Birding in French Polynesia XV
15 January 2026
Over the next 28 days, I will be spending my time birding on Tahiti and Mo'orea, two islands in the Windward Islands, an archipelago belonging to French Polynesia, an overseas territory of France. Birds in italics indicate lifers.
Wednesday Jan 15 2026 - Day 15
Today, we woke up earlier than usual to get a ride in a 4×4, up the Papanoo Valley, east of Pape'ete. Despite leaving our accommodation at quarter to seven, due to the heavy traffic we arrived at 8:03 at the Taaone beach, even though it should have taken 23 minutes if not for traffic. Anyway, my sisters, mum and I got in the back of the modified Ford Ranger, and set off from Pira'e.
The Ford Ranger used for our tour
Once we entered the valley, my dad could join us in the back of the vehicle. Soon after setting off again, we stopped to watch a bird we had seen a couple of days before, but hadn't got footage of, the Crimson-backed Tanager.
Crimson-backed Tanager
The Crimson-backed tanager is a passerine native to Colombia, Panama, as well as parts of Costa Rica and Venezuela, it has been introduced to French Polynesia. We watched two birds for a bit until they flew off.
Juvenile Crimson-backed Tanager
As we were continuing up the valley, the guides suddenly brought the pick-up to a stop, when they saw a Society Kingfisher in the tree by the road. We soon got eyes on the Society Kingfisher, too, watching it and taking photos, although it was mostly showing its back to us.
Society Kingfisher
Further up the valley, we saw another endemic and lifer, Tahiti Swallow. We saw several of them, as they perched up on a branch, and caught flies form the air.
Tahiti Swallows resting on branch
We then stopped at the side of the road, where we saw numerous Grey-Green Fruit Doves, a female Society Kingfisher, and a White-tailed Tropicbird.
Grey-Green Fruit Dove in flight
Then, the heavens opened, and we waited it out with some Red Junglefowls. One of our guides, Arnaud, used this time to teach us about some local plant life, including the Polynesian Chestnut. once the rain died down, we continued to our next stop, a bridge with loads of Marbled eels. Eels are considered sacred in Polynesian culture, and the locals feed them food, allowing us to see them up close.
Some Marbled Eels
On the river, we also saw a Wandering Tattler and a Pacific Reef-Heron
Pacific Reef-Heron
While driving past the high mountains, we saw many waterfalls and some Tropicbirds.
White-tailed Tropicbird
Eventually, we arrived at the start of the Natural Park, the car park of which being a hotspot for Tahiti Reed Warbler, and, although hearing some Tahiti Reed Warblers, we didn't see any. Our next stop was at an archaeological site. In the car park, we saw another Society Kingfisher.
Society Kingfisher
After that, we took off our shoes, to connect with the “mana” a kind of spirit in Polynesia. Our guides Hinatea and Arnaud told us about the history of these sites and their importance to the locals.
Archaeological site
Our final stop was to have lunch, near a hydroelectric station. It was raining again, so we ate our food in the back of the pick-up. I got out briefly to photograph the nests of some Tahiti Swallows, on the side of a cliff.
Tahiti Swallow Nest
On our way back, we stopped at a large waterfall and many smaller ones, where we also saw a pale morph Pacific Reef-Heron getting chased by a dark morph one.
Waterfalls
Low clouds over the mountains
Then, we stopped again, looking for Tahiti Reed Warbler. We found some Silvereyes, and, before too long, a juvenile Tahiti Reed Warbler. I was very happy with my photos of the Tahiti Reed Warbler, and they turned out being top-rated on eBird, too.
Silvereye
Once the reed warbler was gone, we had a quick walk, where Hinatea and Arnaud showed us Tahitian apples, and Tahitian raspberries (the former tasting much better than the latter). They also showed us Shampoo Ginger - yes, that's a real thing. We used it on our hair, and found that it smelt very nice.
Shampoo Ginger - just squeeze to get the “shampoo” out
Afterwards, we drove down to where we saw the Swallows for the first time. We saw the Tahiti Swallows from very close and also saw a Society Kingfisher, 3 Crimson-backed Tanagers, and other good birds.
Tahiti Swallows
Tahiti Swallow
Tahiti Swallow in flight
One of three
Crimson-backed Tanagers
We spent nearly half an hour before we had to leave and got back to our staring location in Pira'e. After the best birding trip I've ever had, we took a selfie with Arnaud and Hinatea. Shout-out to them and their company Natura Exploration for showing us so many amazing birds as well as teaching us all about the Tahitian mountains.
Photo with our guides, Hinatea and Arnaud,
from Natura Exploration
They recommended that we visit the Belvedere restaurant. We went up there and enjoyed views of the steep hills and of Pape'ete below from 600m. At the restaurant (the highest in French Polynesia), we only had a quick drink, since the prices were just as steep as the hills!
View over Pape'ete from the Belvedere
