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Solomon Islands (visit this page on fatfisherman.com)

Rainbow Lorikeet Trichoglossus haemotodus �Ian Montgomery http://birdway.com.au

The Solomon Islands is a country in Melanesia, east of Papua New Guinea, consisting of nearly one thousand islands. Together they cover a land mass of 28,400 square kilometres (10,965 sq mi). The capital is Honiara, located on the island of Guadalcanal.

The Solomon Islands is a wide island nation that lies East of Papua New Guinea and consists of many islands: Choiseul, the Shortland Islands; the New Georgia Islands; Santa Isabel; the Russell Islands; Nggela (the Florida Islands); Malaita; Guadalcanal; Sikaiana; Maramasike; Ulawa; Uki; Makira (San Cristobal); Santa Ana; Rennell and Bellona; the Santa Cruz Islands and three remote, tiny outliers, Tikopia, Anuta, and Fatutaka. The distance between the westernmost and easternmost islands is about 1,500 kilometres (930 mi).

The Santa Cruz Islands (of which Tikopia is part), are situated north of Vanuatu and are especially isolated at more than 200 kilometres (120 mi) from the other islands. Bougainville is geographically part of the Solomon Islands, but politically Papua New Guinea.

The islands' ocean-equatorial climate is extremely humid throughout the year, with a mean temperature of 27 �C (80 �F) and few extremes of temperature or weather. June through August is the cooler period. Though seasons are not pronounced, the northwesterly winds of November through April bring more frequent rainfall and occasional squalls or cyclones. The annual rainfall is about 3050 mm (120 in).

The Solomon Islands archipelago is part of two distinct terrestrial ecoregions. Most of the islands are part of the Solomon Islands rain forests ecoregion, which also includes the islands of Bougainville and Buka, which are part of Papua New Guinea, these forests have come under pressure from forestry activities. The Santa Cruz Islands are part of the Vanuatu rain forests ecoregion, together with the neighboring archipelago of Vanuatu. Soil quality ranges from extremely rich volcanic (there are volcanoes with varying degrees of activity on some of the larger islands) to relatively infertile limestone. More than 230 varieties of orchids and other tropical flowers brighten the landscape.

The islands contain several active and several dormant volcanoes. The Tinakula and Kavachi volcanoes are the most active.

contributor

Wikipedia
(GNU Free Documentation License)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solomon_Islands

numbers

Number of bird species: 278

numbers

Number of endemics: 69 (21 non-passerines & 48 passerines)
Ultramarine Kingfisher Todiramphus leucopygius Moustached Kingfisher Actenoides bougainvillei Buff-headed Coucal Centropus milo Ducorps's Cockatoo Cacatua ducorpsii Yellow-bibbed Lory Lorius chlorocercus Meek's Lorikeet Charmosyna meeki Duchess Lorikeet Charmosyna margarethae Solomon Islands Hawk-Owl Ninox jacquinoti Fearful Owl Nesasio solomonensis Crested Cuckoo-Dove Reinwardtoena crassirostris Thick-billed Ground-Dove Gallicolumba salamonis Silver-capped Fruit-Dove Ptilinopus richardsii White-headed Fruit-Dove Ptilinopus eugeniae Chestnut-bellied Imperial-Pigeon Ducula brenchleyi Pale Mountain-Pigeon Gymnophaps solomonensis Woodford's Rail Nesoclopeus woodfordi Roviana Rail Gallirallus rovianae San Cristobal Moorhen Gallinula silvestris Sanford's Fish-Eagle Haliaeetus sanfordi Imitator Sparrowhawk Accipiter imitator Beck's Petrel Pterodroma becki Black-faced Pitta Pitta anerythra Scarlet-naped Myzomela Myzomela lafargei Yellow-vented Myzomela Myzomela eichhorni Black-headed Myzomela Myzomela melanocephala Red-bellied Myzomela Myzomela malaitae Sooty Myzomela Myzomela tristrami Bougainville Honeyeater Stresemannia bougainvillei Guadalcanal Honeyeater Guadalcanaria inexpectata San Cristobal Melidectes Melidectes sclateri Hooded Whistler Pachycephala implicata Bougainville Crow Corvus meeki White-billed Crow Corvus woodfordi Solomon Islands Cuckooshrike Coracina holopolia White-winged Fantail Rhipidura cockerelli Brown Fantail Rhipidura drownei Dusky Fantail Rhipidura tenebrosa Rennell Fantail Rhipidura rennelliana Malaita Fantail Rhipidura malaitae Rennell Shrikebill Clytorhynchus hamlini Bougainville Monarch Monarcha erythrostictus Chestnut-bellied Monarch Monarcha castaneiventris White-capped Monarch Monarcha richardsii Black-and-white Monarch Monarcha barbatus Kulambangra Monarch Monarcha browni White-collared Monarch Monarcha viduus Steel-blue Flycatcher Myiagra ferrocyanea Ochre-headed Flycatcher Myiagra cervinicauda San Cristobal Thrush Zoothera margaretae Rennell Starling Aplonis insularis Brown-winged Starling Aplonis grandis San Cristobal Starling Aplonis dichroa White-eyed Starling Aplonis brunneicapilla Rennell White-eye Zosterops rennellianus Banded White-eye Zosterops vellalavella Ganongga White-eye Zosterops splendidus Splendid White-eye Zosterops luteirostris Solomon Islands White-eye Zosterops kulambangrae Hermit White-eye Zosterops murphyi Yellow-throated White-eye Zosterops metcalfii Grey-throated White-eye Zosterops rendovae Malaita White-eye Zosterops stresemanni Bare-eyed White-eye Woodfordia superciliosa Shade Warbler Cettia parens San Cristobal Leaf-Warbler Phylloscopus makirensis Sombre Leaf-Warbler Phylloscopus amoenus Bougainville Thicketbird Megalurulus llaneae Midget Flowerpecker Dicaeum aeneum Mottled Flowerpecker Dicaeum tristrami

