#‘ua’u kani

[bumblebeeappletree]

All around the world, seabirds provide a critical link between land and sea. On Hawai’i, ecologists are working to protect two vital shearwater species that helped life first take hold across these islands.

While seabirds predominantly reside at sea, they return to land to breed and raise their young. In this process, they deposit mineral-rich nutrients that sustain the whole island ecosystem. But the arrival of human settlers introduced non-native predators and extensive development. Together, these compromised many seabird habitats — and decimated their populations. Several species are now teetering on the brink of extinction.

The Maui Nui Seabird Recovery Project engages a multifaceted approach to protect these crucial birds: eliminating invasive predators, restoring native plants, and monitoring burrows for fledgling success. In one instance, they have established a dedicated sanctuary complete with artificial burrows, bird-shaped decoys, and audio speakers to attract one highly endangered shearwater species. Through their efforts, the team gives seabirds a chance to raise the next generation on the very islands they helped bring to life.

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[anonsally]

Reading and birds

llamapunk replied to your post: Overpacking report

Wow, no reading at all!! Good job on the socks.

Well, not none at all--I had brought my e-reader so I had my bedtime books with me; I read a little before turning out the light most nights. But I did not read any new fiction. 

I did buy a guide to birds in Hawai’i, so I did some reading of that! In addition to the birds we saw at Kilauea Point Lighthouse and Wildlife Refuge, we heard the Wedge-Tailed Shearwater (’Ua’u Kani) and saw: 

some sort of noddy (brown or black?), 

a few Hawaiian Coots (’Alae Ke’oke’o), 

a Common Moorhen (’Alae ‘Ula), 

a few White-Rumped Shamas (very beautiful singing!), 

lots of Cattle Egrets, 

Japanese White-Eye, 

some Spotted Doves, 

many Zebra Doves, 

lots of Common Mynas, including a baby, 

a few Northern Cardinals (surprisingly; obviously, this and many of the other birds were introduced), 

a number of Red-Crested Cardinals, 

and a truly bewildering array of feral chickens, including fluffy little baby chicks (plus a couple of wild ones (Red Junglefowl or Moa) in Koke’e State Park). The feral chickens are instead of pigeons. 

In other wildlife viewing news, we saw a number of different kinds of lizards and geckos (including one that climbed on Wife!), but it’s been hard to find any sort of guide to identifying them.

And of course, when snorkeling we saw an astonishing variety of sea life, but we didn’t really do much IDing of species. In addition to colorful fish, we saw a few sea turtles and a manta ray from a boat (and one sea turtle while snorkeling off the Nā Pali Coast). Wife saw more things while snorkeling as she is a much stronger swimmer than I am (and able to deal with ocean currents without panicking), but I did see an enormous moray eel (though not its face), some anemones, and of course all kinds of fish ranging from tiny to face-sized, in all sorts of colors and shapes.