Black Swifts on nests

Yesterday, I had the chance to visit a well-known nesting site of Black Swifts in northern Idaho on my way back from another trip.  Black Swifts are a very unique species that can be tough to find if you don't know where to look.  Here's one big hint: they nest exclusively behind waterfalls or in ocean-misted cliffs.  This was an exciting species for me because it was an "eBird lifer," that is, I had seen them only once before (June 2000), and it was before I was keeping detailed enough notes that I could later enter the sighting into eBird.  Black Swifts are a mysterious species as birds go: only about 200 nesting sites are known, and they made big news last year when their wintering range was finally discovered in western Brazil.  The total population is estimated at about 15,000 individuals worldwide, and is declining at about 6% per year.  Here are a few photos from my recent trip to see this intriguing bird at a nesting colony.

Utah's West Desert Migrant Traps

On Saturday I led a trip for the Bridgerland Audubon Society to the west desert of Box Elder County, Utah.  Our main goal was to visit some of the famous "migrant traps" in the area.  This area, north of the Great Salt Lake, is well known in the state for being one of the most consistent places to find rare eastern birds in migration.  There are several small freshwater springs surrounded by miles and miles of sagebrush, salt flats, and hypersaline water.  As migrating birds pass over the area, they are drawn like magnets to these migrant traps in search of a drink, a snack, and some rest before continuing north to their breeding grounds.

We met early, 5:00 AM, so that we would have a full day of birding despite a nearly three-hour drive to our first stop.  We chatted about some of our rare bird fantasies for the day, discussed the plan of attack, and then headed west as the sky was starting to get light.  After a brief stop for gas in Snowville, our first birding stop was along Highway 30 in one of the best areas for FERRUGINOUS HAWKS in the state.  We got close looks at an adult light morph here, the first of about four in the next couple of miles.  After this brief stop, we continued on to Lucin, our first migrant trap.

Part of the BAS field trip party scoping a distant Golden Eagle nest from Lucin.

The flycatchers at Lucin set the tone for the day: while we called this trip "West Desert Migrant Traps" we might as well have called it "Identification of Difficult Flycatchers."  Several of the easier species were present, including SAY'S PHOEBE, WESTERN KINGBIRD, and WESTERN WOOD-PEWEE, but there were impressive numbers of Empidonax flycatchers, including at least FOUR WILLOW FLYCATCHERS, a DUSKY FLYCATCHER, a GRAY FLYCATCHER, and at least two other unidentified Empidonax sp.  Warblers were also pretty diverse, including ORANGE-CROWNED WARBLER, YELLOW WARBLER, YELLOW-RUMPED WARBLER (AUDUBON'S), WILSON'S WARBLER, and COMMON YELLOWTHROAT.  Here is a link to the complete eBird checklist: http://ebird.org/ebird/view/checklist?subID=S14315363

One of at least four WILLOW FLYCATCHERS at Lucin.  This is not a rare species in northern Utah, but it felt odd to find them perched on barbed wire and surrounded by sagebrush and greasewood!

Our next stop was Rabbit Springs, where the habitat is spread out over a wider area and the trees are not as large.  Three COMMON NIGHTHAWKS calling in flight here seemed unusual in the heat of the middle of the day.  We added one warbler species to our list for the day here, with a couple of MACGILLIVRAY'S WARBLERS.  Sparrow diversity was higher here, too, including many BREWER'S SPARROWS, two LARK SPARROWS, and a SAGE SPARROW.  We had lunch in the shade of a Russian Olive tree here and enjoyed some great looks at a couple of lizard species, a WESTERN WHIPTAIL and a LONG-NOSED LEOPARD LIZARD.  Here is the eBird checklist: http://ebird.org/ebird/view/checklist?subID=S14315422

Western Whiptail.

Bob, Craig, Terry, and Leah eating lunch in the shade.

Long-nosed Leopard Lizard

The next stop was at Owl Springs.  Here, we had a few more flycatchers, including DUSKY, WILLOW (singing), WESTERN WOOD-PEWEE, and a pair of WESTERN KINGBIRDS at a nest.  Our only migrant thrush of the day was a late HERMIT THRUSH here, and we also had our only LAZULI BUNTING of the day here.  eBird checklist: http://ebird.org/ebird/view/checklist?subID=S14315556

A migrating HERMIT THRUSH stopped for a rest at Owl Springs.

