John Gordon/Listening to Birds: Hawaii: Part 1 Birds of Ohau

Feb 24-Mar 24 2026.

Uhau/Honolulu

My wife and I spent our the first day on Waikiki Beach. Our hotel was across from of Fort Derussy Beach Park. Waking early I made my to the park, pulled out my camera I immediately somehow lost my 28-400 zoom lens hood. Not an auspicious start to the trip.

The target species was the resident Blue-billed White-Tern. The first lifers of the trip.

Blue-billed White-Tern.
Nikon Z5ii and 28mm-400mm lens

The short walk back to the hotel produced a staggering number of invasive species including.

Mallard, Spotted Dove, Zebra Dove, Rock Pigeon, Warbling White-eye, Western Cattle-Egret, Red-vented Bulbul, Common Myna, Java Sparrow, Common Waxbill, House Sparrow, House Finch, Yellow-fronted Canary, Black-crowned Night Heron, Red-crested Cardinal and Rose-ringed Parakeet.

Rose-ringed Parakeet is considered a pest by fruit growers.

Red-vented Bulbul makes a meal out of a Brown Anole. First seen in the wild mid 1950s.

Red-crested Cardinal introduced from South America 1930.

Most of the birds on Ohau and the other islands are from other parts of the world. The list includeds birds from China, India, Europe, South and North America. They were either purposely released, escaped or introduced. Around one hundred and fifty species have been introduced to the islands. Some flourished others didn't.

Saffron Finch introduced 1930s, a bird I had seen in Uruguay.

Introduced from Japan in 1939 the Warbling White Eye-is an insect, nectar and fruit eater.

On Saturday I headed to the Aiea Loop Trail and Keaiwa Heiau SP in the hills above Honolulu. The Aiea Trail was an opportunity to bird for endemics. The forest had a good mix of invasive species and stunning scenic views. Sadly I never saw Apapane or the endangered O'hau Elepaio. It wasn't until half-way through the six km walk I found an Oahu Amakihi, my first Hawaiian honeycreeper. Later I found a courting male and female. A real frustration was Merlin failed to pick up any of the endemic bird calls and songs.

O'ahu 'Amakihi (male)

We planned to visit four islands, Ohau, Maui, Hawaii (Big Island) and Kauai during our month long stay.

I only had two birding objectives, both of them on Hawaii (Big Island.) First visit the Hakalau National Wildlife Refuge for rare endemics and second hike the crater at Kilauea at Hawaii Volcanoes National Park, anything else would be a bonus. More on that to follow.

O'ahu 'Amakihi (female)

I knew that the endemic birds were in big trouble due to avian malaria.What I didn't know is Hawaii is known as the extinction capital of the world. Only twenty-six of the original seventy-six avian species still exist and twenty-four are threatened.

A makeshift sign and numbers of Common Moorhen or 'Alae'Ula

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On the north shore of Ohau I followed Mel's excellent account of her Hawaii trip a few years earlier. That and eBird helped me find two Bristle-thighed Curlew, twenty-two Pacific Golden Plovers, two Ruddy Turnstone and a Laysan Albatross. Too many golf ball flying overhead for my liking.

Bristle-thighed Curlew

More invasive species

Red-billed Leiothrix introduced from China 1918.

White-rumped Sharma is a gifted songster.
Intentionally released in Kauai 1912 from Malaysia.

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Several factors precipitated the dramatic fall of endemic birds. The relatively small size of the Hawaiian islands themselves, the small populations of certain endemic species, habitat destruction and the introduction of rats, pigs, goats, mosquitos and mongoose. Introduced in 1883 the mongoose has been credited with commonly killing eight federally listed endangered Hawaiian birds, including Hawaiian Crow, Petrels and Nene.

Small Indian Mongoose

More about Small Indian Mongoose

Many bird extinctions have been dated by fossil remains to and before the arrival of the first humans, a thousand years ago. Recently, climate change has been cited as another threat, allowing mosquitoes to reach higher and higher altitudes, the last bastion for the remaining endemics.

"Species that took millions of years to evolve have been decimated in a geological blink of an eye"

(Extinct Birds of Hawai'i by Michael Walther and Julian P. Hume)

Profound changes have occurred to not only birds but to also flora

The Hawaiian landscape, flora and fauna changed radically as the population grew. Plants from other parts of the world were introduced by waves of immigrants,. Ideal growing conditions saw the new species choking out native plants and the animals that depende on them. An example (above) of the same location, Waimea Valley on Ohau before and after over a span of 128 years.

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Meanwhile the first week of the holiday was passing quickly. A visit to Pearl Harbour Memorial site (free admission) and a 18 km hike to a Laysan Albatross colony at Ka'ena Point NWR were highlights. On the way to Ka'ena my son spotted a hawkmoth feeding on wildflowers.

Pink-spotted Hawkmoth. A important pollinator and yet another introduced species.
Nikon Z8 and 500mm PF lens

Pink-spotted Hawkmoth seen here feeding on introduced Morning Glory.

Without autofocus on the Nikon Z8 I don't think I would have stood a chance of capturing these scenes.

Vermillion Saddlebags?

At Ka'ena Point a rat and mongoose fence protects a small breeding colony of Laysan Albatross. Pacific Golden Plovers were everywhere as were Gray Francolin, an introduced game bird from India.

Laysan Albatross have a wingspan of almost three metres.

Laysan Albatross nestling. The adult lays just one egg.

Clumsy on land, elegant in flight.

Before leaving for Maui we headed over to the Japanese fishing Shrine to look for tropicbirds. My wife tells me she was petrified that I would fall over the cliff. I may have appeared that way from her viewpoint but I reassured her there was nothing to worry about. Our usual late start had me photographing white birds in the blazing midday sun. Such are family holidays.