useful reading

Birds and Bird Lore of Bougainville and the North Solomons

Don Hadden, Dove 2001
ISBN: 0959025758
Buy this book from NHBS.com

Birds of the Solomons, Vanuatu and New Caledonia

by Chris Doughty, Nicholas Day & Andrew Plant Softcover. A&C Black, 1999
ISBN: 071364690X
Buy this book from NHBS.com

clubs

Solomon Islands Wildlife Conservation Project

http://www.charapoana.com/html-en/projekt.phtml
Charapoana Island Resort, apart from its commercial activities catering for divers, adventure and exotic destination seekers, is also committed to "in-situ" conservation program of Solomon Islands of endangered and rare species of wildlife in order to protect and preserve the marine & terrestrial biodiversity...

The Nature Conservancy - Solomon Islands Program

http://www.nature.org/wherewework/asiapacific/solomonislands/
The Solomon Islands are ranked among the top 10 most biologically diverse and imperiled nations in the world. Their coral reefs contain extraordinarily diverse and valuable marine resources and, with the exception of Papua New Guinea, the Solomon Islands have the greatest diversity of vertebrate species of all Pacific Island nations...

reserves

Arnarvon Islands - Community-Managed Conservation Area

The Arnarvon Islands are located in the Manning Straits, midway between Choiseul and Isabel Islands, two large mountainous islands in the Solomon Archipelago...

Biodiversity and Protected Areas

http://earthtrends.wri.org/pdf_library/country_profiles/Bio_cou_090.pdf
Pdf

trip reports

Travelling Birder
http://www.travellingbirder.com
The Travellingbirder.com birding trip report search engine guides you to 7,000+ birding trip reports on the Internet. You can search for trip reports from a specific country and time of year. Not all these reports are in English. So, if you can�t find the trip report you want on this Fatbirder page� give them a try!

1996 [July] - Gerry Richards

http://www.camacdonald.com/birding/tripreports/Solomon96.html
This report covers a visit to the Solomon Islands from 29th June to 21st July 1996. For the first two weeks I was accompanied by my wife Lucy, and although we put a fair bit of effort into finding birds, a little time was set aside for relaxation. In addition to the main island of Guadalcanal, I visited Rennell, Ghizo, Kolombangra and Makira. Although many places lack a well developed tourist infrastructure, the local people were almost always friendly and helpful, which for us made this an enjoyable holiday as well as a successful birding trip...

1999 [June] - John Hornbuckle

http://worldtwitch.com/solomons_jh.htm
...We flew from Port Moresby, PNG, to Honiara on the main Solomon island of Guadalcanal. We were soon observing endemic parrots and flycatchers on nearby Mount Austen...

2004 [September] - Guy Dutson

http://www.birdquest.co.uk/tripreports.cfm?trip=414
We did it again � beating the mountains, the rain, and the airline to see virtually all of the Solomons endemics. We birded the islands of Guadalcanal, Rennell, Gizo and Malaita by road, cruised into Ranongga and Vella Lavella by boat, and trekked up into the mountains of Kolombangara, Makira and Santa Isabel. The fantastic series of endemics ranged from Solomons Sea Eagles, through the many pigeons, notably scope views of the very rare Yellow-legged Pigeon and the bizarre Crested Cuckoo-Dove, and parrots, from cockatoos to pygmy-parrots, to a biogeographer�s dream array of myzomelas, monarchs and white-eyes. A total of 148 species seen...

2007 [March] - Chris Collins - Wildwings

http://home.btconnect.com/wildwings/wposolomon.html
...the rescheduled recce took place between 20 February � 4 March 2007 with 4 days spent on Gizo and Kolombangara, 3 days on Rennell and 4 days at Mount Austin/in Honiara...

places to stay

Solomon Kitano Mendana Hotel - Guadalcanal

http://www.solomonislands-hotels.travel/Solomon_Kitano_Mendana
From the hotel, it is possible to arrange flights to more than 20 of the outer islands or to join the off-the-beaten-track travellers and venture into the wilds of the country, dive further afield to coral reefs and war wrecks, observe the diversity of Melanesian culture, fish and sightsee among the great battlegrounds of the Pacific...

Rainforest

http://www.rainforestweb.org/Rainforest_Regions/Oceania/Solomon_Islands/
The Solomon Islands contain a wide variety of rainforest types. Each island has something unique about its environment and its plant and animal life. The islands' lush forests contain 4,500 species of plants, 230 of which are different varieties of orchid, some not found anywhere else on Earth. Among the thick swaths of vegetation, over 170 species of birds can be found, some unique to the Solomon Islands as well...

Solomon Island Eclectus Eclectus roratus solomensis

http://www.avesint.com/solecl.html
The lovely Solomon Island Eclectus is a bit smaller than the Vosmaeri Eclectus. As with other Eclectus species, the male is green and the female is red and blue...

Solomon Islands Crowned Pigeon Microgoura meeki

http://www.inventas.co.nz/50rarestbirds/solomon.htm
One of the Fifty Rarest Birds of the World...

Wetlands and Forest Ecosystems of the Solomon Islands

http://www.wetlands.org/
Solomon Islands attracts immense interest from the international community due to the uniqueness, diversity and biological significance of its natural environment. Solomon Islands' forests form part of the belt of tropical rainforest that covers only 7 percent of the Earth's surface but that accommodates 70 percent to nearly 90 percent of all species of plants and animals...