Our next and last stop of the day was at Locomotive Springs Wildlife Management Area, about an hour away.  This area has more open water, so we were able to add a few more species here, including FORSTER'S TERN, GADWALL, CINNAMON TEAL, AMERICAN WHITE PELICAN, PIED-BILLED GREBE, and AMERICAN AVOCET, for example.  A few LONG-BILLED CURLEWS were seen.  eBird checklist: http://ebird.org/ebird/view/checklist?subID=S14315760

Overall, we had a great day of birding in some very unique locations.  While we weren't able to pick up any rare eastern vagrants, we saw impressive numbers of some expected western species in habitats where they are not found except in migration.  Along the way, we got some great experience identifying a lot of Empidonax flycatchers and learning other valuable tips about how to identify sparrows from tail patterns, how to tell some of the female yellow warblers apart, and how to identify Catharus genus thrushes.  On the way out of our last stop, we added the highlight of many people's day, a large adult DESERT HORNED LIZARD.  It was great to end a good day in the desert with this popular and iconic species.

Desert Horned Lizard near Locomotive Springs WMA.

Kendal posing with the Desert Horned Lizard.

Terry holding the Desert Horned Lizard.

BAS Field Trip: Owling Green Canyon

Andy Kleinhesselink listens for owls in Green Canyon for the 2012 Christmas Bird Count.

Tonight we had a great field trip up Green Canyon with the USU chapter of the Wildlife Society.  A total of 18 of us worked our way up the canyon after dark in the light snow, stopping periodically to broadcast owl songs and calls.  It took a little over an hour to get our first response, a calling NORTHERN SAW-WHET OWL.  The owl started calling in the distance, but moved at least twice, coming closer and closer to us, calling all the while.  It was great to have the owl so close and loud - often owling involves straining your ears to make out distant sounds.  A little further up the road, we had our second owl of the night, a singing NORTHERN PYGMY-OWL.  This bird started with a fast song that had us a little confused about whether it might have been another Saw-whet Owl for a moment, but soon settled in to a very typical single-note Pygmy-Owl song.   At our next stop, we heard one owl give a single hoot, but we couldn't coax it into saying anything else and had to leave that one unidentified.  On the way back down, two observers were pretty sure that they heard a WESTERN SCREECH-OWL sing once, but no one else heard it and we couldn't get it to respond to additional broadcasts.  We ended a little after 9:30 PM, but not before helping someone else get their truck unstuck from the snow - they picked a lucky night to get stuck in Green Canyon!

BAS Field Trip: Logan's Arctic Tundra (26 Jan 2013)

This Rough-legged Hawk was photographed along our route earlier in January.

On January 26, the Bridgerland Audubon Society field trip focused on "Logan's Arctic Tundra," seeking out the birds that breed in the arctic tundra but winter here in Cache Valley.  These birds as a whole are fabulously adapted to living in cold, barren land - it always boggles my mind that they are perfectly comfortable sitting on a post or on the ground out in the middle of the valley on our coldest days.

The weather was warm, relative to the previous week or so, and temperatures were (just) above freezing.  We started by driving Highway 23, north of Petersboro, and then toward the Benson Marina in search of Horned Lark flocks that sometimes have northern visitors like Snow Buntings and Lapland Longspurs mixed in.  We saw one WILD TURKEY from the road, and several ROUGH-LEGGED HAWKS (whose "rough" legs are feathered to better insulate them from the arctic cold).  In this stretch, we found only four HORNED LARKS and no associated rarities, although this same area had Lapland Longspurs a week earlier.  We also saw a distant PRAIRIE FALCON, and learned about how to identify distant falcons when they are far enough off to look like not much more than a speck to the naked eye.

We did a short walk in the snow at Benson Marina, mostly in search of American Tree Sparrows.  We didn't find the sparrows, but we were rewarded here with a close look at a second PRAIRIE FALCON, this time flying right over our heads!  From this trail, we were able to see five different ROUGH-LEGGED HAWKS.

