Category Archives: Birds

Hawaiian Stilts

Three Hawaiian Stilts at Kohanaiki Park in Hawaii

The Hawaiian Stilt or Ae’o is endemic to Hawaii and is a subspecies of the mainland Black-necked Stilt. It’s listed as endangered with a population of around 2,000 birds, a number that has been increasing very slowly over the last few years.

Their plight is due to the usual reasons. They were popular hunting targets until that was banned in the 1940s. But a variety of predators, including cats, dogs, mongooses, and other birds such as Barn Owls and Cattle Egrets, are still a significant threat. So too is loss of habitat, mostly shallow wetlands, to development, agriculture, and pollution.

These three were at Kohanaiki Beach Park, where Hawaiian Stilts can often be seen feeding and nesting. The two on the left seemed to have nodded off and didn’t move while I watched. But the third was fidgety, preening and looking around, then tucking its head away, before repeating the process several times.

Posted for Bird of the Week LVI.

Three Hawaiian Stilts at Kohanaiki Park in HawaiiThree Hawaiian Stilts at Kohanaiki Park in Hawaii

The Numbers Game #13

An A'ama Crab skitters through a field of Helmet Urchins in Hawaii
An A’ama crab skitters through a field of Helmet Urchins.
The blooms of a yucca plant.
A Yucca plant in full flower.

The idea of The Numbers Game is to enter a number into the search bar of your computer and then post a selection of the photos that turn up. This week’s number is 134. Captions are on the photos.

You can see more responses here.

A mural painted on the side of Hawi Post Office.
A Ruddy Turnstone watches from a rock in Hawaii
A Ruddy Turnstone watching.
A Pallid Ghost Crab waits by the entrance ot its burrow.
A Pallid Ghost Crab getting ready to disappear into its burrow.
The bench overlooking Honokane Nui Valley.

The Numbers Game #12

A green turtle is temporarily stranded on a rock.
A turtle on the rocks. See more photos here.

The idea of The Numbers Game is to enter a number into the search bar of your computer and then post a selection of the photos that turn up. This week’s number is 133. Captions are on the photos.

You can see more responses here.

A Red-billed Leiothrix sings on a branch
A Red-billed-Leiothrix calls out.
A wild pig that has been eating fallen mangoes
A wild pig snacking on mangoes.
A cow chats with two cattle egrets.
A cow in conversation with a pair of cattle egrets.
The Tahitian voyaging canoe Fa‘afaite off the coast of the Big Island of Hawaii.
The Tahitian voyaging canoe Fa’afaite off Mahukona.
A surface lava flow on Napau trail.
An Ohia tree toughing it out in the lava on the Napau Trail.
The old Wo On Store in North Kohala.
The old Wo On Store at Halawa.
Bougainvillea flowers in bloom
A Bougainvillea in a neighbor’s garden.

How green are my valleys?

A view of the Valleys of Kohala Mountain in Hawaii
Valleys and waterfalls of Kohala Mountain.

This week’s Sunday Stills monthly challenge is ‘Green.’ See more responses here. Captions on photos.

A Green Anole on a green Ti leaf in Hawaii
A Green Anole on green Ti leaves.
A pueo flies over the pastures of North Kohala in Hawaii
A Pueo flies over the green pastures of North Kohala.
Tropical Foliage and shadows in Hawaii
Tropical foliage creates strong shadows…
Tropical Foliage and shadows in Hawaii
…that look like Venn Diagrams!
A view of Pololu Valley in Hawaii
A view up Pololu Valley in Kohala

Nenes

A pair of Hawaiian geese or nenes.

The Nene (Branta sandvicensis) is native to Hawaii and is the state bird. It’s believed to be a distant relative of the Canada Goose but is much smaller. Nenes spend most of their time on land rather than in the water. Because of this they have evolved different characteristics than other geese. Their feet feature less webbing than other geese and they have claws suited to providing grip in rocky areas where they are often found. However, like most geese they can often be found on golf courses!

The feet of a Hawaiian goose or nene.
A Hawaiian goose or nene.

When they fly, they will typically make loud honking noises, but walking on land as these two were, they make a variety of very pleasing burbling noises as they move along. Nenes are herbivores and feed on a variety of grasses as well as berries and fruit. They’re also one of those birds that mate for life.

Nenes are considered the world’s rarest goose, with a current population of less than 5,000. But this is a vast improvement from the 1950s when it is believed that there were only 30 or so birds here on the Big Island. Recovery has been aided by official protections and breeding in private reserves. Kauai was the center of this recovery, mainly because there are no mongooses there.

Nenes have been on the Endangered Species list since 1967, but their recovery has been such that they are now listed as ‘Near Threatened,’ which means they are no longer considered to be near extinction, but could quickly return there if the situation does not continue to improve.

A pair of Hawaiian geese or nenes.
A Hawaiian goose or nene.

One thing of note about these two birds is that neither of them have bands on their legs. Many birds have identifying bands that allow those monitoring the population to know where they come from and where they’ve been.

Posted for Bird of the Week LIV. See more responses here.

The Numbers Game #10

Green darner dragonflies mating at Kiholo on the Big Island of Hawaii.
Green darner dragonflies mating.
Coconut palms line the beach north of the park at Kiholo on the Big Island.
Palm trees line the beach.

The idea of The Numbers Game is to enter a number into the search bar of your computer and then post a selection of the photos that turn up. This week’s number is 131.

You can see more responses here.

A Brown Booby skims the ocean.
two Hawaiian sea turtles look like an impressionist painting as they swim underwater
Green turtles in Kiholo lagoon.
The entrance to Emesine Lava Tube on the Powerline Trail off Saddle Road.
The entrance to the Emesine lava tube.
A gold dust day gecko with a forked tail.
Snake the gecko!
One of the ocean-side campsites at Kiholo Bay on the Big Island of Hawaii
A campsite at Kiholo campground.

Ring-billed Gull

A Ring-billed gull in Hawaii

I was walking the beach at ʻAnaehoʻomalu Bay (often known as A Bay, for obvious reasons) when I noticed this bird walking in the same direction as me. I was idly wondering what kind of gull it was, when I suddenly realized, ‘it’s a gull.’

Unlike most places, a gull sighting in Hawaii is a rarity. I know people who’ve never seen one here. Gulls prefer shallow tidal areas and tropical islands don’t have those, so they’re not gull-friendly. But a few get blown in every year and some arrive as stowaways on ships

A Ring-billed gull in Hawaii

This one is a Ring-billed Gull, and it’s the second I’ve seen in my time here. The first, I saw catching a fish (here). I rather liked how this one was strutting its stuff on the beach.

A Ring-billed gull in Hawaii

Also posted for Bird of the Week LII. See more responses here.

The Numbers Game #9

A Black-Crowned Night Heron juvenile in Hawaii
A juvenile Black-crowned Night Heron on alert.

The idea of The Numbers Game is to enter a number into the search bar of your computer and then post a selection of the photos that turn up. This week’s number is 130. You can see more responses here.

A passion vine butterfly lays an egg.
A Passion Vine Butterfly lays an egg.
Webs on the ground catch the early morning sunlight.
Early morning webs.
Late afternoon light streams through lowered blinds to create this pattern on the lace curtains inside.
Light through the blinds.
A man harvests opihi off the coast of the Big Island of Hawaii.
Not a castaway, but an opihi picker.
A V22 Osprey aircraft at Upolu Airport, HawaiiA V22 Osprey aircraft at Upolu Airport, Hawaii showing how it is operated
A V22 Osprey aircraft…and how it works!