02-11-2013, 03:21 PM
PS the native forest birds will rarely fly as low as Orchidland if ever (except the Hawaiian Hawk, 'Io), the ones that did (even seasonal) have all become extinct already... because of the mosquito and other more dominating alien birds pushing them out and eating their food etc.. Some impressive birds have gone extinct fairly recently, like the 'O'o (the black/yellow bird Pu'u 'O'o is named after), some because of haoles shooting them for fun (ie the Hawaiian Crow), and some like the 'O'o because of the yellow feathers (very small amount on bird that is mostly black) used in those capes and helmets the Hawaiians made.
When I hike I also look for birds but dont know as much as I do about plants yet. The best place for the native birds is Above Glenwood and the farther you go up Mauna Loa/Saddle Rd the more you see... most are very shy too and will fly away a split second after you see it.
There is a great video at the Library for the forest/ocean birds (and non-native)... very high quality video with their calling sounds and a soft Hawaii kine music background, no spoken words, just a caption with bird names... also lots of native plants shown (w/the forest birds only) but not IDed
list of the birds Ive seen recently...
'Apapane (Himatione sanguinea)
the most common of the forest birds, dark red with dark parts of wings with dark legs, dark normal looking beak, seen often in HVNP, Volcano Village area, and said to be sometimes as low as Hawaiian Acres (yet Ive never seen one here). very very common on Mauna Loa Strip Rd.
'I'iwi (Vestiaria coccinea)
probably the most popular Hawaiian bird beside the Nene... tomato red with black on wings/tail but key is the large orange very curved beak and orange legs (pretty bird), and the fluttering sound it makes while flying, I see most of them on Hilo side of Saddle Rd. younger birds have some green mixed in.
'Amakihi (Hemignathus virens)
green bird with darker tail a slightly curved beak (NO white ring around eyes), 2nd most common bird in upper Puna and HVNP area. often feeding on Ohi'a flowers.
'Elepaio (Chasiempis sandwichensis)
this is the only bird that isnt shy, it will actually follow you around Bird Park sometimes, its a very small rustybrownish bird with darker wing color with 2 white stripes, and the key is the tail sticks almost straight up... a fly catcher and the sacred bird of the Canoe Builder... when they cut down a large tree for making a canoe (took long time), the Hawaiians would sit there and watch the tree on ground until an 'Elepaio landed on it, if the bird pecked at the log the Hawaiians would abandon that tree and start all over cutting another different tree down (very long process w/ stone age tools) ... its because if the bird pecked the log, it meant the log had bugs and was not good... if no peck, then it was good and they would proceed to roughly hollow it out before dragging it many miles down to shore. Funny strange thing is the Hawaiians ate this bird, but it is super small... very goofy to me...
my favorite native forest bird
Pueo (Hawaiian Owl) (Asio flammeus sandwichensis),
mottled brown, tan and white color with dark around the eyes, active during day, lives on the ground, most often seen on Saddle Rd. at top and on the Kona side, sitting on fence posts (or dead in road because they dive towards the headlights at dust/dawn Im told)
PS. If you see an owl in Puna its going to be the Barn Owl, a non native species that is mostly tan with round white face and chest, and much larger than the Pueo, and makes a loud "Skreeeech!" sound at night and glows at night a bit, and can dive on your cat/kitten w/o a sound
those are the only 5 Ive 100% IDed so far in last year of looking more closely for these birds, there are many more that are drab looking (hard to ID) or very very rare and found way up on Mauna Kea, way above Hamakua side...
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save our indigenous and endemic Hawaiian Plants... learn about them, grow them, and plant them on your property, ....instead of all that invasive non-native garbage I see in most yards... aloha
When I hike I also look for birds but dont know as much as I do about plants yet. The best place for the native birds is Above Glenwood and the farther you go up Mauna Loa/Saddle Rd the more you see... most are very shy too and will fly away a split second after you see it.
There is a great video at the Library for the forest/ocean birds (and non-native)... very high quality video with their calling sounds and a soft Hawaii kine music background, no spoken words, just a caption with bird names... also lots of native plants shown (w/the forest birds only) but not IDed
list of the birds Ive seen recently...
'Apapane (Himatione sanguinea)
the most common of the forest birds, dark red with dark parts of wings with dark legs, dark normal looking beak, seen often in HVNP, Volcano Village area, and said to be sometimes as low as Hawaiian Acres (yet Ive never seen one here). very very common on Mauna Loa Strip Rd.
'I'iwi (Vestiaria coccinea)
probably the most popular Hawaiian bird beside the Nene... tomato red with black on wings/tail but key is the large orange very curved beak and orange legs (pretty bird), and the fluttering sound it makes while flying, I see most of them on Hilo side of Saddle Rd. younger birds have some green mixed in.
'Amakihi (Hemignathus virens)
green bird with darker tail a slightly curved beak (NO white ring around eyes), 2nd most common bird in upper Puna and HVNP area. often feeding on Ohi'a flowers.
'Elepaio (Chasiempis sandwichensis)
this is the only bird that isnt shy, it will actually follow you around Bird Park sometimes, its a very small rustybrownish bird with darker wing color with 2 white stripes, and the key is the tail sticks almost straight up... a fly catcher and the sacred bird of the Canoe Builder... when they cut down a large tree for making a canoe (took long time), the Hawaiians would sit there and watch the tree on ground until an 'Elepaio landed on it, if the bird pecked at the log the Hawaiians would abandon that tree and start all over cutting another different tree down (very long process w/ stone age tools) ... its because if the bird pecked the log, it meant the log had bugs and was not good... if no peck, then it was good and they would proceed to roughly hollow it out before dragging it many miles down to shore. Funny strange thing is the Hawaiians ate this bird, but it is super small... very goofy to me...
my favorite native forest bird
Pueo (Hawaiian Owl) (Asio flammeus sandwichensis),
mottled brown, tan and white color with dark around the eyes, active during day, lives on the ground, most often seen on Saddle Rd. at top and on the Kona side, sitting on fence posts (or dead in road because they dive towards the headlights at dust/dawn Im told)
PS. If you see an owl in Puna its going to be the Barn Owl, a non native species that is mostly tan with round white face and chest, and much larger than the Pueo, and makes a loud "Skreeeech!" sound at night and glows at night a bit, and can dive on your cat/kitten w/o a sound
those are the only 5 Ive 100% IDed so far in last year of looking more closely for these birds, there are many more that are drab looking (hard to ID) or very very rare and found way up on Mauna Kea, way above Hamakua side...
******************************************************************
save our indigenous and endemic Hawaiian Plants... learn about them, grow them, and plant them on your property, ....instead of all that invasive non-native garbage I see in most yards... aloha
******************************************************************
save our indigenous and endemic Hawaiian Plants... learn about them, grow them, and plant them on your property, ....instead of all that invasive non-native garbage I see in most yards... aloha
save our indigenous and endemic Hawaiian Plants... learn about them, grow them, and plant them on your property, ....instead of all that invasive non-native garbage I see in most yards... aloha