Part 6

PARK DISTRIBUTION: Introduced at the turn of the century. Now on all major islands. Kilauea—Occasional in the wet ohia forest such as around Park Headquarters. Haleakala—Absent from the park.

VOICE: A mockingbird-like series of sustained musical and harsh notes that carries for a great distance. The rich phrases may be repeated several times before a new pattern is given.

These secretive birds seem to make a vertical migration to Kilauea from the east each summer. They are rarely observed in the park during winter months, but that may be due to their lack of song in the non-breeding season. In summer you will probably hear several before seeing even one, as they are wary and keep to the underbrush, moving about very little.

RED-BILLED LEIOTHRIX Leiothrix lutea (also Japanese hill robin or Peking nightingale)

DESCRIPTION: 5½″. One of the easiest to identify: An olive-green bird with contrasting red and yellow markings and a bright red-orange bill. The back is olive-green, throat lemon-yellow shading to red-orange in the breast, and the wing varied with yellow, orange, crimson, and black. Immatures are not as bright, but have the same general markings.

PARK DISTRIBUTION: Introduced to the islands from Asia mainly in the twenties. Kilauea—Very common throughout vegetated areas. Haleakala—Fairly common in areas of dense vegetation such as Paliku.

VOICE: No wonder these birds are sometimes called “robins”, for their robinlike warbled song fills the air in spring and summer. If you approach they will often begin their excited noisy call notes, a rapid bzzt-bzzt-bzzt, etc., which will usually continue for some time as the birds nervously flit about the underbrush. Another common note, usually heard from a distance, is a sharp wheek-wheek-wheek made up of 3-8 notes.

The leiothrix is strictly a bird of the undergrowth and you are likely to find it wherever there is plenty of bush cover in moist forested areas. Mamake, a Hawaiian nettle, is one of its favorite haunts. If one bird is seen, there are probably several others nearby, and flocks of a dozen or more are common in fall and winter. Fruit, seeds, and insects comprise the food.

These birds have strange migration habits. In the fall and early winter large flocks may suddenly appear at the summit of Haleakala where they stay a short time and then return to lower areas. On Hawaii flocks have been recorded at above 13,000 feet on Mauna Loa during this season, but they are reduced by deaths caused by exposure and starvation on the barren slopes if they do not descend soon.

Although today the leiothrix is one of the best loved birds on the islands, its introduction here may have been unfortunate. It is known to be a carrier of bird malaria, a disease that has probably contributed to the continuing decline of native Hawaiian honeycreepers.

MOCKINGBIRD Mimus polyglottos

DESCRIPTION: 10″-11″. A slender, gray and white bird with large white wing patches and white outer tail feathers.

PARK DISTRIBUTION: Introduced since 1928 on Oahu and Maui. Kilauea—Birds, apparently migrants from Maui, were seen in the northern part of the island in 1959; however, none have yet reached the park (1961). Haleakala—Occasional on slopes below the summit; rare inside Haleakala Crater. Probably still increasing its range within the park.

VOICE: The song is a brilliant series of phrases often repeated like the Chinese thrush but more varied. One note is an emphatic thack.

You are most likely to see mockingbirds along the lower slopes of Haleakala during your drive up to the crater. Park Headquarters is about the upper limit for these birds on Maui. The food consists of insects, fruit, and occasionally greens.

OMAO Phaeornis obscura (also Hawaiian thrush)

DESCRIPTION: 7″. Usually heard first, then seen if you are patient, for it often remains motionless. A medium sized gray-brown thrush with no distinct markings. Only similar species is the Chinese thrush which is larger, more reddish brown, and has white markings around the eye.

PARK DISTRIBUTION: Kilauea—Moderately common in the wet ohia forest, especially along the Crater Rim Trail between Park Headquarters and Thurston Lava Tube. Uncommon on lava flows between 7,000 and 9,200 feet elevation—to be seen along the Mauna Loa trail. Haleakala—Absent from Maui.

VOICE: Any one of several buzzing notes, a medium pitched eéau, or prueeé, or a low throaty whuaaá are likely to be heard before the song. These notes may be interspersed and are often repeated many times with a few seconds interval. The song is a rapid, erratic whistled phrase, having the loud fluty quality of other thrushes.

This strange thrush lives in two contrasting habitats within Hawaii Volcanoes National Park. In the dense forest you will usually find it singing from its perch part way up an ohia or other tree. But there may be no trees in sight at its other locality which is among the barren lava flows on Mauna Loa. However, there will always be berry bushes nearby—ohelo, pukeawe, or kukaenene; and insects also comprise a part of the diet. The lava flow birds establish day-time roosts on the higher rocks and remain at these sites for long periods, judging from the accumulation of droppings. Old perch sites stand out clearly on a flow, for a yellow-green lichen colors the top of whatever rocks have been plastered with omao droppings.

The nesting sites for these birds have remained an enigma until recently. Now it is known that birds living on the flows will build their nests on ledges within deep horizontal lava cracks, especially in collapsed lava tubes, while the forest birds are said to nest in trees.

ELEPAIO Chasiempsis sandwichensis

DESCRIPTION: 5½″. A brownish flycatcher with variegated black, white, and gray markings. The dark bill is short (½ inch) and nearly straight. The female has less black on the breast and throat, while immatures, generally more brown, have a reddish instead of a white ruff around the vent. Its friendly wrenlike actions combined with the above make it unmistakable.

PARK DISTRIBUTION: Kilauea—Common in the more heavily vegetated areas around Kilauea Crater and to the east. Look for it at Kipuka Puaulu. Haleakala—Absent from Maui.

VOICE: A variety of short songs or calls. One is like a “wolf whistle”, a clear wheé-oo (or elepaí-o). Another is a nasal yeékik. A single wheek as well as short nasal chirps are also common.

The elepaio is probably the friendliest of our native birds. It is easily overlooked, since it usually remains fairly quiet when you first approach, but if you pause for a few moments in the wet fern jungle, one or more of these birds are likely to appear. They seem very inquisitive as they hop about in the low underbrush, often within a few feet of an observer, and they cock their tails high whenever they alight. Like the omao these birds often push their wings forward with a rapid shivering motion when confronted by people, probably a type of aggressive action.

Being a member of the Old World flycatcher family, the elepaio is adapted to an insect diet which it gleans from the tree tops to the ground, but mostly in the understory. It often feeds like a creeper, carefully working up or down the trunk of an ohia in search of insect life. There seem to be no seasonal movements; individuals or family groups of two to four birds apparently remain in the same general area throughout the year.

MYNAH Acridotheres tristis