Forest Birds

March 24, 2023 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

“When the birds disappear, so do their Hawaiian names. This means that as bird sounds are silenced, the chants that transmitted their names and associated stories also disappear.” (Sault)

Around six million years ago, a small ancient species of finch found its way to the most remote archipelago in the world. Over 2,000 miles from the nearest major land source, and uninhabited by humans or any other mammals, the small islands of Hawaii were a blank canvas just waiting to be filled with a brand new family of birds – the Hawaiian Honeycreepers. (FWS)

For millions of years, the birds thrived on the tiny islands in the Pacific. There were no mammals, no humans, few other species to compete with, and a great diversity of habitats. The first Honeycreepers arrived on ancient islands that have since eroded away.

As each new island in the chain rose from the sea and cooled the tiny birds colonized it, splitting off into dozens of new subspecies along the way. Each split in the family tree yielded more complexity and novel ways to find food, attract a mate, and fill an ecological niche. (FWS)

Unfortunately, all of this diversity can also be a limitation if the habitat or the environment changes. “A lot of the very specialized birds that had the most unique characteristics were the first to go extinct once the habitat started changing,” said Steve Kendall, Wildlife Biologist for Hakalau Forest National Wildlife Refuge. (FWS)

In the early 1800s naturalists describe flocks of ‘i‘iwi flying up and down the mountain slopes of the Hawaiian Islands foraging on nectar and insects. Their long curved bill matches the size and shape of the flowers of the lobeliad family.

Lobeliads were once found all over the islands, but like so many of Hawaii’s native species, those plants have become scarce. To survive, the ‘i’iwi has had to turn to another iconic Hawaiian species for their survival – the ʻōhiʻa lehua. (FWS)

But habitat change was not their only threat.

“The beautiful red birds, iiwi and akakani (apapani), and the birds of glorious yellow feathers, the oo and the mamo, were a joy to both eye and ear and found high places in Hawaiian legend and story, and all gave their most beautiful feathers for the cloaks and helmets of the chiefs.” (Westerfelt)

When Cook anchored off Waimea, Kauai, in 1778, he and his officers at once noticed the feather robes and helmets. The account is as follows:

“Amongst the articles which they brought to barter this day (January 21, 1778) we could not help taking notice of a particular sort of cloak and cap, which, even in countries where dress is more particularly attended to, might be reckoned elegant.”

“The first are nearly of the size and shape of the short cloaks worn by the women in England, and by the men of Spain, reaching to the middle of the back and tied loosely before.”

“The ground of them is a net-work, upon which the most beautiful red and yellow feathers are so closely fixed, that the surface might be compared to the thickest and richest velvet, which they resemble, both as to feel and glossy appearance.”

“The manner of varying the mixture is very different, some having triangular spaces of red and yellow alternately; others a kind of crescent, and some that were entirely red, had a yellow border which made them appear, at some distance, exactly like a scarlet cloak edged with gold lace.”

“The brilliant colours of the feathers, in those that happened to be new, added not a little to their fine appearance, and we found that they were in high estimation with their owners, for they would not, at first part with one of them for anything we offered, asking no less a price than a musket.”

“However some were afterward purchased for very large nails. Some of them as were of the best sort, were scarce, and it would seem that they are only used on the occasion of some particular ceremony or diversion, for the people who had them always made some gesticulations which we had seen used before by those who sung.”

“We were at a loss to guess from whence they could get such a quantity of these beautiful feathers; but were soon informed as to one sort for they afterward brought great numbers of skins of small red birds (i‘iwi) for sale, which were often tied up in bunches of twenty or more, or had a small wooden skewer run through their nostrils.” (Cook, 1778; Brigham)

“‘Kamehameha I is said to have reproved his bird-catchers for taking the life of the birds. “The feathers belong to me, but the birds themselves belong to my heirs,” said the considerate monarch.’” (Emerson, Perez) However, “[i]t is believed that most birds were killed after being plucked”. (Perez)

“[I]t is believed that native Hawaiian avifauna was affected by several interdependent factors … the extensively documented bird overkill by humans must have played a crucial role in their decline. … Numerous historical sources leave little doubt about the fate of most birds, regardless of the original reason for hunting them.” (Perez)

“Overhunting did not help many other bird species, which ended up adorning the garments of the Hawaiian nobility, or filling the bellies of the common people. Most birds victimized by Hawaiians are now either extinct or endangered; many are simply unknown to us, and their names have faded from Hawaiian memory.” (Perez)

In the modern age, ‘scientific collectors’ further decimated the Hawaiian forest birds. “The tragedy for many Hawaiian birds was that they were not only distinctive, desirable and rare – a dangerous combination in the best of circumstances – but also often heartbreakingly easy to take.” (Brown)

“The greater koa finch, an innocuous member of the honeycreeper family, lurked shyly in the canopies of koa trees, but if someone imitated its song it would abandon its cover at once and fly down in a show of welcome.”

