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Articles

Vol. 44 No. 3 (2013)

RARE AND UNUSUAL BIRDS OBSERVED ON TERN ISLAND, FRENCH FRIGATE SHOALS, NORTHWESTERN HAWAIIAN ISLANDS

DOI:
https://doi.org/10.21199/WB44.3.5
Submitted
November 23, 2025
Published
July 1, 2013

Abstract

The Northwestern Hawaiian Islands are a series of 10 small islands and atolls that extend northwest for 2000 km from the main Hawaiian Islands (Pyle and Pyle 2009). The islands are part of the Hawaiian Islands National Wildlife Refuge, Papahānaumokuākea Marine National Monument, and provide a sanctuary for millions of nesting seabirds and thousands of wintering shorebirds (Pyle and Pyle 2009). Tern Island is located at the northwestern tip of the French Frigate Shoals and is the largest (~12 hectares) and only human-made island in the shoals. The Northwestern Hawaiian Islands’ location in the Pacific Ocean offers exceptional opportunity for assessment of patterns of avian migration and vagrancy. The islands lie within the trans-Pacific migration route of several shorebirds from Alaska that migrate long distances (Gill et al. 2005) and are within the influence of several seasonal macro-meteorological processes (e.g., Aleutian Low, Hawaiian High, and associated synoptic disturbances) that affect bird movement and migration along the North Pacific coasts (e.g., Christoforou and Hameed 1997).

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