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Amalau Valley
Amalau is the name of a valley and a bay within the National Park of American Samoa. Amalau Valley is located between Vatia and Afono, and it is an isolated valley with various wildlife such as large numbers of native bird species and flying fox megabats. Amalau Valley is reached on the road leading to Vatia. There are only a few homes at Amalau. A significant site in the valley contains the remains of an old village. The Tu'ulaumea Tupua near Amalau Valley is an important legendary site. In Amalau Cove, pillow lavas can be observed along the shoreline. The pillow lavas indicate extrusion under water. The beach at the head of Amalau Bay is a mixture of cobbles and basaltic boulders, also with big chunks of coral which have been rounded by the ocean waves. Amalau Valley has been described as a “prime bird- and bat-watching area." Wildlife Amalau Valley has been described as the best place in American Samoa to observe the Many-colored Fruit Dove. There are also large numbers of ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
National Park Of American Samoa
The National Park of American Samoa is a national park in the United States territory of American Samoa, distributed across three islands: Tutuila, Ofu, and Ta‘ū. The park preserves and protects coral reefs, tropical rainforests, fruit bats, and the Samoan culture. Popular activities include hiking and snorkeling. Of the park's , is coral reefs and ocean. The park is the only American National Park Service system unit south of the equator. History Delegate Fofó Iosefa Fiti Sunia introduced a bill in 1984, at the request from Bat Preservers Association and Dr. Paul Cox, to include American Samoa in the Federal Fish and Wildlife Restoration Act. The purpose of the bill was to protect the habitat for the Flying fox as well as to protect the old rainforest. The bill marked the beginning of American Samoa's entry into the U.S. National Park System. The National Park Service began the work of establishing the national park in July 1987. The National Park of American Samoa wa ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Vatia, American Samoa
Vatia is a village on Tutuila, Tutuila Island in American Samoa. It is a north shore village located on Vatia Bay. The road to Vatia, American Samoa Highway 006, is the only road going through National Park of American Samoa. Vatia is a scenic community at the foot of Pola Ridge and surrounded by the national park. It is only reached by Route 6 which traverses the national park before reaching Vatia. There was once a hiking trail over Maugaloa Ridge from Leloaloa, but since the completion of Route 6, this trail is now overgrown. It is home to a beach, and panoramic views of jungle-covered peaks surround the village on all sides. Vatia is the center of the Tutuila-section of National Park of American Samoa.Stanley, David (2004). ''Moon Handbooks South Pacific''. David Stanley. Page 479. . It is located in Vaifanua County, American Samoa, Vaifanua County. Vatia is home to several concrete bunkers from World War II located on and around the beach. The scenic road between Vatia and Afo ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Afono, American Samoa
Āfono is a village on the northeast coast of Tutuila Island, American Samoa. One of the island's more populous villages, it is located on the edge of Afono Bay, at the eastern edge of the National Park of American Samoa. It is connected by Highway 6 to Vatia, which lies along the coast to the northwest, and to Aua, on the edge of Pago Pago Harbor to the south via a winding stretch of highway which crosses the spine of the island. Geography Āfono is a village on the north shore of Tutuila Island in American Samoa, located by Āfono Bay. Āfono is situated over Āfono Pass, which sits in-between Rainmaker Mountain and the Maugaloa Ridge. The village is home to traditional thatched huts. It is reached by following Highway 6 northbound from the village of Aua. The road from Aua includes several steep switchbacks up to Rainmaker Pass, and continues equally steeply down to the village of Āfono. The village borders the Tutuila-section of National Park of American Samoa. Afono sp ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Flying Fox
''Pteropus'' (suborder Yinpterochiroptera) is a genus of megabats which are among the largest bats in the world. They are commonly known as fruit bats or flying foxes, among other colloquial names. They live in South Asia, Southeast Asia, Australia, East Africa, and some oceanic islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. There are at least 60 extant species in the genus. Flying foxes eat fruit and other plant matter, and occasionally consume insects as well. They locate resources with their keen sense of smell. Most, but not all, are nocturnal. They navigate with keen eyesight, as they cannot echolocate. They have long life spans and low reproductive outputs, with females of most species producing only one offspring per year. Their slow life history makes their populations vulnerable to threats such as overhunting, culling, and natural disasters. Six flying fox species have been made extinct in modern times by overhunting. Flying foxes are often persecuted for their real or ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Megabat
Megabats constitute the family Pteropodidae of the order Chiroptera (bats). They are also called fruit bats, Old World fruit bats, or—especially the genera ''Acerodon'' and ''Pteropus''—flying foxes. They are the only member of the superfamily Pteropodoidea, which is one of two superfamilies in the suborder Yinpterochiroptera. Internal divisions of Pteropodidae have varied since subfamilies were first proposed in 1917. From three subfamilies in the 1917 classification, six are now recognized, along with various tribes. As of 2018, 197 species of megabat had been described. The leading theory of the evolution of megabats has been determined primarily by genetic data, as the fossil record for this family is the most fragmented of all bats. They likely evolved in Australasia, with the common ancestor of all living pteropodids existing approximately 31 million years ago. Many of their lineages probably originated in Melanesia, then dispersed over time to mainland Asia, t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Pteropus Samoensis2-2-2