“The last of the species vanished in 1896, killed by Rothschild’s ace collector Harry Palmer, five years after the disappearance of its cousin the lesser koa finch, a bird so sublimely rare that only one has ever been seen: the one shot for [Baron Lionel Walter] Rothschild’s collection.” (Brown)

Since 1800, five bird species have become extinct in North America; two additional species are presumed extinct and two sub-species have disappeared. Overall, bird extinctions in North America are a rare event.

In contrast, in Hawaii, a minimum of 31 bird species have become extinct since 1800 including 10 in the last 50 years. Further, 14 of 24 endemic forest birds are endangered. (NFWF)

“Rothschild was by no means alone in his zeal to capture birds at more or less any cost. Others in fact were more ruthless. In 1907, when a well-known collector named Alanson Bryan realized that he had shot the last three specimens of black mamos, a species of forest bird that had only been discovered the previous decade, he noted that the news filled him with ‘joy.’” (Brown)

March 13, 2019 by Peter T Young 1 Comment

The Wellington

“Soon after James Cook’s visit to Vancouver Island in 1778, non-Natives began fur trading in the Northwest. Trade ships, after stopping in Hawaii, sailed to Vancouver Island to trade manufactured goods for sea otter pelts. … Besides sea otter there were beaver and other furs.” (Holton)

“It did not take long for the Northwest Coast fur traders to discover at Hawaii a new medium for the Canton market. That market was, of course, the prime object of our Northwest fur trade.”

“China took nothing that the United States produced; hence Boston traders, in order to obtain the wherewithal to purchase teas and silks at Canton, spent eighteen months or more of each China voyage collecting a cargo of sea-otter skins, highly esteemed by the mandarins.” (Massachusetts Historical Society)

Practically every vessel that visited the North Pacific in the closing years of the 18th century stopped at Hawai‘i for provisions and recreation.

Edmond Gardner, captain of the New Bedford whaler Balaena (also called Balena,) and Elisha Folger, captain of the Nantucket whaler Equator, made history in 1819 when they became the first American whalers to visit the Sandwich Islands (Hawai‘i.)

A year later, Captain Joseph Allen discovered large concentrations of sperm whales off the coast of Japan. His find was widely publicized in New England, setting off an exodus of whalers to this area.

These ships might have sought provisions in Japan, except that Japanese ports were closed to foreign ships. So when Captain Allen befriended the missionaries at Honolulu and Lahaina, he helped establish these areas as the major ports of call for whalers. (NPS)

At that time, whale products were in high demand; whale oil was used for heating, lamps and in industrial machinery; whale bone was used in corsets, skirt hoops, umbrellas and buggy whips.

In Hawaiʻi, several hundred whaling ships might call in season, each with 20 to 30 men aboard and each desiring to resupply with enough food for another tour ‘on Japan,’ ‘on the Northwest,’ or into the Arctic.

The central location of the Hawaiian Islands between America and Japan brought many whaling ships to the Islands. Whalers needed food and the islands supplied this need from its fertile lands. Starting with Cook’s arrival, his crew and later the whalers sought and received other pleasures.

Whales were not hunted for food, but primarily for their blubber; the thick layer of fat under their skins that protected them from the freezing cold waters of the far north seas.

Oil could be extracted from the blubber and used to make candles or for burning in oil lamps in the days before electric lights. Whale oil was very valuable and some whale ship owners made huge fortunes from selling the oil.

When the whale was caught it was towed back to the ship where it was “flensed” (cutting away the blubber.) The blubber was hoisted onto the ship’s deck where it was put into barrels and then stored away in the hold.

In 1826, the Wellington, reportedly a British whaling or trading ship, arrived at Lahaina, Maui from San Blas, Mexico. Seeking fresh water, the crew dumped the water they had in a river and refilled the barrels.

Then, “(missionary William) Richards was returning home to Lahaina one evening about dusk and met a native who informed him that there was a new ‘fly’ in the place.”

“He described it as being a very peculiar ‘fly’ that made its presence known by ‘a singing in the ear.’” (the story as told by Prof. WD Alexander; Hawaiian Gazette, April 17, 1903)

Later, “(missionary) Dr. Judd was called upon to treat a hitherto unknown kind of itch, inflicted by a new kind of nolo (fly) described as ‘singing in the ear.’”