We found a large flock of HORNED LARKS on our way north from here through Cache Junction to the Amalga Barrens, and another good flock in the Barrens, but again with no northern visitors.  An adult BALD EAGLE gave us nice looks as it flew past in the Barrens, and we had three more ROUGH-LEGGED HAWKS here.  We passed through Benson on the way back to Logan, and added RED-TAILED HAWK to our day's list, along with a few dozen CANADA GEESE (but none of their tundra-breeding relatives, Cackling Geese, that we were hoping for).  We ended in Logan a little before 1:00 PM.

BAS Field Trip: Naked Birding

On Saturday I led a field trip for the Bridgerland Audubon Society, focused on "Naked Birding," that is, birding without the use of binoculars or other optics.  We learned how to identify birds using behavior, calls, and habitat, and how to make the most of what little visual information you can gather at a distance without binoculars.

We started with a walk around the Logan Cemetery, which can be a great place in winter to find birds that are usually more typical of higher elevations or more northern latitudes.  This visit was no exception, and we had a flyover flock of RED CROSSBILLS calling, plus a later lone crossbill that was probably a WHITE-WINGED CROSSBILL (although the "Type 4" Red Crossbill of the Pacific Northwest has a very similar flight call, and can show up in this area in winter).  We also discussed the identification of Black-capped and Mountain Chickadees by voice after hearing some BLACK-CAPPED CHICKADEES, and found some RED-BREASTED NUTHATCHES.

From there, we went to First Dam, where we were able to identify some BARROW'S GOLDENEYES and COMMON GOLDENEYES before getting blown away by the strong canyon winds.  We watched two BALD EAGLES flying over the reservoir, including one adult and one sub-adult.  We also discussed how to tell the difference between the wild, native MALLARDS and the introduced "park duck" Mallards, which can look very similar.  The wind was howling, though, so after a few minutes here we decided to move to a more sheltered location.  While we were driving away, one car saw a HOODED MERGANSER from the road.

Our next and final stop was Rendezvous Park and the Logan River Golf Course.  A flock of CANADA GEESE that flew overhead had one CACKLING GOOSE among them, a species that was on the state review list until just last year.  We saw several mixed songbird flocks here, always including BLACK-CAPPED CHICKADEES but with various other species in attendance, including a BROWN CREEPER, several DOWNY WOODPECKERS, and one flock of about seven RUBY-CROWNED KINGLETS.  The highlight of the day, however, was a single BEWICK'S WREN that was heard calling several times in one of these flocks.  This is a very rare species for Cache County - there is a credible report of this species in the county only about once every three years, usually in winter.

We will publish the full 2013 field trip calendar in the next month or so, so keep an eye out for that, and in the meantime I'll see you at the Logan Christmas Bird Count next Saturday, December 15th.  Email Bryan Dixon at bdixon@xmission.com to sign up if you haven't already.

St. Paul Island, part 2: Breeding songbirds

In the last installment, I wrote about the variety of birds that breed in the cliffs of St. Paul Island, Alaska, including some very unique species.  Today I'd like to introduce you to the four songbirds that regularly breed on St. Paul. Yup, there's only four!

Among the most common of the breeding songbirds here is the Lapland Longspur.  Lapland Longspurs song sounds a bit like that of the Western Meadowlark, and can be heard from all around during the spring and early summer on the island.

A male Lapland Longspur, one of the most abundant species on the island.  (This and all photos on this post are copyright by the author, Ryan O'Donnell.) 

Another relatively common breeding species on the island is the Snow Bunting.  This species usually nests among rocks, so it is frequently found near the cliffs but also in quarries and other areas where the recent volcanic rocks crop out above the vegetation.  McKay's Buntings have been found in the breeding season on St. Paul Island in the past, but not this year and never in considerable numbers.

A male Snow Bunting guarding his territory at the edge of a boulder field.

A juvenile Snow Bunting, out of the nest for a few days or maybe weeks.

St. Paul Island is also home to an endemic subspecies of Pacific Wren (recently known as Winter Wren).  The Pribilof Pacific Wren is much more common on nearby St. George Island, and has reportedly gone extinct on St. Paul Island and recolonized from St. George (Hanna 1920).  It can be told from most of the mainland birds by its larger size and longer bill.  It is a year-round resident on the island, which is amazing considering that it eats only insects and given the winter conditions there!  Last winter was particularly harsh, and this summer we were only able to find one male on territory on the whole island.

A Pribilof Pacific Wren perched on a lichen-covered rock at the edge of a fur seal colony.

