21 Jul So you want to bird watch at American Memorial Park?!

Bird watching: Observing bird, either as a hobby or for science.

Here at American Memorial Park we have a variety of awesome birds, varying from sea birds to forest birds. A couple birds here on the park are the Eurasian Tree Sparrow or the Micronesian Starling, but we aren’t here to talk about the birds you can find just anywhere. We want to see those birds you don’t see everyday, the ones that make you go ”OH MY GOD ITS A _______”. In order to do that, we have to know some of those rarer birds. I’m going to list 3 of them right now for you, obviously these three birds are my personal favorites and they are listed in order of ”oh look there’s a _______” to “EVERYONE BE QUIET THERE’S A _________!!”.

Starting off with ”oh look there’s a ______” we got the Pacific Reef Heron or ”black flamingo” according to some kids on island. These birds can be found throughout the tropical Pacific and love to spend their time in the inter-tidal zones and use their long bills to catch fish, ocean invertebrates and insects.

“Oh my god is that a Cleptornis marchei?”, Yes it is. Most people just call it “Golden white eye” though. These guys are pretty small, measuring 14 cm from bill to tail, like to eat insects and enjoy hanging out in native or secondary forests. Little fun fact- They no longer live on Saipan’s neighboring islands, Rota and Tinian, despite there being archaeological evidence they once did prehistorical.

Finally! The bird of all birds, the Marianas Fruit Dove. This beautiful specimen is the official bird of the CNMI and is the favorite for many people. These guys are a lot harder to see then hear because they have a one of a kind song they sing. Locals say they sound like owls and some even believe that we have owls just because they have never gone bird watching at American Memorial Park and seen a Marianas Fruit Dove.