“The itch had first been reported early in 1827 by Hawaiians who lived near pools of standing water and along streams back of Lahaina [Maui].” (Warner)

“To the Reverend William Richards, their descriptions of the flies suggested a pestiferous insect, from which heretofore the Islands were fortunately free. Inspection confirmed his fears. The mosquito had arrived!”

“Investigation back-tracked the trail to the previous year and the ship Wellington, whose watering party had drained dregs alive with wrigglers into a pure stream, and thereby to blot one more blessing from the Hawai‘i that had been Eden.”

“Apparently no attempt was made to isolate and destroy the hatchery, nor to prevent spread of the pest throughout the archipelago. The pioneer was Culex quinquefasciatus, the night mosquito. (Warner)

“All evidence pointed to the ship ‘Wellington’ as the carrier of the pest. This story was later corroborated by Mr. Henry A. Pierce, late US Minister to Hawaii in the seventies.”

“Furthermore, up to the year 1826 there was no word In the Hawaiian language for mosquito. The native name for mosquito is makika, a corruption of the name mosquito.” (the story as told by Prof. WD Alexander; Hawaiian Gazette, April 17, 1903)

The rest is history – so has it been for Hawaiʻi’s native birds.

Sure, mosquitoes are annoying to us (and they can be vectors for things like dengue and other diseases that affect humans.)

But, they are devastating to Hawaiʻi’s native birds.

Introduced mosquito-transmitted diseases, avian malaria and avian pox, are thought to be one of the main factors driving loss of native forest birds.

Many of Hawaii’s native birds suffered drastic population declines once introduced mosquitoes began transmitting avian malaria between birds.

Look closely at the picture of the ʻApapane bird – there is a mosquito on the upper-right side of its eye (not a good thing.)

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Mosquito-Apapane with mosquito

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February 13, 2019 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Poʻouli

I vividly remember a meeting of the Board of Land and Natural Resources, in September 2004. In the middle of the meeting, my secretary came into the room and approached me.

She knew that I frowned upon interruptions of Land Board meetings (in fact, this was the one and only time it happened in the over-four years I was chair); but she also knew of my interest and concern about the Po‘ouli.

She handed me a note and shared the great news, which I then shared with the rest of the people at the Land Board meeting.

They caught a Po‘ouli.

The Po‘ouli is a stocky Hawaiian honeycreeper endemic to Maui that was not discovered until 1973. Po‘ouli have short wings and tail, a finch-like bill and distinctive plumage.

Aptly named “black-faced” in Hawaiian, Po‘ouli have a large black face mask, white cheeks, throat and underparts and brown wings and back; no other Hawaiian forest bird is similarly colored.

It has been listed as Critically Endangered (Possibly Extinct) and probably holds the distinction of being the most endangered bird in the world.

In 1980, the Poʻouli population was estimated at 140 birds. Last seen in 2003 and 2004, there are only two known individuals: one male and one female.

The two remaining birds are at least seven years old and are nearing the end of their reproductive lifespan; unfortunately, they had differing home ranges.

The exact causes of Poʻouli’s rapid population decline, since the species’ discovery in 1973, are not well understood.

The Po‘ouli is likely susceptible to the same factors that threaten other native Hawaiian forest birds, including: loss and degradation of habitat, predation by introduced mammals (including cats, rats and mongoose) and disease.

The remaining Poʻouli individuals were found in windswept, high-elevation rainforest on the northeast slope of Haleakala Volcano.

I remember a previous helicopter trip flying over this region on our way to Waikamoi with folks from The Nature Conservancy; we knew that people were on the ground trying to capture the, then, three remaining Poʻouli.

Crews were attempting to catch the elusive birds to attempt to breed them in captivity; since it appeared natural breeding was not occurring.

Then members of the Maui Forest Bird Conservation Center captured one of the only three remaining Po‘ouli birds that had been known to exist. The male was a very old individual with only one eye.

The other two individuals, believed to be the only remaining Po’ouli in the world, were last seen during this same period and then were never seen again.

In the following days, I was included in the flurry of e-mails for days after this; the excitement, anticipation and hope that each shared in the prospect of saving a species was phenomenal. This was an exciting time to be at DLNR.

However, scientists’ efforts for captive breeding were crushed when, on November 26, 2004, despite attempts to help the bird, he died. (However, scientists successfully took tissue samples for possible future cloning.)

I want to make sure people realize and appreciate the magnitude of this story. We are talking about the possible end of a species. Someone, a few short years ago, had in his hands potentially the last bird of its species.