''Pteropus'' (suborder Yinpterochiroptera) is a genus of megabats which are among the largest bats in the world. They are commonly known as fruit bats or flying foxes, among other colloquial names. They live in South Asia, Southeast Asia, Australia, East Africa, and some oceanic islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. There are at least 60 extant species in the genus. Flying foxes eat fruit and other plant matter, and occasionally consume insects as well. They locate resources with their keen sense of smell. Most, but not all, are nocturnal. They navigate with keen eyesight, as they cannot echolocate. They have long life spans and low reproductive outputs, with females of most species producing only one offspring per year. Their slow life history makes their populations vulnerable to threats such as overhunting, culling, and natural disasters. Six flying fox species have been made extinct in modern times by overhunting. Flying foxes are often persecuted for their real or pe ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Many-colored Fruit Dove
The many-colored fruit dove (''Ptilinopus perousii''), also known as ''manuma'' in the Samoan language, is a species of bird in the family Columbidae. It occurs on islands in the south-west Pacific Ocean where it is found in Fiji, the Samoan Islands, and Tonga. Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests. Today, the birds are most often found in Fiji and Tonga. It usually feeds high in the canopy on fruit and berries, especially banyan ficus, fig. The bird nest, nest is a small platform of twigs where one white egg (biology), egg is laid. Description It is a small dove, in length. Adults weigh in at . The male is mostly pale yellow-white with a red crown and red bar across the back. The female is mostly green, darker on the back and greyer on the head and breast. Her crown is red while the covert (feather), undertail-coverts are red in Samoan birds and yellow in birds from Fiji and Tonga. Male Ptilinopus perousii perousii is pale on the bottom and yel ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
White-tailed Tropicbird
The white-tailed tropicbird (''Phaethon lepturus'') is a tropicbird. It is the smallest of three closely related seabirds of the tropical oceans and smallest member of the order Phaethontiformes. It is found in the tropical Atlantic, western Pacific and Indian Oceans. It also breeds on some Caribbean islands, and a few pairs have started nesting recently on Little Tobago, joining the red-billed tropicbird colony. In addition to the tropical Atlantic, it nests as far north as Bermuda, where it is locally called a "longtail". Taxonomy There are six subspecies: * ''P. l. lepturus''—Indian Ocean * ''P. l. fulvus'' (golden bosun)—This form has a golden wash to the white plumage * ''P. l. dorotheae''—tropical Pacific * ''P. l. catesbyi''—Bermuda and Caribbean * ''P. l. ascensionis''— Ascension Island * ''P. l. europae''—Europa Island, s. Mozambique Channel Description The adult white-tailed tropicbird is a slender, mainly white bird, 71–80 cm long including the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
White Tern
The white tern or common white tern (''Gygis alba'') is a small seabird found across the tropical oceans of the world. It is sometimes known as the fairy tern, although this name is potentially confusing as it is also the common name of '' Sternula nereis''. Other names for the species include angel tern and white noddy in English, and manu-o-Kū in Hawaiian. The little white tern ('' Gygis microrhyncha''), previously considered a subspecies of the white tern (''Gygis alba microrhyncha''), is now recognised as a separate species. Taxonomy The white tern was first formally described by the Swedish naturalist Anders Sparrman in 1786 under the binomial name ''Sterna alba''. The genus ''Gygis'' was introduced by the German zoologist Johann Georg Wagler in 1832. The name ''Gygis'' is from the Ancient Greek for a mythical bird and the specific is Latin for "white". Molecular phylogenetic studies have shown that the white tern is more closely related to the noddies than it is to th ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Brown Noddies
The brown noddy or common noddy (''Anous stolidus'') is a seabird in the family Laridae. The largest of the noddies, it can be told from the closely related black noddy by its larger size and plumage, which is dark brown rather than black. The brown noddy is a tropical seabird with a worldwide distribution, ranging from Hawaii to the Tuamotu Archipelago and Australia in the Pacific Ocean, from the Red Sea to the Seychelles and Australia in the Indian Ocean and in the Caribbean to Tristan da Cunha in the Atlantic Ocean. The brown noddy is colonial, usually nesting on elevated situations on cliffs or in short trees or shrubs. It only occasionally nests on the ground. A single egg is laid by the female of a pair each breeding season. In India, the brown noddy is protected in the PM Sayeed Marine Birds Conservation Reserve. Taxonomy The first formal description of the brown noddy was by the Swedish naturalist Carl Linnaeus in 1758 in the tenth edition of his ''Systema Naturae'' und ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Samoa Flying Fox
The Samoa flying fox or Samoan flying fox (''Pteropus samoensis'') is a species of flying fox in the family Pteropodidae. It is found in American Samoa, Fiji, and Samoa (where it is known as ''pe'a'' and ''pe'a vao''). Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical dry forests. Description The Samoan flying fox is a medium-sized bat weighing about with a wingspan of about . It has a fox-like face with a pointed muzzle, a brown body and wings and the fur on its head and shoulders is blond or silvery-grey. Distribution and habitat The Samoan flying fox is native to Fiji, Samoa and American Samoa. Its habitat is primary or secondary moist forest, plantations, agroforest and the vicinity of villages. Unlike most flying foxes, this species roosts alone or in small family groups. Biology This bat is mostly diurnal, making foraging expeditions in early mornings and late afternoons. The diet consists mainly of fruit but leaves, flowers and nectar are also eaten. This bat is believed ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Tutuila
Tutuila is the main island of American Samoa (and its largest), and is part of the archipelago of Samoan Islands. It is the third largest island in the Samoan Islands chain of the Central Pacific. It is located roughly northeast of Brisbane, Australia and lies over to the northeast of Fiji. It contains a large, natural harbor, Pago Pago Harbor, where Pago Pago, the capital of American Samoa, is situated. Pago Pago International Airport is also located on Tutuila. The island’s land expanse is about 68% of the total land area of American Samoa. With 56,000 inhabitants, it is also home to 95% of the population of American Samoa. The island has six terrestrial and three marine ecosystems. Tutuila has mountainous regions, the highest point of which is ). The island is attractive to tourists because of its beaches, coral reefs, and World War II relics, as well as its suitability for sporting activities such as scuba diving, snorkeling, and hiking. Etymology It is said that the nam ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
