Category Archives: Birds

Ready and waiting

A young myna bird waits for food

I saw this Myna at Punaluʻu Black Sand Beach Park. It was standing just as you see, before moving to do a bit of preening. Then it resumed this position. It repeated this process several times.

The bird was clearly waiting for mum or dad to return with food and, by golly, it wanted to be quite clear that it was ready and waiting to eat. Apparently, the parents weren’t overly impressed by this display, since they didn’t show up while I watched.

Northern Mockingbird singing

A Northern Mockingbird sings from the top of a tree

I heard this Northern Mockingbird long before I saw it. These birds have a wide variety of songs and seem to like broadcasting them from the very top of trees. It took a while to find a place where I could see the bird making all the noise, though noise is perhaps unfair. Their songs are very melodious.

A bit of a dust up

Birds bathing in the dirt in Hawaii
Birds bathing in a puddle in Hawaii
Birds bathing in a puddle in Hawaii

These House Sparrows enthusiastically embraced a dust bath. They’d just hopped over from a wash in a puddle, which they shared with a couple of African Silverbills. Even there, they got engaged in a tussle, all in good fun I expect.

Kalij Pheasant

A Kalij Pheasant in a tree in Hawaii

Recently, I heard a soft chucking noise up in a Kiawe tree that was certainly not from one of the usual residents in the area. So I grabbed my camera and circled the tree trying to locate the source. It turned out to be this female Kalij Pheasant, a bird I almost always see on the ground.

The pheasant clambered through the branches as I tried to get a clear shot. Eventually, it found a good spot and stayed still, as pheasants do, and I was able to get close enough to snap a couple of photos.

Kalij Pheasaants are native to Southern Asia. They were brought to Hawaii in 1962 as game birds.

A Kalij Pheasant in a tree in Hawaii

Well red

A red windsock at Upolu in Hawaii
The windsock at Upolu Airport with Maui in the background.

This month’s Sunday Stills Color Challenge is ‘Red.’ See more responses here. A variety of subjects for this one!

A red pencil sea urchin in Hawaii
A Red Pencil Urchin in the shallows off Kohala.
A portrait of a chicken in Hawaii
The red crest of one of the many chickens roaming free around here.
A Northern Cardinal in Hawaii
A Northern Cardinal in a tree near the South Kona coast.
A red children's slide in Hawaii
A slide at a kid’s playground in Waimea.
A red buoy on a beach in Hawaii
A large buoy on the beach at Kawaihae Harbor with an inter-island barge arriving in the background.