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 […]
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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
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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 »
Read the full newsletter 10 things we want to share about House Finches They’re not sparrows. Both House Finches and House Sparrows are common five-to-six-inch-long nonnative birds found throughout Hawaiʻi, but the birds belong to different families: sparrow and finch. Males of the two species look distinct, each with his own colors and patterns. House
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Read the full newsletter 10 things we want to share about the Warbling White-eye (Mejiro) In 2018, researchers changed this bird’s English name from Japanese White-eye to Warbling White-eye. Researchers have identified 15 subspecies (so far) of Warbling White-eyes, native to Japan, Indonesia, the Philippines, Korea, and far east Russia. Most Hawaiʻi residents know the
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Read the full newsletter Bird Droppings: 10 things we want to share about Hawaiʻi ʻAukuʻu (Black-crowned Night Heron) The remarkable Black-crowned Night Heron is the most widespread heron in the world breeding on every continent except Antarctica and Australia. This Hawaiʻi native waterbird’s favorite food is fish, especially the introduced tilapia. But ʻaukuʻu are opportunists that eat anything they
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Read the full newsletter 12 things we want to share about Bulbuls Hawaiʻi’s two bulbuls, Red-vented and Red-whiskered, are native to India and Southeast Asia. Both species appeared on Oʻahu in the mid-1960s, the result of cage releases. Bulbuls were then (and still are) on Hawaiʻi’s list of birds prohibited from import. In 1966 and 1967, Oʻahu’s first wild Red-vented
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Read the full newsletter 10 things we want to share about Honolulu’s manu o Kū (White Terns) Although Manu o Kū breed worldwide on tropical and subtropical islands in the Atlantic, Pacific, and Indian Oceans, one group has chosen to raise their young in Honolulu. The first record of this seabird breeding on Oʻahu was
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Read the full newsletter Bird Droppings: 10 Things We Want to Share About ʻAlae ʻUla, the Hawaiian Gallinule 1. The ʻalae ʻula is a waterbird found only in Hawaiʻi, meaning it is endemic. It’s also endangered due to wetland losses. 2. Only about 700 ʻalae ʻula remain, all in Kauaʻi and Oʻahu wetlands. 3. This member of the rail family
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Contribute to the Conservation of Hawaiʻi’s Birds The work that federal employees perform in Hawaiʻi’s wildlife refuges to keep our native birds safe and reproducing is often unseen and underappreciated. These dedicated workers maintain water levels in wetlands, control flooding, and remove choking weeds. Some employees nurture seedlings and plant koa and other native trees
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