The last of the regularly breeding songbirds is also the most morphologically unique.  The Pribilof subspecies of the Gray-crowned Rosy Finch has a head pattern like the Hepburn's subspecies, but is much larger than the mainland subspecies.  The National Geographic book lists it at 8.25 inches long, only 0.25 inches smaller than a European Starling.  They are sometimes referred to as the "St. Paul House Sparrow" because they nest in the eaves of the buildings in town (as well as natural cavities in rocks, etc., around the island), and there are no real House Sparrows on the island.  

A Pribilof Gray-crowned Rosy-Finch on the makeshift platform seed feeder outside our apartment. 

Another Pribilof subspecies Gray-crowned Rosy-Finch.  Both of these photos show adults, but sexes do not differ in plumage.

Up next from St. Paul Island, Alaska? Well, we'll see. . . . Probably either the last of the breeding birds (shorebirds and waterfowl), or some common migrants.

BAS Field Trip: Antelope Island

Yesterday I led a group of seven birders on a field trip to Antelope Island for the Bridgerland Audubon Society.  This was a good turnout considering the weather: our first big snowstorm of the season had arrived the day before, and there were several inches of fresh snow on the ground and more was predicted for the rest of the morning.  Temperatures were predicted to reach highs just below freezing.  Even while meeting in the parking lot, though, our efforts were already being rewarded: a flock of about 8 EVENING GROSBEAKS flew overhead while we were waiting to depart.

The roads were not too bad, and before not too long we arrived at the Antelope Island Causeway and saw the first effects of the shifting weather on the birds: the storm had pushed hundreds of LEAST SANDPIPERS to the causeway.  By counting a small group and estimating how many groups that size we saw along the causeway, we estimated 500-700 Least Sandpipers.  According to eBird, this is the highest single checklist count of this species in Utah since a 1974 count at Fish Springs National Wildlife Refuge. Among the Least Sandpipers we were able to pick out one WESTERN SANDPIPER, three GREATER YELLOWLEGS, and several hundred KILLDEER. We learned to identify the common GULLS of the area, and saw four species: RING-BILLED, CALIFORNIA, BONAPARTE'S, and HERRING. One GREAT HORNED OWL perched on the snow near the causeway was a highlight for the group.

A Great Horned Owl perched on the snow along the Antelope Island Causeway.  Ryan O'Donnell photo.

One of the big draws of Antelope Island is the chance of spotting rare vagrant ducks, and as usual, the famous second bridge didn't disappoint.  A HARLEQUIN DUCK was first found along the causeway about three weeks ago, and continued for us.  We were also able to find three SURF SCOTERS at the same location.

A Harlequin Duck continued to oblige along the Antelope Island Causeway.  Ryan O'Donnell photo.

Three Surf Scoters pose together nicely for a photo, with a Lesser Scaup in the background.  Ryan O'Donnell photo.

On the island itself, we started by driving up to the visitor's center for a bathroom break, but before we could make it there we found another rare bird for this time of year, a SAGE SPARROW.  We had brief looks at this bird up on top of a shrub before it dropped back down into the vegetation.

A late Sage Sparrow that should be migrating south soon.  Ryan O'Donnell photo.

At the visitor's center, the feeders gave us close looks at a DARK-EYED JUNCO, a CALIFORNIA QUAIL, and several CHUKAR.

A California Quail and a Chukar wait for their turn at the bird feeder at the Antelope Island Visitor's Center.  Ryan O'Donnell photo.

As we drove down the island towards historic Garr Ranch, we saw several more raptors, including ROUGH-LEGGED HAWKS and RED-TAILED HAWKS, and had a brief look at an unidentified SHRIKE.  We also added to our mammal list, with a COYOTE, many BISON, and very close looks at a herd of PRONGHORN.

A Pronghorn, part of a herd that blocked the road for a little while on our way out to Garr Ranch.  Ryan O'Donnell photo.

At Garr Ranch itself, we worked the trees around the spring and another pond to the south pretty thoroughly.  One of the first good birds here was a NORTHERN GOSHAWK right around the spring.  This species is very rare at Antelope Island - according to eBird this is only the second record for the park.  

An immature Northern Goshawk at Garr Ranch.  Mike Fish photo, used with permission.

