Birding Hawaii

[sav]

Hi all,

I know Hawaii isn't in the SOUTH pacific, but its close enough to NZ to be relevant, I think.

I've just returned from 10 days in Hawaii. I'm sure you are aware that there are a bunch of endemics there - mostly in the endemic family of Hawaiian Honeycreepers - what you might not know is just how close to extinction many of them are.

There are two main messages here:

1. If you haven't seen these birds yet and would like to one day - DO NOT DELAY your visit. I have the feeling that at least one of the species will be off the menu within a year (or two). Some of them are spectacular beasts and absolutely worth making the effort for. Look at the pics of I'iwi https://ebird.org/species/iiwi Maui Parrotbill Maui Parrotbill - eBird and Akiapolaau https://ebird.org/species/akiapo/

2. When you decide to go, get in touch with Mandy Talpas at Hawaii Bird Tours. mandy@hawaiibirdtours.com Mandy was a quite outstanding guide. It would be difficult to over-praise her - she absolutely has "the knowledge", is tirelessly hard-working, efficient and organised, and on top of that is tremendous fun with a wicked sense of humour. Put it this way - if she was in NZ, Wrybill would hire her in a flash. Without her help it would never have been much of a trip but as it turned out we missed only 3 land endemics. Also, Mandy is the only game in town for Hawaiian pelagics - so if Hawaii Petrel and Newell's Shearwater are on your hit-list (or Hawaiian Black Noddy which is surely a different sp !!) you know where to go. I might try to facilitate a group visit from NZ ?

I'll get to more detail next, but before you get bored, please consider sharing a link to this with your birding friends. I'd like to support Mandy in her business as much as possible just because she thoroughly deserves it, especially after the tourism desert of Covid 19. Thanks.

My target for this trip was to see I'iwi and some of the other land endemics, plus Hawaiian Petrel and Bristle-thighed Curlew. We had time on 4 islands : Oahu, Maui, Big Island and Kauai.


Arriving in Honolulu, Mandy picked me up and set off for the first target - very close views of 18+ Bristle-thighed Curlew. What a great start! Oahu has 2 passerine endemics (and Hawaiian Coot) which Mandy quickly magicked-up for me and so we were virtually done with that island.........

Next to Maui where we met up with 3 American birders for the next week. A series of serendipitous circumstances (including a suspected case of car-sabotage by Mandy) led to us gaining access to a reserve that Mandy normally can't get to. The rewards were great - her first ever Maui Parrotbill, singing from an exposed perch looking for all the world like a miniature Kea, Akohekohe (super rare and declining), all the other Maui endemics and great close views of I'iwi.

Big Island was next with a visit to the restricted access Hakalau Forest. Six more endemics gave themselves up here including Akiapolaau and several bright red male Akepa (think one-third scale model of Scarlet Tanager), Omau the Hawaiian thrush and Nene the Hawaiian Goose. Our first dip was the Bullfinch-like Palila, a species in a nose-dive towards extinction. The prime spot for them simply had no food and this is a bird that has already suffered a massive population decrease.

Next day was a pelagic from Kona. Common species was Wedge-tailed Shearwater and they made up more than 90% of all birds seen. The supporting cast was good though with Hawaiian Petrel being the highlight for me (4 birds seen well enough). The Streaked Shearwater that we found was a mega for the American birders on board - only the third State record and another lifer for Mandy. Also, all 3 booby sps, Black Noddy, Long-tailed and Pomarine Skua(Jaeger), Red- and White-tailed Tropicbird, Bulwer's Petrel, Sooty and White Tern and a mate from home - a single Buller's Shearwater. Hawaiian Hawk was the final bird of the day once we were back on shore.

Last island - Kauai. This is where our raging success rather ran out of steam. Hawaiian Duck was easy but a death march on the famous Mohihi Trail failed to produce the desired super-rarities. Of six target birds we only saw 2 well (Anianiau was very cool), glimpsed one, heard one and just didn't connect with the other two at all. The rarest - Akikiki might be down to less than 10 individuals and I wonder if birders will see it ever again. Who knows? The whole forest was awfully quiet.

Another pelagic next day was brilliant - even fewer birds but awesome looks at Newell's Shearwater (8+ birds) and 7+ Band-rumped Storm-petrel (another split? They are different to the Solomons/Japanese birds) plus a brief Leach's. Big numbers and close views of Black Noddy here - they have pale grey tails and a grey head, neck and bright yellow feet!

