feeding the duck, and maintaining a puddle for it to live in because the island has no natural ground-water. The loneliest duck in Niue
Where did you get 19 from? There are 15 breeding species on the island, and then the migrant waders and non-breeding seabirds. Leaving aside the vagrants (like this Mallard) there are somewhere between 30 and 40 species available to be seen there.
My eyes ain't what they used to be. It looked all brown to me but on second look with enough squinting it is a male
Maybe not the most reliable source of information, but I counted the species on this page: List of birds of Niue - Wikipedia The eBird data was a bit spotty, but I only got 15 there. I figured that if there were more bird species, more would have been reported. https://ebird.org/barchart?byr=1900&eyr=2018&bmo=1&emo=12&r=NU *It is worth noting that the Wikipedia article states that 29 bird species may be found in Niue. The eBird checklist states 34. But keep in mind this includes accidentals and vagrants. *Also note that isn't the only duck on Niue. After looking over Niue's Mallard reports on eBird, I found this statement:
Surely introduced and vagrant birds count as birds on the island? Just because it’s rare or accidental doesn’t mean that it’s a bird you can’t find, it’s just harder.
I am counting introduced species here. I am not counting vagrants because I was referring to commonly occurring species - of which there are only 20. If you are counting vagrants (such as this Mallard), the count would be around 30 - still not many bird species.
The Wikipedia article is missing a lot of seabirds, as also the eBird must be (I haven't looked at it). And it is (most probably) the only duck currently on Niue - Grey Ducks being found there as vagrants doesn't mean there are Grey Ducks there now. There is only one introduced species (chickens). If counting all birds recorded on the island - including vagrants - the total is around 50, not 30, because (as per above) your "sources" are missing numerous recorded seabirds (terns and petrels), many of which are frequent.
Ebird has records of 34 species from Niue, coming from 38 checklists. Thus not a very comprehensive survey of the species to be found there. 9 of the species have not been reported to Ebird from Niue within the last five years, additionally. There is a lone report of Red-vented Bulbul, so while not exactly an introduced species, an exotic?
I would imagine this would have been a ship-assisted individual (i.e. a wild bird from one of the other Pacific islands hitching a ride aboard a container ship or something similar).
Firstly, I know ebird says 38 checklists, but the top four birders for Niue have submitted 50 checklists between them. Even less comprehensive than you might think - all the checklists are from winter - mid-June to mid-September, and then one in the last week of October. Hix
Mallards are migratory (or at least some populations are) so it isn't exactly unexpected that they could end up far outside their normal range.
Just as an update, eBird now lists 43 species from 140 checklists, over most of the year (although Autumn is still relatively devoid of checklists).