Other raptors in the area included a RED-TAILED HAWK, an adult COOPER'S HAWK, a NORTHERN HARRIER, and this GREAT HORNED OWL, our second of the day.

Great Horned Owl at Garr Ranch.  Ryan O'Donnell photo.

The park ranger led us down to another small clump of Russian Olive trees where a very large MULE DEER buck had been hanging out.

A very large Mule Deer buck guards his harem at Garr Ranch.  Ryan O'Donnell photo.

Garr Ranch is famous as a migrant trap, a place where lost birds tend to show up when they get blown or wander off course.  We didn't find any great vagrants when we were there, but we did get some great looks at some common species, including this HERMIT THRUSH, and one out-of-season BROWN-HEADED COWBIRD.

One of two Hermit Thrushes at Garr Ranch.  This individual is pretty red, and I wonder if it might be in the eastern/northern subspecies group, rather than one of our local breeders.  Ryan O'Donnell photo.

A late Brown-headed Cowbird, or should I say "Brown-headed Horsebird?," found a warm place to perch in the snow at Garr Ranch.  Ryan O'Donnell photo.

Finally, before leaving the ranch, we checked the silo for BARN OWLS and came up with one.  Or, the wingtips and tail of one, at least!

"It counts."  These weren't the best looks one could hope for at a Barn Owl, but the wingtips and tail are distinctive enough to identify the bird.  Ryan O'Donnell photo.

We ended the trip at Garr Ranch, but had a few more sightings on the way back to Logan, including three or four COYOTES, a couple of PORCUPINES, and a LOGGERHEAD SHRIKE.  

Join us for our next trip, on December 8th, and for the Logan Christmas Bird Count on December 15th.  See our website for details on this and all future trips, and contact Bryan Dixon to sign up for the Christmas Bird Count at bdixon@xmission.com.

Here are links to the complete eBird checklists from our trip, including a few bonus photos:
http://ebird.org/ebird/view/checklist?subID=S12010993
http://ebird.org/ebird/view/checklist?subID=S12011069

http://ebird.org/ebird/view/checklist?subID=S12011125
http://ebird.org/ebird/view/checklist?subID=S12011165

Hawaii's Native Forest Birds

Koa-Ohia forest at Hakalau Forest National Wildlife Refuge, one of the best places for seeing native forest birds on the island of Hawaii.

I have recently posted on the many introduced species on the island of Hawaii, including both the game birds and the songbirds.  While it is tempting to add a series of additional posts on native shorebirds, endemic subspecies, fish, mammals, reptiles, etc., this is a busy time of year for me and I'm realizing I might not get to those.  So, I want to jump straight to my favorite organisms on the Big Island, and the group that is probably of the most interest to the readers of this blog: the native forest birds.

Because Hawaii is separated from the nearest continents by thousands of miles, many species have evolved only on the Hawaiian Islands, and some of those are found only on individual islands.  Most of these species have evolved in the unique forests of the Hawaiian Islands.  One of the more iconic endemic forest birds is the Hawaiian Hawk, also known as the I'o.  The I'o is a species in the genus Buteo, and its closest relatives are the Galapagos Hawk, the Short-tailed Hawk, and Swainson's Hawk.  It comes in two color morphs, dark and light.

A light morph Hawaiian Hawk soars over the highway south of Kona.  (Digital composite)

Dark morph Hawaiian Hawk perched in the rain in Hawaii Volcanoes National Park.

Hawaii also has an endemic lineage of flycatchers in the old-world family Muscicapidae.  Species in this group that might be familiar to North American birders include the Northern Wheatear and the Bluethroat.  Hawaii's flycatchers radiated into several species, each limited to one or a few islands.  On the Big Island, there is only one species, and it is only found there: the Hawaii Elepaio.  The Hawaii Elepaio is unique because it has further differentiated into three distinct subspecies on the island.  I was able to see two of the three subspecies, but only one is shown here.

Hawaii Elepaio, Hilo subspecies, along the Pu'u O'o Trail.

Hawaii Elepaio, Hilo subspecies, at Hakalau Forest National Wildlife Refuge.

Several species of thrush evolved on the Hawaiian Islands, but only one of them is still common today, and several are extinct.  The Omao is the most common of these endemic thrushes, but its range is limited to the island of Hawaii.

