KnowKi

Learn the wildlife of any country

Learn the wildlife of the Cook Islands

Oceania

1,367 species have research-grade observations in the Cook Islands on iNaturalist. KnowKi turns the most recorded into short lessons with real photos, so you can learn a country's wildlife from home.

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Āki the kiwi, KnowKi's guide

Most recorded here

The species with the most research-grade observations on iNaturalist, and how many each has. Most recorded doesn't mean native.

Birds

  1. Pacific Reef Heron Egretta sacra110
  2. Pacific Imperial Pigeon Ducula pacifica100
  3. Red-tailed Tropicbird Phaethon rubricauda87
  4. Blue-billed White-Tern Gygis candida80
  5. Wandering Tattler Tringa incana70
  6. Common Myna Acridotheres tristis69
  7. Rarotonga Monarch Pomarea dimidiata59
  8. Red Junglefowl Gallus gallus46
  9. Pacific Golden-Plover Pluvialis fulva46
  10. Brown Noddy Anous stolidus40

Plants

  1. Coconut palm Cocos nucifera109
  2. Sea hibiscus Hibiscus tiliaceus99
  3. Beach naupaka Scaevola taccada70
  4. King fern Angiopteris evecta65
  5. Noni Morinda citrifolia64
  6. Pumpwood Cecropia pachystachya59
  7. Beach Sheoak Casuarina equisetifolia55
  8. Thatch screwpine Pandanus tectorius53
  9. Sensitive Plant Mimosa pudica47
  10. Metrosideros collina47

Mammals

  1. Pacific Flying-fox Pteropus tonganus17
  2. Humpback Whale Megaptera novaeangliae16
  3. Wild Boar Sus scrofa10
  4. Domestic Cat Felis catus7

Insects

  1. Red Postman Heliconius erato134
  2. Yellow Oriental Paper Wasp Polistes olivaceus97
  3. Great Eggfly Hypolimnas bolina73
  4. Variable Ladybird Beetle Coelophora inaequalis47
  5. Piletocera fluctualis38
  6. Western Honey Bee Apis mellifera34
  7. Wandering Percher Diplacodes bipunctata33
  8. Yellow-shouldered Ladybird Apolinus lividigaster31
  9. Potato Moth Stoeberhinus testaceus27
  10. Coconut Stick Insect Graeffea crouanii24

Spiders and kin

  1. Asian Spinybacked Orbweaver Thelacantha brevispina21
  2. Common Web-spider Neoscona theisi18
  3. Sword-Bearing Thorelliola Thorelliola ensifera11
  4. Pholcus ancoralis10
  5. Lami Beach Northern Jumping Spider Cosmophasis lami9
  6. Colomerus spathodeae8
  7. Dwarf Wood Scorpion Liocheles australasiae7
  8. Gray Wall Jumping Spider Menemerus bivittatus5

Reptiles

  1. Green Sea Turtle Chelonia mydas107
  2. Mourning Gecko Lepidodactylus lugubris86
  3. Rarotonga Treeskink Emoia tuitarere68
  4. Pacific Dtella Gehyra oceanica35
  5. Azure-tailed Skink Emoia impar34
  6. Asian House Gecko Hemidactylus frenatus25
  7. Moth Skink Ornithuroscincus noctua24
  8. Hawksbill Sea Turtle Eretmochelys imbricata16
  9. Copper-tailed Skink Emoia cyanura15
  10. Mottled Snake-eyed Skink Cryptoblepharus poecilopleurus10

Fish

  1. Sunset Wrasse Thalassoma lutescens216
  2. Threadfin Butterflyfish Chaetodon auriga161
  3. Convict Surgeonfish Acanthurus triostegus160
  4. Lagoon Triggerfish Rhinecanthus aculeatus157
  5. Humbug Dascyllus Dascyllus aruanus142
  6. Threespot Wrasse Halichoeres trimaculatus131
  7. Spotted Toby Canthigaster solandri111
  8. Striped Large-eye Bream Gnathodentex aureolineatus110
  9. Yellowstripe Goatfish Mulloidichthys flavolineatus96
  10. Pacific Orange-spine Unicornfish Naso lituratus93

Mollusks

  1. Small Giant Clam Tridacna maxima88
  2. Pleated Nerite Nerita plicata23
  3. Smooth Giant Clam Tridacna derasa18
  4. Commercial Top Shell Rochia nilotica16
  5. Noah's Giant Clam Tridacna noae15
  6. Pacific Asaphis Asaphis violascens12
  7. Snakehead Cowrie Monetaria caputserpentis11
  8. White Strawberry Cockle Fragum fragum11
  9. Day Octopus Octopus cyanea9
  10. Fluted Giant Clam Tridacna squamosa9

How a trip works

A trip has its own trail of lessons: meet six species, match them to new photos, then practice with four choices. Species you learn go into your Fieldbook, and starting a trip earns its Passport stamp. Your home place stays as it is.

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Species lists and counts from research-grade observations on iNaturalist, as of October 2026. Free, with no ads, no account and no purchases.