And its future, a challenge for Rapa Nui<\/strong><\/h2>\nOne of the loveliest spots on the Island is the Moai (statue) quarry at Rano Raraku. Anyone who has visited it has seen or heard the Tavakes, the red-tailed tropicbird. These majestic white birds, with their bright red tail trailing in the wind and their raucous call, swirl over the trails as one more attraction of this special place. After a long time with no Tavake nesting on the Island, these birds began to make nests among the Moai, just a few years ago.The Tavake (Phaethon rubricauda), just as other marine birds, spends most of its life at sea exposed to the ever changing conditions of the ocean. There it feeds, lives and dies, returning to land with the only intention of laying its eggs and raising its chicks. However, on land it finds other dangers. It not only has to look for a nesting area away from humans, but it also has to face predators which could attack the nest and keep it from reproducing and perpetuating the species.![](\"data:image\/svg+xml;base64,PHN2ZyB3aWR0aD0iMSIgaGVpZ2h0PSIxIiB4bWxucz0iaHR0cDovL3d3dy53My5vcmcvMjAwMC9zdmciPjwvc3ZnPg==\")
At ESMOI we have had the privilege of visiting and studying two reproductive colonies of Tavake: one at Rano Raraku on Easter Island and the other on the remote islet of Motu Motiro Hiva (Salas y Gomez Island). The first stop of our expedition was Motu Motiro Hiva, accompanied by staff of Conaf (Chilean Forestry Service) and SAG (Agricultural and Livestock Service). We found a pristine environment, a true paradise for sea birds. The species that live there are the same as can been found on Rapa Nui. We spotted nests of Kena, Kakapa, Makohe, Tav\u00ed, Kuma, Ruru, Tavake and several more. The number of nests was incredible. Everywhere we looked there were couples incubating an egg or a chick waiting for its parents to feed it. Life on this islet vibrates with health which keeps it as a nature sanctuary.<\/p>\n
In August of 2016, we came to Rapa Nui and, with the local expert Pedro Lazo, visited the colony of Tavakes at Rano Raraku. We carefully went into the legendary crater, where we could see more than 20 active nests, most of them with adults incubating their eggs and a few with chicks ready to fly and leave the nest. Good news: the birds are reproducing! However, we returned two months later to a scene of desolation. There was no trace of adults or chicks. Suddenly, the nesting season had come to an end. What happened?
The major threats to marine birds are the predators which have been introduced by humans over the last decades and centuries \u2013 dogs and cats, rats, the Manu toke toke or chimango and the Argentine ant. These animals cause terrible consequences on the native wildlife of the Island. To check on our ideas of what occurred, we set up an experiment at the empty nests of the Ranu Raraku colony. We put chicken eggs in some nests that had been recently occupied and installed hidden cameras to see which predators might have been coming and what they were doing with the eggs. The most frequent visitors were the rats. They often tried to break the eggs, but only one was successful. The same happened with the Manu toke toke birds. Other predators were stray dogs and cats who have become feral. Their mortal effects were confirmed in June of this year when personnel of the Ma\u2019u Henua Native Community and Conaf found some 10 dead birds which had been attacked by a carnivorous animal in their nests.If we consider that there are only 50 nests at Rano Raraku, that means that in this one attack 10% of the population died because of the introduced predators. This sad situation tells us that the ecosystem is delicate and brings up the importance of responsible animal ownership. These days, the Tavakes are the only bird which nest on the Island, but, perhaps, if conditions improve, many other species could return to Rapa Nui to make their home on this lovely island, as they now do on Motu Motiro Hiva. Maybe even one day the mythical Manutara (Sterna lunata), the sooty tern, which was the focus of the \u201cBird-Man\u201d competitions of the 18th and 19th Centuries, will return to claim its rightful place.<\/p>\n
Featured Reports:<\/strong><\/h2>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Tavake And its future, a challenge for Rapa Nui One of the loveliest spots on the Island is the Moai (statue) quarry at Rano Raraku. Anyone who has visited it has seen or heard the Tavakes, the red-tailed tropicbird. These majestic white birds, with their bright red tail trailing in the wind and their […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":11238,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"iawp_total_views":88,"footnotes":""},"categories":[136],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-11244","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-living-nature"],"yoast_head":"\n
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