Archive for category: Blog

(From the notebook of staff research assistant Adam Elzinga)

This fall we had a very successful banding effort in the Kawaikoi drainage of Koke‘e State Park. This site is located on the western edge of the Alaka‘i plateau and has seen steep declines in native forest bird abundance over the past ten years. We had heard intriguing reports of Akeke‘e and ‘Akikiki foraging along Kawaikoi stream, so decided it would be a worthwhile effort to try to locate and capture some of these critically-endangered forest birds surviving on the edge of their known range. Akeke‘e have proven very difficult to catch as they forage almost exclusively in the forest canopy and rarely venture low enough to be captured by traditional mist-nets. To address this issue, we modified a mist-net rigging design originally developed to catch Marbled Murrelets in the redwoods of California. With this new setup we were able to get a 12-meter net at canopy level in a known Akeke‘e foraging area. Luck was on our side and one morning as we watched a pair of Akeke‘e chasing each other through the canopy, we captured the fourth Akeke‘e in KFBRP history. With less than a thousand individuals remaining, every blood and feather sample we collect helps fill in the missing pieces needed to determine causes of their decline. While the Akeke‘e capture was very exciting, unexpectedly catching an ‘Akikiki in the same net was icing on the cake. The ‘Akikiki population has been in a rapid free-fall throughout its entire range, making it now one of the most imperiled species in Hawaii, and it has all but disappeared from the western end of the Alaka‘i. The difficulty in catching these extremely rare birds reinforces the necessity to study them before it is too late.

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(From the notebook of seasonal volunteer Liza Olson)

One of the highlights (and frustrations) of working with such rare, difficult-to-access species such as ‘Akikiki and ‘Akeke’e has to be the fact that there remains much about their behavior that is still poorly known.  Unlike other birds species, where nest monitoring work has been going on for decades and hundreds of nests have been described and monitored, studies on birds like ‘Akikiki are still in their infancy, and the number of nests monitored up to this point in time may only be in the dozens.

Understanding breeding biology is, without argument, one of the fundamental building blocks required to create an effective conservation plan.  Luckily, up in the Alaka’i, we learn something new every trip out.  Our knowledge databank is always growing.

For example, our field crew was initially baffled by the female at one of our ‘Akikiki nests because she would sit and brood her very old chick for long periods of time (40+ minutes, sometimes), even when it was nearly fledging age.  When the chick finally did fledge, the female ‘Akikiki returned right back to the nest and continued to sit, seemingly unphased by the lack of chick!  The mystery, however, was solved by the next nest check, when we looked into the nest with our peeper camera to see the nest contents.  One egg!  So it seems that the female was actually trying to continue to sit on an unhatched egg!  Fertility problems may be a possible contributing factor to ‘Akikiki declines, so the presence of an unhatched (possibly infertile) egg in the nest is of interest to us.

Another example of weird ‘Akikiki behavior has got to be the camp male, Orange/Black; Yellow/Aluminum—as his color bands read—but known better simply as the camp male, because we see him pretty regularly around camp.  Although we initially thought he had his own mate, lately this male has made a habit of showing up as a third wheel at the nests of other ‘Akikiki!  What are you doing, bird?  We haven’t observed him actually feeding any chicks or directly going to the nests, just foraging a few meters away.  Why don’t the parents chase him away as an intruder?  Could he somehow be helping out at the nest site?  While so far we haven’t seen any conclusive evidence of cooperative breeding, these observations certainly is enough to raise some eyebrows.

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(From the notebook of seasonal technician Cody Bear Sutton)

I think one of the most exciting things in life is adventuring into an unfamiliar wild place. My first trip into the Alaka’i did not disappoint. The group of seasonal workers for KFBRP received their first taste of the Alaka’i this past week and I think I speak for most of us when I say it was an eye-opening and awe-inspiring trip for those of us with little familiarity with Kaua’i.

We departed from Kekaha early in the morning on Friday and were immediately introduced to some of the jaw dropping vistas of Waimea Canyon on our way to the trailhead. For most of us, this was the first time seeing the “Grand Canyon of the Pacific” and all I can say is that it exceeded all the expectations that pictures of it led you to imagine. It is amazing on an island, which can at times feel so small, that there is this amazing canyon that immediately reminds you how small you really are. The canyon is one of the most beautiful and amazing sights I have ever seen on my travels around the United States.

