Category Archives: Birds

Gray francolin

The gray francolin is an introduced game bird. It’s one of those birds that, when disturbed, takes off running. Get too close though and it will take wing. This happens often when I’m out walking, since they blend into their surroundings so well. They take off in panic and my heart does the same.

On the other hand, it’s also possible to have an idea of the location of every francolin within a half mile or so. This is because they have a distinctive and piercing call, one that winds up for two or three rounds before launching into full volume. Sometimes these birds take up residence in the cane grass, not far from the house. When they do, it’s goodbye to sleeping in much beyond 6 a.m.

Game bird guzzler

On a recent hike, I came across this contraption. What I liked most about it was its name – Game Bird Guzzler. It’s basically a device for providing a source of water for game birds. The way it works is that when rain hits the roof of this structure, it’s collected in a gutter and piped into the back into the tank. This water is then fed, through the white pipe, into the small basin at the front. There’s a flap in the basin so that when a game bird such as a turkey takes a drink, its head will push the flap and release more water into the basin.

When I was there, I didn’t see any turkeys or other game birds, but my approach prompted great activity and squawking as a good number of assorted finches and African silverbills took to the surrounding trees. They sat there, refusing to return to the water but not leaving either. The area surrounding the guzzler was alive with bird calls in an area otherwise not noticeably populated.

Eventually I gave up waiting for a bird to take a drink and moved on. No doubt, within a few minutes the guzzler was again crowded with small birds.

Pacific golden plover

A Pacific golden plover soaks up the late afternoon sun on the Kohala coast.

A view of Maui and a wandering tattler

A wandering tattler flies along the Kohala coast on a bright breezy day. What’s notable about this photo is that it was taken in the afternoon and Maui is visible. The reason for that can be seen in the waves. They’re coming from the west to northwest. Waves were from the northeast are driven by the usual northeasterly trades, and those winds would have pushed cloud cover across Maui by this time of day.

Brant goose

Brant geese are rare visitors to Hawaii so it was nice to see this one puttering in the shallows at Kaloko-Honokohau National Historical Park, north of Kona. The rock it’s about to bump into is a Hawaiian green sea turtle. There were probably about a dozen of them there, either resting on the sand or bumping along the reef close to shore.

Cattle egret on a cow

Something about the gleam in this egret’s eye made me think about an old Far Side cartoon where two fishermen are in a boat and one has hooked a cow in the water. The other fisherman says, “It’s gonna be fresh burgers tonight!” Mind you, I think the cow might have had a thing or two to say about that.

Nutmeg mannikin

Nutmeg mannikins are often seen in flocks and are flighty birds. By this, I mean they’re the kind of bird that constantly flits around and gets farther away in the process. They feed on grass seeds, climbing up the stems and stripping the seeds off the ends.

In Hawaii, when cane grass (Pennisetum purpureum) goes to seed it’s a popular feast for a variety of birds. Here, one of a small group of nutmeg mannikins, busily plucks seeds off this stem before moving on for more.

Nene calling

When it rains, large puddles form off to the side of the runway at Upolu Airport. These puddles are popular with a variety of birds, including these two nene, which were in fine voice.

The nene, or Hawaiian goose, is the official state bird and endemic to the islands. It’s also an endangered species and people are encouraged to report sightings to help track the birds. Here on the Big Island, nene sightings are reported to Hawaii’s Division of Forestry and Wildlife. The person I contacted there, Raymond B. McGuire, gave me this information about the birds:

“All of the nene that have the gray bands (like these) are part of a Governor’s Proclamation to move nene from Kaua’i (where they were nesting in a golf course near the airport) to the Big Island and Maui. In total, the Big Island received 598 nene in a 5-year period (2011-2016), this more than doubled the resident population prior to the project. The bands not only tell us where the nene came from, but also the sex. There should be two bands on the nene. One is metal with a U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service number (really tiny and hard to see) and the other is made of colored plastic and much easier to read the ID numbers (though the gray bands are not always easy to see on a gray legged bird). These gray-banded birds were banded by sex: males will have their plastic bands on the right and females will have the plastic bands on the left. These two particular nene, T86 and T87 were brought to the Big Island in 2014 and according to my records T86 is a male, and T87 is a female. They were brought as a breeding pair with 4 offspring. The translocated birds have been exploring the island more than the local birds have been. Although most of the introduced nene have been mixing with local nene and frequenting already established nene areas, we also now have nene frequenting areas that historically have not seen them or used to see them very infrequently, such as in Pahala, Punalu’u, Hawi (including Upolu), Waimea, and Kukuihaele!”

For more information about Nene and other native Hawaiian birds, go to state.hi.us/dlnr/consrvhi/forestbirds/.

Graham's Island

Life on the Big Island of Hawaii