Subscribe to our newsletter Bird Droppings: 10 Things We Want to Share About Java Sparrows 1. They aren’t sparrows. The Java Sparrow is a finch in same finch family (Estrildidae) as waxbills and munias. Other names for this species is Java Finch and Java Ricebird. 2. The scientific name, Padda oryzivora, comes from the bird’s fondness for eating rice in […]
Is It a Sparrow? Is It a Finch? Read More »
Subscribe to our newsletter Bird Droppings: 10 Things We Want to Share About the Common Myna (Acridotheres tristis) 1. Mynas are native to India, the Middle East, and the Himalaya region. About 11 myna species exist, all members of the starling family (Sturnidae.) 2. The Common Myna was introduced to Hawaiʻi in 1866 to eat cutworms and armyworms, moth
A Story of Remarkable Adaptability Read More »
Read the full newsletter 10 Things We Want to Share About Hawaiʻi’s Frigatebirds 1. Frigatebirds are unmistakable in flight due to their bent, pointed wings and deeply forked tails that work like scissors during elaborate flight maneuvers. 2. You can tell a lot about frigatebirds soaring overhead by their color: Males are all black (they inflate their red
How Great Are Frigatebirds? Read More »
Read the full newsletter 1. The tiny, chirping birds we hear but can barely see in grass are 4-inch-long Common Waxbills. (The bird pictured at the top of this email flew into my house through an open door. We caught and released it unharmed.) 2. Common Waxbills are native to, and widespread throughout, Africa south of the Sahara
Sealing Love Letters with Wax 💕 Read More »
Read the full newsletter Bird Droppings: 10 Things We Want to Share About Hawaiʻi’s Kōlea 1. Hawaiʻi is the only place in the world where these migratory shorebirds live closely with humans. 2. In Asia, South Pacific nations, and Arctic breeding grounds, Pacific Golden-Plovers are wary of humans and unapproachable. 3. The personality change is essential during breeding season where
The Joys of Hawaiʻi’s Kōlea Read More »
Subscribe to our newsletter 10 Things We Want to Share About the Christmas Bird Count 1. This yearly National Audubon Society event consists of volunteers in 20 countries counting every bird (species and number) they see or hear in one day. 2. Volunteers count birds within fixed 15-mile circles. See Hawaiʻs’s circles here. 3. To join part of a
‘Tis the Season for Bird Counting Read More »
Read the full newsletter 10 things we want to share about Western Cattle Egrets 1. All egrets are members of the heron family, Ardeidae. Most white herons are called egrets. 2. The Cattle Egret originated in Africa and spread naturally (and remarkably) on its own in the 1900s to the Americas, Asia, and Australia. 3. In 2023, ornithologists split
It’s not a pet, it’s a Cattle Egret Read More »
Read the full newsletter Bird Droppings: 10 things we want to share about ʻiʻiwi, Hawaiʻi’s Scarlet Honeycreeper With its bright red feathers and long curved bill, the ʻiʻiwi has become the poster bird for Hawaiʻi’s endemic honeycreepers. The ʻiʻiwi’s bill is perfect for drinking nectar from ‘ōhi‘a and other flowers. The busy birds stop at each
Celebrating the Poster Bird of Hawaiʻi’s Honeycreepers Read More »
Subscribe to our newsletter Getting Our Ducks in a Row Found nowhere else on Earth, the koloa maoli or Hawaiian Duck, has been in the Hawaiian Islands for at least 10,000 years. Genetic studies and fossil records suggest that koloa are an ancient hybrid of Mallard and the koloa pōhaka or Laysan Duck, Hawaiʻi’s other endemic duck. In
Getting Our Ducks in a Row Read More »
Subscribe to our newsletter 10 things we want to share about Hawaiʻi’s introduced birds Migrating humans have been moving plants and animals around the world for at least 100,000 years, bringing species they thought they needed, or simply wanted, to start life in a new place. Southeast Asia’s Red Junglefowl were among those early transplants.
Should We Tell Them They’re Adopted? Read More »