'Are'are people 'Are'are people ‘Are‘are is the name of a people from the south of the island of Malaita, which is part of the Solomon Islands. Their language is the 'Are'are language, which is part of the Austronesian language family. In 1999 there were an estimated 17,800 speakers, up from about 8-9,000 in the 1970s. Prior to colonisation and subsequent independence, the 'Are'are occupied a much larger geographical area encompassing parts of Guadalcanal and Makira, as well as Malaita. This included the northern part of Makira known as Arosi and the eastern part of Guadalcanal known today as Marau Sound. In the
Choiseul pigeon claimed that the species was very tame, allowing local hunters to approach it and pick it up off of its perch by hand. They reported that the species had stones in its gizzard. It laid a single dark, cream-coloured egg in an unlined depression on the ground. The egg was about in size, which is considered small in proportion to the bird. The Choiseul pigeon was non-migratory and is thought to have lived on the forest floor in lowland forests, including coastal swampy areas that lacked mangroves. The Choiseul pigeon is usually considered to have been endemic to the island