Part 1

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UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR NATIONAL PARK SERVICE

HAWAII VOLCANOES NATIONAL PARK HALEAKALA NATIONAL PARK

copyright 1961

cover by Ronald L. Walker

(see center plate for identification)

BIRDS of the NATIONAL PARKS in HAWAII

by William W. Dunmire Park Naturalist, Hawaii National Park

Illustrated by Ronald L. Walker District Biologist, State Division of Fish & Game

HAWAII NATURAL HISTORY ASSOCIATION 1961

Table of Contents

Page Introduction 2 How the Birds Came 3 The Decline of Native Birds 4 Where to See the Birds 5 The National Parks 8 About This Booklet 8 The Birds Petrels: Family Procellariidae 11 Tropic-birds: Family Phaëthontidae 11 Geese: Family Anatidae 13 Hawks: Family Accipitridae 15 Quails, Partridges, Pheasants: Family Phasianidae 15 Plovers, Turnstones: Family Charadriidae 19 Sandpipers: Family Scolopacidae 20 Terns: Family Laridae 20 Doves: Family Columbidae 21 Owls: Family Strigidae 22 Larks: Family Alaudidae 22 Babbling Thrushes: Family Timeliidae 23 Mockingbirds: Family Mimidae 24 Thrushes: Family Turdidae 25 Old World Flycatchers: Family Sylviidae 26 Starlings: Family Sturnidae 27 White-eyes: Family Zosteropidae 27 Hawaiian Honeycreepers: Family Drepaniidae 28 Weaver Finches: Family Ploceidae 32 Finches, etc.: Family Fringillidae 33 Other Birds 34 Index 35

INTRODUCTION

When the Hawaiian Islands were first studied by ornithologists in the nineteenth century, they were a bird paradise. The forests abounded with many of the most unusual birds known to the world—some with enormous sickle-shaped bills, some resembling parrots, a goose that spent most of its life on barren lava flows, a tiny flightless rail, and a sea bird that nested within the vents of the active volcanoes. Most of these island birds were found nowhere else in the world.

Today many of the original island species are extinct, while others are barely managing to hold their own. With more and more land being cleared for agriculture and homesites, virgin forests here are becoming scarce. Thus, protected areas like Hawaii Volcanoes and Haleakala National Parks take on great significance as reserves where the native birds will continue to survive. If you wish to learn about Hawaiian birdlife, you will certainly want to spend some time in Hawaii Volcanoes National Park and visit Haleakala National Park on the island of Maui. This booklet is meant to be an aid to your trips in the field.

HOW THE BIRDS CAME

Geologically the Hawaiian Islands are considered to be fairly young, probably no more than 20 million years old. The islands are also extremely isolated from any other land masses; it is more than 2,000 miles to the nearest continent. Before any resident birdlife could exist here, plants had to become established. Seeds arrived by various means from distant lands, and one by one new kinds of plants began to grow on the volcanoes—at first only a few primitive types could get a foothold on the barren lava, but in time those early plants decayed and combined with the basalt rock to produce a soil that could support a complex vegetation.

Endemics

We have no way of knowing what kind of land bird was the first to take up residence here, for that early species has certainly been greatly altered through the workings of evolution. In fact today nearly all the resident native birds are types that are now found nowhere else in the world. Birds such as these are called endemic; they have undergone gradual change over the millennia to become completely new forms, different from any birds found elsewhere.

Many of Hawaii’s endemic species belong to the Hawaiian honeycreeper family (Drepaniidae) and are thought to have evolved from a single bird prototype that possibly arrived here from Central or South America. Explosive bursts of evolutionary change followed, and the resulting new forms did not much resemble each other. Present day park representatives of the Hawaiian honeycreepers include the apapane, iiwi, and amakihi.

Besides the Hawaiian honeycreeper stock several other early migrants made their residence in Hawaii and evolved into endemic forms. In the park they include a Hawaiian race of the (North American) short-eared owl, the io (a hawk), the nene (a goose), the omao (a thrush), and the elepaio (an Old World flycatcher).

Migrants and Sea Birds

While the endemic species have acquired full residence on the islands, other birds live here for only part of the year, usually returning to the north during summer to breed. In the park the best known of these migrants is the American golden plover which spends almost 10 months of the year in Hawaii and only 2 months on its travels to the Aleutian Islands.

Migration patterns for certain of the sea birds are virtually unknown. Some, like the white-tailed tropic-bird, may remain near the islands throughout the year, while others, such as the dark-rumped petrel, migrate inland only during their breeding season.

Exotics

The most recent additions to Hawaii’s avifauna are birds brought in since 1855 by man. There are various reasons for the introductions; the mynah, for example, was brought here from India in 1865 to combat the army worm and other insect pests. Perhaps most of the exotics were introduced because people wanted to see birds that reminded them of their former homes. Birds like the cardinal from the eastern United States and the white-eye from Japan are in this category. For years the Hui Manu, a local bird club, was active in releasing new birds on the islands. Game birds constitute another type of introduction. The first to arrive was the California quail more than a hundred years ago. Pheasants and chukars among others have also become established in the park from importations.

THE DECLINE OF NATIVE BIRDS

In no area in the world have native birds fared more poorly than in Hawaii during the past century. The causes of the decimation of numbers and species are probably multiple; certainly no single factor alone can be cited. Possibly some of the most specialized forms had already begun a decline in numbers before the arrival of Western man. It is unlikely that feather gathering for leis as practiced by the ancient Hawaiians had much to do with the decline. On the other hand, the clearing of land, which began early in the 1800’s, must have had a devastating effect on those birds that had become so specialized—they simply were forced into new environments and were unable to adapt. The introduction of new plants, especially grasses, and the establishment of feral mammals (goats, sheep, and pigs), and insects played a subtle but possibly even more destructive role in altering the over-all environment.