An ornithological survey of Fergusson Island, D'Entrecasteaux Archipelago, Papua New Guinea: new island records and noteworthy natural history observations

Fergusson Island lies off the south-eastern end of New Guinea and is the largest landmass in the D'Entrecasteaux and Trobriand Island Endemic Bird Area (EBA). We conducted audiovisual and camera-trap surveys of eastern Fergusson during September 2022 and recorded 97 bird species, documenting breeding and vocalisations for several of the EBA's endemic taxa. Notably, we provide the first confirmed documentation of the ‘lost’ insularis subspecies of Pheasant Pigeon Otidiphaps nobilis (often recognised as a species, Black-naped Pheasant-Pigeon), in 126 years, observations of six bird species not previously recorded on Fergusson, and nesting data for two regional endemics, Goldie’s Bird of Paradise Paradisea decora and Oya Tabu White-eye Zosterops crookshanki. Our new distributional records mostly involved either migratory or open-country species, highlighting the value of surveying across seasons and habitats.