While driving up the canyon you do not expect there to be a tropical rainforest at the end of the road but eventually you start to notice a change in the vegetation as you get closer to the trailheads into the Alaka’i. After some slow driving on some treacherous four wheel drive roads, we reached the trailhead and we were all pretty eager to start the hike into the Alaka’i for our first time. The hike started out with a search for a known ‘Akeke’e nest, which we were unable to locate after a few trips up and down the boardwalk.  Although we did not find the nest, which would have been a good example for those of us unfamiliar with the local forest birds, the search was not in vain. While searching, we encountered a few curious ‘Elepaios, some very musical ‘Apapane, a vibrant ‘Anianiau, and a strong voiced ‘Amakihi. These birds were beautiful and were exciting life birds for most of my colleagues and me.

After the nest search, we started on the hike to Kilohana Vista. At first the trail to the overlook implied that the Alaka’i was going to be relatively flat and easy hiking. These misconceptions disappear as soon as you drop down into the first drainage on the hike to the overlook. The trail begins a steep decent down some muddy terrain as well as an uncountable number of stairs. We stopped to have lunch next to a creek. As we ate, we listened to the sounds of ‘Apapane and got another good look at an ‘Anianiau. The trail up the other side of the drainage is some unforgiving hiking that requires some extra thought when picking your route and foot placement. Heading out of the drainage towards the boggier part of the Alaka’i we had our first encounter with the vibrant ‘I’iwi. Most of us were pretty excited to get our first glance at this obvious honeycreeper that would stand out against any bird in the contiguous U.S. I was amazed at how much some parts of the Alaka’i varied as I walked through some treeless areas of the swamp along the boardwalk. Eventually, we arrived at Kilohana Vista, which other than miraculous, cannot be adequately described. We took some time to snap some photos of the crew and enjoy the view before we started the hike back to the trailhead, which we had to do quickly to make it home by dinnertime. I left the Alaka’i that day thankful for this opportunity to work in such an amazing, one-of-a-kind place, as well as an extreme interest in exploring more of the forest and meeting the other endemic forest birds.

(From the notebook of seasonal technician Kevork Babayan)

The field season has come to an end and it’s been quite the journey for the “PU Crew.” We’ve spent the vast majority of our time conducting Occupancy Surveys (OS) for Puaiohi along five major streams in the Alaka’i: Mohihi, Waiakoali, Kauaikinana, Koaie, and a stream in the East Alaka’i Fenced Area. Mohihi Stream is the only one that has previously been surveyed using the current technique. The four other streams had not been visited in recent years, so in addition to setting up survey stations on each stream (20 stations, each 150m apart) we had to find ways to safely get into these drainages. Needless to say, there was lots of bushwhacking down steep slopes and mutterings under our breath.

Some of these streams had a fair amount of Puaiohi activity, such as Waiakoali. In others, like Kauaikinana, we found no Puaiohi at all (likely due to lack of suitable habitat and the stream being overrun with invasive species).

Nevertheless, it was always exciting to hear a Puaiohi call, or better yet, sing! The first time I heard a wild Puaiohi sing was while scouting out the slot canyon-like upper drainages of Koaie Stream in the central Alaka’i Plateau. The bird was a good distance downstream of us, but the male’s song echoed so beautifully through the canyon, I couldn’t help but think just how well the Puaiohi fits into its environment. Although I had seen and heard the beauty of the Alaka’i forest, something still seemed amiss. Only after hearing the Puaiohi’s song against the picturesque backdrop of moss- and fern-draped canyon walls cut by babbling streams did I find a track worthy enough to go along with the scene. The Puaiohi do truly belong there, and nothing else can replace them.

(from the notebook of seasonal volunteer Laura Southcott)

The AK team (as we call the people who search for ‘Akikiki and ‘Akeke’e birds and nests) had a successful start to the season last week as they discovered the first ‘Akikiki nest of the year, and the first ‘Akikiki nest of Ruby’s M.S. Thesis. The nest was discovered near one of our access trails when we noticed the female delivering twigs to the almost complete, mossy structure high in an ohia tree while her mate watched nearby.

While we’ve heard and seen ‘Akeke’e singing and foraging in pairs, we’re still on the hunt for any of their nests. The breeding season seems to be starting up for other Kaua’i forest birds as well. We’ve found five ‘Elepaio nests so far (in fact, one is less than 50m from the ‘Akikiki nest), as well as one each for the ‘Anianiau and Japanese white-eye. All are still under construction, but we expect eggs to be laid soon!”