Japanese White-Eyes at Hawai'i Volcanoes National Park: Sometimes it's the Point of View

What's the most populous bird on the Hawaiian Islands? Visitors might suspect Mynas or Zebra Doves, given their ubiquitous presence in the tourist areas of the islands, but it's quite possibly this one, the Japanese White-eye (Zosterops japonicas). They are pretty little birds, but tend to be hard to see in the vegetation given their green color. There may be hundreds of thousands of them on the islands, and they can be found from sea level to 9,000 feet, and in both dry and wet forests.

It would be nice if they were one of the native species of the islands, but alas they are not. They were introduced in the late 1920s to help in agricultural pest control, but in a sense they themselves became pests. They may be a vector in spreading avian diseases, and they have been documented exploiting food sources in the higher altitude forests at the expense of native species.

Still, as with many of these invasive species, they are colorful and fun to watch. I saw this pair while walking through the "Bird Kipuka" (Kipuka Puaulu) in Hawai'i Volcanoes National Park on the Big Island. My previous post on the species had the better pictures (see it here), but this pair was doing something that was unusual looking. It appeared that one was grooming or picking lice off the other. I don't know for sure, but I'm sure there's someone out there who can tell me what they are doing.

I shot a short video to provide some more context. Enjoy!

Established and Spreading Fast, the Kalij Pheasant on the Big Island

Once again, in the category of "it seemed like a good idea at the time", someone decided to release a few dozen Himalayan pheasants at the Pu’u Wa’awa’a Ranch on the Big Island of Hawai'i. I'm guessing it was for hunting purposes. They didn't do much for a decade or so, but they reached some kind of population tipping point and began to spread. Their range has expanded across most of the forestlands of the Big Island, and a few have been seen on Maui and Oahu. These are the Kalij Pheasants (Lophura leucomelanos).

 I've seen them most often at the Bird Kipuka (Kipuka Puaulu) in Hawai'i Volcanoes National Park. They certainly add a splash of color to the forest floor, but their role in spreading disease or disrupting food sources for the native bird species is not clear. They sure are a shock when you are walking along a trail looking up and practically trip over them.

A Northern Cardinal...in Hawai'i? The Very Definition of Non-native Species

So...you're walking down a tree-lined street in St. Louis, Missouri, and you see a flash of red in the branches. It's a Northern Cardinal (Cardinalis cardinalis)! You could have the same experience walking through the desert around Phoenix, Arizona. You see them on sports monograms. It's all normal stuff if you live in such places. That's where the bird occurs naturally.

But what if you are walking through an ancient kipuka (an island of unburnt vegetation within a lava flow) on the Big Island of Hawai'i? Well, that becomes strange. What is a bird of the eastern US hardwood forests and the desert southwest doing on an island more than 2,000 miles from the mainland? In the last few posts I've been exploring some of the non-native bird species of the islands, and how they have upended the original ecosystem. The alterations and changes began more than a thousand years ago, but the rate of change increased exponentially after European colonization of the islands. New bird species were purposely brought to the islands more than 150 years ago, and they brought new diseases that the natives had no resistance to. Bird species continued to be introduced throughout the 1900s, sometimes as cage releases of pets, but sometimes on purpose. The Northern Cardinals arrived about 1928, and they spread quickly to all of the main islands, and many of the minor islands as well.

It's always a shock to see a Northern Cardinal flitting through the rainforest. The bright red color really stands out against the vegetation. I saw this individual in a tree no more than 30 feet or so from the trail I was walking through the kipuka. Kipuka Puaulu is a unique place, an ancient forest of Ohia and Koa trees that managed to miss being overrun by a fairly recent basalt flow from Mauna Loa. I recently told the story of this kipuka and one other, and to me the story is absolutely fascinating; it even includes what may be the rarest plant in the world (at least for the couple of years when none existed).

It's unclear the effect the cardinals might be having on the native birds. They spread farther and higher than some of the other introduced species. In the meantime, they are beautiful birds in a spectacular setting, even if it is far removed from the original home of the species.

Just a Bit of Searching and There They Are...'Apanane at Hawaii Volcanoes National Park Redux

So...the other day I was all excited about FINALLY seeing and catching pictures of an 'Apanane (Himatione sanguinea) at Hawai'i Volcanoes National Park. The thing is, I wasn't birding at the time. I was participating in a geology field studies trip, and any birds I saw off in the distance were icing on the cake. I didn't have the time to watch quietly and carefully, nor was I in the best place to see them. But the other day was different. We headed up to Hawai'i Volcanoes National Park for the expressed purpose of checking out some of the best birding spots in the park, particularly the Moana Loa Road and the Kipuka Puaulu, the "bird kipuka". And the 'Apanane were quite evident! I probably saw a hundred or more, and some were close enough to capture some images.

What do you think these two are arguing about? One shouting and the other with its nose in the air!

To the extent that most people are not birders, and that the native birds of Hawai'i mostly live above 4,000 feet because of avian malaria spread by mosquitoes at lower elevations, and that only a small part of the human population of the islands live at that elevation, I suspect that even most Hawaiians don't get many chances to see these colorful birds. But in the right circumstances they are fairly common. Kipuka Puaulu is an ideal choice, as it is an isolated island of mature rainforest surrounded by young lava flows (that is the basic definition of a kipuka, an area missed by lava flows). The isolation helps to keep out the mongooses and feral cats who have destroyed many a bird population. Fencing has also kept out cattle and goats that would destroy the underbrush that supplies food and shelter to the birds.

I walked to the upper end of the loop where some ancient "grandfather" Ohia trees had died but left tall snags and I realized that dozens and dozens of birds were flitting around. I finally got some of the close-up shots I had been hoping for, and more.

There was another bird I got a couple of pictures of, but I was totally unsure of what species I was seeing. I downloaded the images and went to work with my bird guide, and came up empty. There was nothing that looked like the bird in the picture below. After I while I looked at the beak again and realized it was the same curving beak as the 'Apanane. This was a juvenile! They don't look very much like their parents...