Omao, a species of thrush that is endemic to the island of Hawaii, along the Pu'u O'o Trail.

As cool as those three species are, the species that get people really excited about birding Hawaii are the native honeycreepers.  Hawaiian honeycreepers have been considered their own family, Drepanidae, but most ornithologists now consider them to be a subfamily, Drepanidinae, within the finches, Fringilidae.  Whatever you call it, this group of species is one of the best known examples of an adaptive radiation.  About 4 million years ago, a species of rosefinch somehow managed to colonize the islands from Asia.  Finding many open niches on the islands, it rapidly evolved into more than fifty unique species.  Sadly, these species started disappearing with the arrival of the Polynesians around 400 A.D., and their extinctions accelerated after Captain Cook's arrival in the late 1800s.  Now, only about 17 of these species remain, and 15 of those are considered endangered or vulnerable.

If you want to see native Hawaiian honeycreepers, and you can only visit one island, Hawaii is a good choice.  It has a higher diversity of native birds than any of the other islands, and is still home to seven honeycreepers, four of which are found only on that island and nowhere else in the world.  I was fortunate to be able to find six of of the seven species, missing only the Akepa.  Here are the six I did see, in order of approximate increasing rarity.

The most common Hawaiian honeycreeper on the Big Island is probably the Hawaii Amakihi, also known as the Common Amakihi.  This species is found on only the Big Island and nearby Maui, although the two are considered separate subspecies.  There is some evidence that this species has been able to evolve resistance to the avian malaria that has killed so many native birds, giving hope for the future of this species and others.

Female or immature Hawaii Amakihi on Ohia lehua flower 

Male Hawaii Amakihi on mamane flower

The second most common honeycreeper was, in my experience, the most camera shy.  The Apapane is a red bird that, together with the Hawaii Amakihi, is one of only two species of Hawaiian honeycreepers that are considered of "Least Concern." This is also the only species that is still found on all the main Hawaiian islands.

Apapane on Ohia lehua.

The Iiwi is probably the most emblematic of the Hawaiian honeycreepers.  To me, and probably to many others, this species screams "Hawaiian honeycreeper!"  They are also still fairly common on the island of Hawaii, although not doing so well elsewhere.  Recent reports have detailed dramatic declines on Kauai, and the species is nearly gone from Oahu.  This species also has a remarkable voice, sounding something like a robot to me, to accompany its remarkable appearance.

Iiwi in the rain near Hakalau Forest NWR.

Alright, now we're getting to the real goodies. . . . All three of the remaining species are found only on the island of Hawaii, and have been known from only there in historical times.  The next bird, the Akiapolaau, is probably the most remarkable remaining honeycreeper in terms of its unique bill adaptation.  It fills the niche of a woodpecker, using its straight lower bill to peck holes in wood, and its long, curved top bill to then extract insects from those holes.  There are only a few thousand of this species remaining.

Akiapolaau, adult male, along the Pu'u O'o Trail.

Although it is not the rarest species, the Hawaii Creeper was the hardest for me to find.  For one, they look very much like the common Hawaii Amakihi.  (They can be told by their straighter bill, paler throat, more extensive dark mask, and distinctive call note.)  Second, the best place to find them is in the Hakalau Forest NWR, which requires reservations and a four-wheel-drive vehicle to reach.  Third, they're just not very common.  There are still a few thousand of them left, but they are one of the least commonly observed species on the island because they are hard to get to and hard to identify.  Only after searching for several hours in the rain was I able to finally get some decent shots of this species, and only after getting the shots was I really convinced I had seen what I was looking for!

Hawaii Creeper, probably an adult male, at Hakalau Forest NWR.

A young Hawaii Creeper in the rain, somewhat more distinctive with its pale throat and fairly obvious pale supercilium.

Last is the Palila, the only finch-like honeycreeper still living in the main Hawaiian islands.  This species, unlike the others, is adapted specifically to the dry forests.  It uses its thick bill to crack open seeds of a dry forest tree, the mamane, which is shown here.  These seeds are toxic to other species, but the Palila loves them!  This was recently thought to be one of the most secure endemic species, but despite a court order in the 1980s for their habitat to be protected from the feral sheep that eat the young mamane plants, their habitat has yet to be protected.  This species has declined in numbers by about 80%, following eight straight years of population declines, and is now down to about 1,300 individuals.

