Part 4

DESCRIPTION: Male 33″-36″; female 20″. Male: A rich chestnut-brown bird with a conspicuous white collar at the base of a dark green neck, and an extremely long pointed tail. Hybridizes freely with the Japanese blue pheasant, producing various combinations of ring-necked and blue plumage. Female: Dull brown with a shorter tail than the male, similar to the Japanese blue hen.

PARK DISTRIBUTION: Introduced from China about 1865, now widely distributed on all main islands. Kilauea—Pure ring-necks are quite rare but Japanese blue hybrids are not uncommon in grassy openings, especially along the Mauna Loa Strip road. Haleakala—One of the most common birds of the park, both inside and out of the crater.

VOICE: The cocks crow throughout the breeding season (January-July) with a violent staccato koor-káck.

Optimum pheasant habitat is large open grassy areas interspersed with brush cover, and since this condition prevails on the slopes of Haleakala and along the Mauna Loa Strip road, these birds are found in both sections of the park. Your first view of one will likely be when it flushes out with a great flurry of wingbeats alongside a road or trail in these grasslands. Family broods with as many as 10 chicks may be seen from April through August.

JAPANESE BLUE PHEASANT Phasianus colchicus versicolor (also versicolor or green pheasant)

DESCRIPTION: Male about 27″, female 20″. Male: Has a blue-green back, iridescent green or purple breast, and long tail feathers. Appears darker than the ring-necked pheasant and lacks the white collar. Female: Brownish birds with long tails, indistinguishable from the ring-necked hen.

PARK DISTRIBUTION: Introduced from Japan prior to 1900. Has lost its identity on most islands due to hybridization with the ring-neck. Kilauea—The park includes perhaps the best habitat in the islands for this species. Pure Japanese blue males are common along the Mauna Loa Strip road and occasional on the Chain of Craters road or the Crater Rim drive and to the west. Hybrids will also be seen. Haleakala—Nearly all are ring-necked pheasants here.

VOICE: The cock-crow is similar to that of the ring-neck, but somewhat higher in pitch.

This species has adapted to the moist open-forest and grassland, while the ring-neck prefers drier areas. Blues seem to have established a niche on the southern slopes of Mauna Loa between 4,000 and 7,000 feet elevation where mists are frequent, sometimes for days at a time.

KEY TO PLATE

AMAKIHI APAPANE IIWI (male) (immature and adult)

OU WHITE-EYE RED-BILLED LEIOTHRIX (male)

ELEPAIO RICEBIRD HOUSE FINCH (female and male)

OMAO SKYLARK

MYNAH CARDINAL (female and male)

AMERICAN GOLDEN PLOVER Pluvialis dominica (Hawaiian name—kolea)

DESCRIPTION: 10″-11″. A medium sized shore bird with a straight, inch-long bill. Winter plumage—mottled brown spotted with gold; buffy breast. Summer plumage—striking pattern; back spotted with gold, black undersides, and a white band over the forehead and down the sides of the neck and breast. Plovers don their summer colors in April or May before migration and may still retain them when they return in early August. The only shore bird likely to be seen in the interior of either park.

PARK DISTRIBUTION: Winter migrant to the islands. Kilauea—Fairly common locally from August to June. To be seen around Park Headquarters and on the west side of Kilauea Crater or along the Mauna Loa Strip. Haleakala—Common from August to June in open areas both inside and out of the crater.

VOICE: A clear whistle queep, or quee-leép, etc., usually uttered as the bird is flushed.

Like other migrants to Hawaii, golden plovers make a 2,000-mile (one way) flight to and from their breeding grounds in Alaska or Siberia each year. The trip requires about 48 hours, spent mostly over the open ocean. When they arrive in Hawaii in the fall, individuals seem to establish remarkably small territories—one bird may live during its entire stay here in an area not much bigger than a large lawn. Here they will feed on insects and berries until it is time for the annual migration to the north.

RUDDY TURNSTONE Arenaria interpres (Hawaiian name—akekeke)

DESCRIPTION: 9″. A chunky, medium sized shore bird with flashy black, white, and russet-red markings and short orange legs. The contrasty black and white pattern shows best in flight.

PARK DISTRIBUTION: Winter migrant to islands. Kilauea—Except for summer, when they have migrated to Alaska, flocks are often found at rocky beach areas around Halape, but they are uncommon elsewhere along the rugged coast within park boundaries. Large flocks were formerly recorded inland as far as Kilauea Crater. Haleakala—Absent from the park.

VOICE: A rapidly repeated chut-a-chut.

A flock of 8 or 10 turnstones will behave almost as though it was controlled by one mind: in flight they dip and turn precisely together; when they land it is a simultaneous action. The name turnstone comes from their habit of flipping over small rocks with their bills to get at the insects and other lower forms of life beneath.

WANDERING TATTLER Heteroscelus incanum (Hawaiian name—ulili)

DESCRIPTION: 11″. A large sandpiper with uniformly dark gray upper parts and a long (1½ inches) straight bill. The belly is lighter, and there is an indistinct white line over the eye. The long legs and the feet are yellow.

PARK DISTRIBUTION: Winter migrant to islands. Kilauea—Uncommon along the southern rocky shoreline. Absent in summer when it migrates to Alaska. Haleakala—Absent from the park.