Eventually back to Oahu. In-between the endemics we had also seen a vast array of insane "plastics" most of which are countable for ABA birders - Chestnut-bellied Sandgrouse, Kalij Pheasant, Black Francolin, Saffron Finch, Great-necklaced Laughing Thrush, White-rumped Sharma, Yellow-faced Grassquit etc - it is a bonkers place, the United Nations of Birds!!

Overall, a list of 15 endemic passerines, plus one glimpsed and one heard, out of 20 extant species. All other endemics (Hawk, Coot, Duck, Goose), the distinctive race of Black-necked Stilt, Bristle-thighed Curlew and a mob of great seabirds. What an awesome time.

cheers

[RussCannings]

Thanks for the great write-up Sav. Definitely a place Kiwis should target, not only for the rare endemics but also because of some of the neat ecological parallels (native flora and fauna, but also the integration of a plethora of exotics).

Hope to get there someday soon as I've only set foot in the Honolulu Airport (and at night!).

Russ

[Michael Szabo]

Swedish birder Peter Mathisen has also posted this reply via Facebook:

"Great to see Hawaiian birding promoted! I lived on Oahu 8-10 years ago. Somewhat similar to NZ in the sense of charismatic but threatened native birds of the forest, migrating waders and cool seabirds. Unfortunately a bit less of everything compared to NZ, it is smaller islands so it’s natural I guess, but still very cool birding.

When it comes to pelagics they are offered by several guides, especially on Big Island, I never got the chance to know Mandy but she seems highly appreciated as a guide. And Sav should know I guess.

I went to a couple of pelagics but never really had much luck, even though it was great days. I found seawatching from shore more rewarding. Even from Oahu where no known breeding occurs, I saw Newells Shearwaters and Hawaiian petrels. But they are easier from some of the other islands. Also Bulwers Petrels and migrating Sooty and Bullers Shearwater, Juan Fernandez Petrel and Mottled Petrel. Unfortunately no storm-petrels. Very rarely seen from shore on Oahu, also easier from some of the other islands or pelagics. To see pelagic birds rare to Hawaii, pelagics seems to be necessary, and to get good photos. The distances for documentation when seawatching is often a bit too far. If only coming for a week or two a good friend or guide is still the way to go, if ticking off species is important."

[Dave Boyle]

I spent a bit of time in Hawaii about 20 years ago - I was working on a feral cat eradication on Wake Island & had to go through Hawaii to get there & managed to fit in a couple of trips to the islands. In total I managed two 5-7 day trips to Kauai, 3 or 4 days on Maui, 10 days on Hawaii & a few days on Oahu.

I guess 20 years ago birding was already a shadow of what it would have been 30 years before that but its absolutely devastating what's happened in just the last few years as mosquitoes have been able to survive higher up in the mountains.

Kauai was spectacular, I don't have notes with me, but I just remember there being birds all the time in the forests up around Koke'e - Kauai Amakihi was really common, I'm sure I was seeing 50-100 every day just wandering around, Iiwi wasn't rare, I'm sure I remember Anianiau being fairly common, I bumped into Akekee several times & I got lucky with a Puaiohi on the Mohihi-Waialae Trail. I thought I was going to miss Akikiki, no sign at all for 10 days birding the forest trails all day but then, literally as I gave up & accepted I'd missed it, I turned round & a juvenile was in the tree right above me!

I got really lucky on Maui too - Renate Gassman-Duvall was leading monthly walks into the Waikamoi Preserve & reckoned on seeing Akohekohe 11 trips out of 12 in a year but Maui Parrotbill only once a year, and she'd seen one on her previous trip! We saw more Akohekohe than she'd ever seen before, I think we decided on at least 12 but it could have been more, you never had to wait long to see one & then a Grey Plover-like whistle stopped us in our tracks & a female Maui Parrotbill suddenly flew across the track & landed in a nearby tree, I don't think the others had seen it & I was so excited & shaking I struggled to give directions & just pointed - luckily it stayed there for a few minutes & we all got great views but I was so excited I forgot to take any photos!

On Hawaii I was there the wrong time of year to get on a walk in the restricted areas with all the endemic forest birds but I managed to find them all apart from Hawaii Creeper on the Pu'u O'o & Powerline Trails, including Akepa a couple of times, which I don't think many people see away from Hakalau. Palila was easy, I don't remember the name of the site but I remember parking up, started walking up the hill & saw my first one after a few minutes.

I kind of always wanted to go back to put in more of an effort to see Hawaii Creeper but its probably the dullest of all the Hawaiian Honeycreepers & I think it would be too devastating to enjoy birding there now