Adult male Palila preparing to zip open a mamane seed pod.

Adult male Palila in mamane tree.

Seeing these rare species was an experience I'll never forget.  It was exciting to see them, but I was also left feeling very sad that these species are not getting the protection they need.  Because of the isolated nature of Hawaii and the relatively few people living there, these birds do not have the political power they need to garner the protection they require.  Hawaii has 45% of the endangered species in the U.S., but receives less than 5% funding allocated to protect endangered species.  If you'd like to help save these amazing species, consider making a donation here or here.

Introduced Birds of the Big Island, Hawaii: Song Birds

I previously posted about the introduced game birds of Hawaii. Those species were all introduced for hunting opportunities (for food or for recreation). But many bird species were introduced to Hawaii for more aesthetic reasons: they looked or sounded pretty. Some of these were accidental, escapees from cages, while others were intentional releases to try to enhance the beauty of the island. Here are some of the introduced songbirds I saw on my recent trip to the Big Island, arranged roughly from most to least common in my experience.

Common Myna

Common Mynas are probably the most frequently observed bird species in Hawaii.  To me, they were like an equivalent of European Starlings, which are not found in Hawaii.  They were common in lawns and gardens around the island, and at night they would gather at large communal roosts, making quite a racket as they settled in at dusk.  They were introduced from India in 1865 to control insect pests.

Japanese White-Eye

The Japanese White-Eye is a small songbird that reminded me of a Ruby-crowned Kinglet in size and behavior.  They are among the most common species in some parts of Hawaii, and unlike some of the introduced species, they can be found both in the lowlands around the cities and in the higher elevations where the native birds are still found.  For this reason, and because they also sometimes feed on nectar, they are sometimes considered one of the biggest threats to the native honeycreepers among the introduced birds (disease and habitat loss are probably bigger threats overall).

Java Sparrow

Java Sparrows were also pretty common on the Kona side of the island and usually found in flocks.  This beautiful bird is very distinctive and can be recognized at a great distance with its pink bill and bold white cheek patch.  I have read that these are the most common species at bird feeders where the species occurs.

African Silverbill

African Silverbills are also a pretty common introduced species around the Big Island.  The last time I visited, in 2000, these were lumped together with what is now known as Indian Silverbills and collectively known as Warbling Silverbills.  This species likes to travel in flocks, so when you see one you'll usually see several.

Saffron Finch

Saffron Finches are very bright birds that were introduced from South America in the 1960s.  The book I have, from 1997, says that they are found on the dry side of the island, but eBird shows them over most of the island, so I believe they've spread in the last decade or two.  They are still more common on the dry side, though.

Yellow-fronted Canary

Yellow-fronted Canaries were introduced from Africa in the 1960s, and are now found on the Big Island and Oahu.  Like the Saffron Finch, they are more common on the dry side of the island but can also be found on the wet side, including some of the strongholds of the native honeycreepers.

House Finch

 House Finches are quite familiar to North American birders.  I was surprised at how many yellow morphs I saw, like this one.  Yellow morphs are somewhat rare in the mainland, but probably more common than red morphs on the Big Island.  I found them to be frequent in small numbers at all elevations I visited.

Yellow-billed Cardinal

Yellow-billed Cardinals were frequently encountered but usually singly or in pairs.  They were introduced from South American in the 1970s.  They are generally limited to the parks and gardens in the lower elevations, but we did see one at Pu'u Huluhulu on the Saddle Road at an elevation of about 6,600 feet, which is unusual.

Northern Cardinal

There were two species of cardinal on the Big Island, the second being the same Northern Cardinal that is familiar to birders from North America.  However, the Yellow-billed Cardinal is only a "cardinal" in name: it is actually a species of tanager.  Northern Cardinals were less common, and also found in small numbers.

Northern Mockingbird

I found Northern Mockingbirds to be among the rarest introduced songbird I saw.  I only saw two of this species in my two weeks on the island, and they were both at the same location.  (There are rarer introduced species that I didn't see.)  Northern Mockingbirds were introduced from North America in the 1920s, and can be found just about anywhere but are much more likely on the dry sides of the islands.

Watch for another post on Hawaii's wildlife coming soon. . . .