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Pwffinuspacificus(Wedge-Tailed Shearwater)

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Pwffinuspacificus(Wedge-Tailed Shearwater) 14 BIRD BONES FROM THE TO'AGA SITE: PREHISTORIC LOSS OF SEABIRDS AND MEGAPODES DAVID W. STEADMAN INTRODUCTION and the United States National Museum ofNatural History, Smithsonian Institution (USNM). hi the A S PART OF A LONG-TERM program to reconstrUct species accounts that follow, "Unit" refers to meter the natural distribution and diversity ofbird- square excavations (designated with Arabic numer- life in the South Pacific (figure 14.1), I have sought als). Roman numerals referto stratigraphic layers. bird bones from archaeological sites in many For details ofthe stratigraphy, chronology, material different archipelagos. Until recently, the islands of culture, and non-bird faunal assemblages ofthe Samoa have not been represented in this data base. To'aga site, see Hunt and Kirch (1988), Kiivh et al. In 1987, T. L. Hunt and P. V. Kirch conducted (1989, 1990), and various chapters in this volume. excavations at the To'aga site (AS-13-1), Ofu Island, Unless stated otherwise, the modem distribu- American Samoa yielding a small sample ofbird dons ofspecies within American Samoa are taken bones representng at least six taxa (Steadman 1990). from the excellent surveys conducted in 1975-1976 This first glimpse ofthe prehistoric avifauna of by Amerson et al. (1982ab) and in 1986 by Samoa showed that at least two species (a shearwa- Engbring and Ramsey (1989). Modem distributions ter and petrel) had been lost on Ofu since the first for elsewhere in Polynesia are taken from Pratt et al. anrival ofhumans more than 3000 years ago. Hunt (1987). The prehistoric records are from Steadman and Kirch expanded the excavations at To'aga in (1989a) and from unpublished data from my recent 1989. This paper reports the entire bird bone research; islands preceded by an asterisk (*) repre- assemblage from both the 1987 and 1989 field sent extirpated populations. seasons. The sample ofbird bones from To'aga now consists ofat least fifteen taxa (table 14.1) and SPECIES ACCOUNTS provides a more thorough, although still far from complete, portrayal of the birdlife of ancient Samoa. Order Procellariiformes The bird bones from To'aga have been cata- Family Procellanidae logued in the University of Washington Burke Museum (UWBM) Fossil Bird Collection. Com- Pwffinuspacificus (Wedge-tailed Shearwater) parative skeletal or oological specimens are from UWBM, the British Museum (Natural History) MATERIAL. Humerus (UWBM 1680),T9/ (BMNH), the New York State Museum (NYSM), 500E, Unit 21, fiB. Five ulnae (UWBM 1244, 1251, 218 The To'aga Site Table 14.1 Bird Bones from the To'aga Site Taxa Number of Identified Bones Seabirds *Puffinus pacificus 11 *Puffnus iherminieri 2 *Puffinus griseus 15 *Pterodroma rostrata 6 *Pterodroma sp., size of P. heraldica 2 (*)Procellariidae sp. 9 *Sula sula 1 Fregata sp. 2 Anous stolidus 1 Gygis alba 1 Steminae sp. 1 Landbirds Egretta sacra 1 Numenius tahitiensis (M) 1 Gallus gallus (I) 16 *Megapodius sp. 2 Gallicolumba stairii 3 TOTAL 15n4 Total Seabirds (species/bones) 10/51 Total Landbirds (species/bones) 5/23 Total Native Landbirds, without IM (species/bones) 4/7 % of Bones from Extirpated Species (without IM) 85% I=Introduced species M=Migrant Species * Extirpated on Ofu (*) represents extirpated species, but not necessarily different from those already listed. 1256, 1678, 1679), Unit 9, IIB; Unit 5, IIC; Unit 14, (Tonga), and Tikopia and Anuta (Solomon Islands). llIa,4; 19/500E, Unit 21, IIB (2 bones). Radius (UWBM 1664), T9/500E, Unit 20, IIIB. Puojinus lherminieri (Audubon's Shearwater) Carpometacarpus (UWBM 1630), T3I200W. Unit 27, fI1A. Tibiotarsus (UWBM 1642), T5/100E, Unit MATERIAL. 2 ulnae (UWBM 1651, 1671), 28, HIB. Two pedal phalanges (UWBM 1246, 1248), T9/500E, Unit 23, IIB; T9/500E, Unit 21, IIB. Unit 4, IIB; Unit 1, IIB. REMARKS. Within American Samoa, Puffinus REMARKS. This tropical shearwater is rarely iherminueri nests only on Tau, where at least 200 noted at sea today in American Samoa It may nest birds breed in the cloud forest, and on Tutila on Pola Islet (offTutuila) and on Ta'u, but this has (colony size unknown). It is uncommon at sea and not been confirmed. There are no previous rcords has not been recorded previously on Ofu. Like P. from Ofu. It is widespread in Polynesia today, pacificus, P. lherminieri nests today on relatively although nesting islands are few. Other Polynesian few islands scattered across Polynesia. Other archaeological records ofPwJnuspac~lcus are Polynesian archaeological records ofP. Iherminieri from *Ua Huka and *Tahuata (Marquesas), are from *Nuku Hiva, Ua Pou, *Ua Huka, *Hiva Ok, *HuAhine (Society Islands), *Lifuka and * Eua and *Tahuata (Marquesas), *Huahine (Society Prehistoric Loss ofSeabirds and Megapodes 219 II 0C C,5C N o 0 4. *0 . J 0~~~ z~~~~~~~ o w -J ~~~~~~~~~~-J C)( 00J *. (4 X t zes*C * 4 z~~~~~ 0 -0 ~~~~~~~~ .00 I-.a. a Z : Y 0 - J u0 Z 0 Z ;'= | *oa '0 w 0I a-J 4 - 4 - z~~~~~ uot~~~~~~~~~~;0. J i - z z w Z 9~~~~~~~~~c *r. 220 The Tolaga Site Islands), *Mangaia (Cook Islands), Eua (Tonga), ofthe wannest localities where P. griseus nests and Tikopia and *Anuta (Solomon Islands). today. That this large shearwater (or an osteologi- cally indistinguishable subspecies [explanation 3 is Puffinus griseus (Sooty Shearwater) not necessarily incompatible with explanation 2]) was once resident rather than migrant on Ofu is MATERIAL. Sternum (UWBM 1681), T9/ indicated by the presence at To'aga oftwo bones of 500E, Unit 21, IIB. Coracoid (UWBM 1645), T5/ P. griseus (UWBM 1645,1653) that, based upon 100E, Unit 29, RIB. Scapula (UWBM 1245), Unit porosity ofthe external surface, are from volant 9, IIB. Three humeri (UWBM 1641, 1643, 1659), juveniles unlikely to have dispersed far from their T5/100E, Unit 29,1; T5/100E, Unit 28, IIB; Unit place ofbirth. The fonner residency ofP. griseus on 20, RB. Three ulnae (UWBM 1240, 1241, 1647), Ofu is supported furtxr by the abun e ofits Unit 11, I-8 (2 bones); T5/100E, Unit 30,1H. bones at To'aga (15 of74, or 20% ofidentifiable Carpometacarpus (UWBM 1259), Unit 7, hA. bones). Sooty Shearwaters are represented as well Manus digit (UWBM 1260), Unit 7, HA. Pelvis among the few bird bones from a Lapita site on (UWBM 1674), T9/500E, Unit 21, IIB. Three *Niuatoputapu (Tonga), southwest of American tibiotarsi (UWBM 1252, 1253, 1652), Unit 6, hA (2 Samoa (Steadman 1990). bones); T9/500E, Unit 23, IRA. REMARKS. As reported by Steadman (1990), Pterodroma rostrata (Tahiti Petrel) these bones are larger than those ofany species of shearwater that resides today in tropical Polynesia. MATERIAL. Two mandibles (UWBM 1250, They agree in all osteological details with bones of 1682), Unit 4, RB; T9/500E, Unit 21, IIB. Scapula Puffinus griseus, a species that probably migrates (UWBM 1684), 19/500E, Unit 21, IIB. Humenrs through the Samoan region today (Harrison (UWBM 1657), T9/500E, Unit 20, IIB. Ulna 1983:260, 420, Pratt et al. 1987:55), although there (UWBM 1242), Unit 5, HA. Tarsometatarsus are no records from American Samoa. The Sooty (UWBM 1247), Unit4, IIB. Shearwater nests today only on islands offNew REMARKS. This large petrel nests today at a Zealand, southern Australia, and extreme southern few widely scattered localities in te Marquesas South America (Harrison 1983:260, 420). Most of Islands, Tahiti, New Caledonia, and American the nesting localities ofP. griseus are temperate or Samoa. Its presence on the latter is based upon a subantarctic, although in Australia nesting occurs at colony ofabout 500 individuals discovered in 1976 least as far north as 320 40' S on the subtropical in the montarn cloud forest ofTa'u, a single nesting Broughton Islands. bird discovered on Tutuila in 1986, and a few birds Three possible explanations for the unexpected heard on Olosega in 1986. An onshore record in presence ofPaufinus griseus on Ofu were proposed 1972 from Taveuni (Clunie et al. 1978) suggests th by Steadman (1990): (1) the bones represent Pterodroma rostrata may nest in Fiji as well. migrant birds taken at sea by fishermen; (2) P. Elsewhere in Polynesia, P. rostrata has been idend- griseus once resided on Ofu and, like other fied from archaeological sites on *Ua Huka and procellarids, was extirpated through predation in Tahuata (Marquesas), *Huahine (Society Islands), their nesting burrows by humans and rats; (3) the *Aitutaki (Cook Islands), *Lifuka and *Eua bones represent an extinct, resident shearwater that (Tonga), Tikopia (Solomon Islands), and New differs specifically or subspecifically from modem Caledonia. P. griseiss but is osteologically very similar. Regard- ing the first explanation, I am aware ofno ethno- Pterodroma sp. (unknown petrel, graphic accounts ofPolynesians capturing seabirds size ofP. heraldica) while fishing. The data now available, particularly that fifteen bones (nine different skeletal elements) MATERIAL Radius (UWBM 1670), T9/500E, are osteologically indistinguishable from modem Unit 21, RB. Femur (UWBM 1676), Unit 21, RIB. skeletons ofP. griseus, suggest that the second REMARKS. These specimens, althoughnot explanation may be corect, even though the oceano- adequate for species-level identification, represent a graphic conditions near Ofu are wanmer than those species ofPterodroma in the approximate size rae Prehistoric Loss ofSeabirds and Megapodes 221 ofP. heraldica (Herald Petrel, which often is REMARKS. These specimens cannot be considered conspecific with P. arminjonana) or distinguished from those ofFregata minor orF. perhaps the slightly larger P. exlerna (Juan ariel, both of which visit but do not nest on Ofu Fernandez Petrel), both ofwhich are significantly today (total ofthirteen birds counted in 1975-76; still smaller than P. rostrata. In American Samoa, P. recorded as a visitor in 1986). The bones ofF. eterna is known ordy from uncommon sightings at minor males and F. ariel females are similar in size sea, while P. heraldica nests on TaVu.
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