Paved Paradise, Put Up A Parking Lot - Hawaiian Birding

Maui: Man and wind powered

I had a quick trip to Hawaii to review a project that was put in place two years ago. Back then, lots was moving into place, and I made four trips in less than eight months, and  hadn't been over since. The schedule I keep doesn't have much room for taking in the sights, mostly just what ever happens to be around the hotel, along the road, or at the meeting site. This trip was no different than the past ones: fly in, have a meeting right away, and the next couple of days, and then take a red-eye flight back home after the last afternoon meeting. At random the first night, I got a hotel room with a view of the ocean off Honolulu, and I made a point of getting up early both mornings (one on Oahu and the other on Maui) and looking for birds - I really do think using melatonin makes a difference for warding off jet lag.

Honolulu seascape

Typically, I am pretty wasted after the 10 hours of flight time from the east coast to Hawaii, so am up at the last minute before heading to the transportation rendezvous place before a meeting. This past Wednesday morning, however, I was up at 4:30 doing emails and getting ready for the day, and then put in a self-led 45 minute Honolulu urban birding excursion. It was the same for Thursday morning, only in a bit of a more rustic setting in Kailea on Maui. I spent an hour or so on the flight to Hawaii reading through my copy of A Photographic Guide to the Birds of Hawai'i: The Main Islands and Offshore Waters by Jim Denny. Typically I purchase my birding guide for where ever I a traveling, but rarely take the time to carefully read about what I may see. The results are remarkable when you do as you should - read first, look later. I also have a copy from the Princeton

Urban Banyan Tree

guide series: A Field Guide to the Birds of Hawaii and the Tropical Pacific, but it is a bit clunky (heavy on text) and the organization of the species if conventional, rather than the groupings by environments in the Denny guide (e.g., Urban Birds, Forest Birds, and so forth) - I found the later more helpful for my serendipitous birding approach. I also noticed that Princeton has a new checklist guide that came out in 2011 - it may be more easy to carry around than the Princeton guide by Brunner, Bennett, and Pratt. I also saw in this month's issue of the Hawaiian Airlines Magazine, there is an article about a new book that is out of original paintings of surviving native Hawaiian birds by artist Marian Berger (1) - The Living Endemic Birds of Hawai‘i: Mea Makamae, limited edition. The only trouble is, the first edition unbound prints are priced at $4,500, and the custom-bound book is $6,000 - by the looks of the art, another Audubon.

Near Waikiki Beach

Shooting shots in an urban setting is a bit uncomfortable - there are people around, even in the early morning. I always smile and say good morning when passing folks - it is amazing how serious, scowling, and frowning faces melt into reciprocating smiles, even when only a glimpse of my smile or a little bit of a resulting friendly squint after making eye contact when passing by. Being in an urban foreign setting is also a little uncomfortable as I pass feeling like I am invading

Picture tells a thousand words

the private spaces of a man waxing his surf board, or a homeless person sleeping along a curb, or a couple in their night clothes sitting out on a hotel balcony while I am clicking off shots of birds, hoping that they don't think I am necessarily using them as unaware subjects - the finery of 300 mm technology.

Following are a sampling of the birds that I saw. After reading up about the birds in Hawaii, it is a little sad to think that most of what you see are not native, rather invaders that came to the islands over the past couple of hundred years. But then, that seems to be the story of Hawaii, a mixing pot for everything made made under the sun over the millennia. Parking lots, strip malls, high-rise hotels, it is still Hawaii.

This is a Red-crested Cardinal - an import from South America. I first saw one of these in Buenos Aires, but didn't get a photograph. This one was on the parking lot sidewalk of a restaurant in Honolulu. Most of the birds in Hawaii are exotics that have been imported over the past 200 years. Note how the bird's coloration blends into the color of the pavement - truly an urban bird - who would have thought about adaptation as urban camouflage.

A Common Myna - quite the vocalist - I saw them everywhere. When flying, they Myna has a prominent white spot on each wing - kind of like a British war plane in WWII. Not quite the same effect as with the Northern Mockingbird, but still notable.

A Japanese White-eye was working the flowers on shrubs along the grounds of the hotel where I stayed on Maui. Even though the bird isn't native, there was the thrill of the "hunt" to get a photograph in a natural looking setting.
 

Nutmeg Mannikins look like finches with their large beaks. These were working the grass border between the street and sidewalk leading back to my hotel on Maui. These critters are pretty calm toward the approaching photographer. This was one of the first birds I identified during my first trip to Hawaii when on Ford Island.
 

Gray Francolin is native to northern Africa. I saw these along the brushy border along the beach on Maui, and also out in sugarcane fields where sorghum had been grown in research fields. Sailors set game birds free in Hawaii so that on return trips, they would have food to hunt. This species was a late-comer, being introduced in 1957 - long after the age of sail. This is one of a pair - an entire family was pecking at the sorghum seed out in the cane field.
 

The Spotted Dove is one of several doves and pigeons seen on the streets of Hawaiian cities. The black with white spots on the bird's back looks like a stylish wrap - quite the urban look as you could imagine in New York City, or San Francisco.

The Zebra Dove is a second of three doves common in Hawaii - in the early-morning, it has feathers who have an almost bluish shimmer.
  

Here is a familiar species, the House Finch - but it looks a little bit different in Hawaii, more orange in the early Oahu morning light. This is not even a fair quality photograph - the first one I took at 6:00 AM in Honolulu, and on the top of a street light post - but is does show off the coloration difference from the mainland House Finches. Maybe it is a result of a touch of papaya in its diet.
  

This is the only native bird that I caught on a digital photographic image - the White Tern, in Hawaiian, the Manu o Ku. It darts and dodges gracefully along the main street that borders Waikiki Beach. It may be the first actual tern that I have identified - I haven't paid that much attention to seashore birds. 

Whenever I hear the word tern, I think about the Jimi Hendrix song Moon Turn The Tides - at the end of the song off the Electric Ladyland album Hendrix simulates sea bird calls with his guitar and amplifier effects (2). It was one of my favorite albums that I played over and over again to the point that the grooves in the vinyl platter. I also think it is pretty cool that most all of the native Hawaiian birds have Hawaiian names. Hendrix song would have been even more exotic had it been titled: Moon Manu o Ku The Tides.

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(1) Artist Marian Berger is also an exotic import to Hawaii - she is originally from Limerick, Ireland.

(2) The first hint of the sound of terns is at 2:41 into the song, and then prominent at the end of the song beginning at 7:41.