Sad as this story ends, it is an example of the kind of stuff that happens in resource management, especially in a place like Hawaiʻi where there are so many plants and animals that are endangered.

There is a lot of good work being done by a lot of good people to save a lot of species at risk. Thank you to all.

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January 21, 2018 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Lawaiʻa Manu

When Cook anchored off Waimea, Kauai, in 1778, he and his officers at once noticed the feather robes and helmets. The account is as follows:

“The first are nearly of the size and shape of the short cloaks worn by the women in England, and by the men of Spain, reaching to the middle of the back and tied loosely before.”

“The birds which supplied the feathers, at least the choicer yellow, red and green, were inhabitants of the mountain regions into which as the abode of evil spirits the Hawaiian did not like to go.” (Brigham)

“‘When you take a bird do not strangle it, but having plucked the few feathers for which it was sought, set it free that others may grow in their place.’ They inquired, ‘Who will possess the bird set free? You are an old man.’ He added, ‘My sons will possess the birds hereafter.’” (Brigham)

A “company of twenty-five athletic men, trained to bird-catching on the beetling crags of these mountains …. Their toe and finger nails, never cut, grow like claws.”

“Their sole business is to catch the little black birds called the o‘o, each producing a few yellow feathers under the wings ….” (Judd; Handy)

Feathers for these amazing works were procured by bird catchers, who often lived deep in the wao kele (upland forest) habitat of the birds that they sought.

“The old Hawaiian was a close observer of nature. Having neither books nor the modern curse of newspapers, his memory was strengthened and his eye sharpened.”

“He had a name for every tree and plant and not less for every bird. It is true that he did not always conjoin the two sexes when they, as is not infrequently the case, differ greatly in coloration ; but ornithologists of education have failed in the same way.”

“The hunters knew well enough the haunts of the birds they sought and the seasons when the plumage was at its best. They knew the habits of the birds, their food and other matters that might facilitate their quest.”

“For example, they recognized the curiosity of the birds and planted strange trees in the open places in the forests, and in these new trees placed the sticks smeared with bird-lime which would entangle the prying birds.”

“Bows and arrows would have been of no avail, if they had possessed them, for the rarer birds were seldom killed but captured alive and when the few feathers desired were plucked, released to renew their plumage at the next moulting.” (Brigham)

When bird-lime made of the viscid juice of the ‘papala’ could be obtained it was preferred, although other kinds were known and snares and throwing nets were frequently used. (Brigham)

Another technique called kahekahe, involved pruning branches of the ‘ōhi‘a tree of most of its flowers and gumming the branch near the remaining flowers with the sticky sap of the ‘ulu (breadfruit).

When the bird, attracted by the nectar of the ‘ōhi‘a blossom, alighted on the branch it became stuck and easy to catch. Care was often taken in removing the feathers from the bird, and salve applied to help the bird heal. (Hawaii Alive)

Another approach was to take a stone with a hole though it to form a snare; “A loop of fine cord is passed through the central hole and covered with bait, while the snarer leads the cord to some cover near by. A pull at the right time may catch the leg of the bird in the loop and the weight of the stone prevents flight.” (Brigham)

The common sorts were often killed and eaten. Rare birds especially were seen as a sacred resource.

David Malo wrote in the Hawaiian–language newspaper Ka Hae Hawaii that Kamehameha himself had forbidden bird-catchers from taking the life of the birds so as to allow his children in the future to experience the beauty of these wonderful birds. (Hawaii Alive)

Rain capes, worn by the bird-catchers (lawai‘a manu (those people who ‘fished for birds’) or kia manu) in the rain forest, were made by tying dried ti leaves singly, and overlapping, onto a net made of olona, fiber.

These men also thatched their upland shelters with dried ti leaves (sometimes with tree bark), and such temporary shelters were called hale la‘i (ti-leaf house). (Handy)

“(W)here there were no trails paved with smooth waterworn stones as in most areas in olden times, sandals made of dried ti leaves were a great help in crossing rough lava beds, even some that were only partly cooled.”

“‘A person accustomed to going to and fro on foot knew just how many pairs he would need for his journey and he carried them along with him. As one pair wore out it was thrown away and another put on.’ These sandals were called kama‘a la‘I (literally ‘the-bound-ti-Ieaf,’ from ma‘a ‘to bind’).”

“A fairly strong rope could be made by braiding dried ti leaves together along with their very stout stems. ‘When my grandmother needed a rope for a temporary purpose, this was what she did – a relic of old-time wisdom.’” (Pukui; Handy)

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