Jul 28, 2010

Lifebirds #324-344 - More Birds of Paradise

I’ve just returned after spending one week on the big island of Hawaii. This was not a “birding trip,” but rather a family vacation, ostensibly to celebrate my 50th birthday. Eight of us made the trip; only three of us are birders. So Dad, Joann, and I promised the group that we would spend only one day birding, and we almost kept that promise.

There are three broad categorizations for the birds of Hawaii.

The first thing to know about birding Hawaii is that most of the birds likely to be seen shouldn’t be there at all. That is to say that they wouldn’t be there without human help. These are the INTRODUCED species, sometimes called “invasive” or “non-native.” Some of these are familiar to those of us from North America. Among others, we saw Northern Cardinals, Cattle Egrets, Mallards, and House Sparrows (of course, the House Sparrow is an Eurasian species that was introduced to North America). Others of the introduced species we saw are native to East Asia, South Pacific Islands, and other parts of the world. Japanese White-eye, Red-billed Leiothrix, Yellow-billed Cardinals, Saffron Finches, Zebra Doves, and Common Mynas are examples of these that we were able to find. Believe me, a few of these needed no “finding” at all.

There are birds on the island of Hawaii that are widespread throughout the Pacific, and even the world, that are considered to be NATIVE to the island. These birds found their own way to the island. Some, like the Pacific Golden Plover are migrants, and some spend a part of their year in the area. Others, like the Black-crowned Night-Heron, are widespread species whose ancestors found the place, liked it, and now stay year-round.

The third category, and the most sought after by bird-nerd visitors to the island, are the ENDEMIC species. These birds are native to the islands of Hawaii, and are found nowhere else in the world. These are the hardest to find, and in fact, many Hawaiian endemics cannot be found. They are extinct. From 27% to 49% of Hawaiian endemics have gone extinct since Captain Cook “discovered” the islands in 1778 [See Wikipedia’s list of extinct native animals of Hawaii and its list of Hawaii’s endemic bird species]. Habitat destruction, predation by introduced mammals, and competition with introduced birds are among the causes of these losses.

You can guess, of course, into which of these categories most of the birds we found fell. By my count, we found 21 introduced, 6 native, and 6 endemic species. (I’m relying on the Hawaii Audubon Society for categorizations.) Still, we had great time. All three of us added 21 birds to our life lists. The highlight of our birding occurred on a trail in Hawaii Volcanoes National Park where we saw hundreds of Apapanes (high and unphotographable in ohia trees), the beautiful—but non-native—Red-billed Leiothrix, the Hawaii Eleipaio, and the Omao.

I was able to photograph only the easiest-to-find birds and none of the endemics. Eight of my twenty-one lifers are represented by photos on this page: Red-billed Leiothrix, Saffron Finch, Kalij Pheasant, Common Myna, Pacific Golden Plover, Yellow-fronted Canary, and Yellow-billed Cardinal. Click on any photo to see larger versions of these and a few additional photos.

Species	Common Myna / Acridotheres tristis
Species	Saffron Finch / Sicalis flaveola
Where	North Kona District, Hawaii, HI
When	Jul 18 2010
Species	Yellow-billed Cardinal / Paroaria capitata
Species	Spotted Dove / Spilopelia chinensis
Species	Pacific Golden Plover / Pluvialis fulva
Where	North Kona District, Hawaii, HI
When	Jul 19 2010
Species	Hawaiian Coot / Fulica alai
Species	Kalij Pheasant / Lophura leucomelanos
Species	Hawaii Amakihi / Hemignathus virens
Species	Apapane / Himatione sanguinea
Species	Japanese White-eye / Zosterops japonicus
Where	North Kona District, Hawaii, HI
Species	Erckel's Francolin / Pternistis erckelii

Species	Hawaiian Hawk / Buteo solitarius
Where	Saddleback Road, Hawaii, HI
Species	White-faced Ibis / Plegadis chihi
Where	South Hilo District, Hawaii, HI
Species	Red-billed Leiothrix / Leiothrix lutea
Species	Hwamei / Garrulax canorus
Species	Hawaii Elepaio / Chasiempis sandwichensis
Species	Omao / Myadestes obscurus
Where	Volcanoes Natl Park, Hawaii, HI
When	Jul 21 2010
Species	Yellow-fronted Canary / Crithagra mozambica
Species	Nutmeg Mannikin / Lonchura punctulata
Species	Gray Francolin / Francolinus pondicerianus
Where	North Kona District, Hawaii, HI
When	Jul 23 2010
Species	Brown Booby / Sula leucogaster
Where	North Hilo District, Hawaii, HI
When	Jul 24 2010
With	(for most) Joann, Dad
Numbers	324-344