Federated States of Micronesia

Birding Micronesia

The Federated States of Micronesia ( also known simply as Micronesia) is an independent sovereign island nation and a United States associated state consisting of four states; from west to east, Yap, Chuuk, Pohnpei and Kosrae that are spread across the Western Pacific Ocean. Together, the states comprise around 607 islands (with a combined land area of approximately 271 square miles that cover a longitudinal distance of almost 1,678 miles just north of the equator. They lie northeast of New Guinea, south of Guam and the Marianas, west of Nauru and the Marshall Islands, east of Palau and the Philippines, about 1,800 miles north of eastern Australia and nearly 2,500 miles southwest of the main islands of Hawaii. The capital is Palikir, located on Pohnpei Island, while the largest city is Weno, located in the Chuuk Atoll. Each of its four states is centered on one or more main high islands, and all but Kosrae include numerous outlying atolls. The Federated States of Micronesia is spread across part of the Caroline Islands in the wider region of Micronesia, which consists of thousands of small islands divided among several countries. The term Micronesia may refer to the Federated States or to the region as a whole. The FSM offers an amazingly diverse range of natural ecosystems, from the world’s lowest elevation cloud forests, tropical rain forests, agro-forests, freshwater ‘Redwood’ wetlands, giant taro swamps, large and varied mangrove tracts, to some of the world’s most pristine coral reefs, sea-grass meadows and estuaries and lagoons. The islands are blessed with many indigenous bird species: the Nightingale Reed-warbler, the Truk Monarch, the Blue-faced Parrot Finch, the Pohnpei Lori and the Kosrae Greater White-eye, to name just a few. The island of Chuuk in particular has become a focus for world birders.