A seven person team of ornithologists from America and New Zealand is studying migrating and rare birds in French Polynesia's Tuamotu-Gambier Archipelago.
The American ornithologists are particularly interested in the biology and behavior of the Alaskan Curlew.
Half of the worldwide population of ten thousand comes to French Polynesia each winter.
The New Zealand members of the team are studying the behaviour of the Titi, a wading bird that lives next to the ocean.
Once a migrating bird, the Titi now has an estimated population of ony a few hundred.