Invitation to Documentary Screening: “Vanishing Voices – Saving Our Hawaiian Forest Birds” with Expert Panel Discussion

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YOU ARE INVITED!
American Bird Conservancy is hosting a special screening of the documentary “Vanishing Voices – Saving Our Hawaiian Forest Birds”** at the **Kauaʻi Community College Performing Arts Center (KCC PAC)** on **Monday, September 30th at 6:00 PM. 
This captivating film explores the critical efforts to save Hawai‘i’s unique and endangered forest birds, featuring Kaua’i Forest Bird Recovery Project among others.  Following the screening, there will be an expert panel for Q&A with:
– Dr. Lisa “Cali” Crampton, Project Leader, Kauaʻi Forest Bird Recovery Project
– Justin Hite, DLNR/DOFAW Mosquito Control Project
– Graham Talaber, Naturalist and Photographer
This is an excellent opportunity to learn about these rare species and the innovative strategies being employed to protect them. We hope you can join us for this inspiring event.
We look forward to seeing you there!

Wings of the Alakaʻi: A Puaiohi’s Brave First Flight

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by Jack Alexander
Puaiohi are a skulky, secretive bird in the Thrush family. They will sit still and stay hidden for as long as you look for them, then suddenly reappear with one loud call. Their harsh, grating call is the best way to find and follow them. Follow them long enough during the breeding season, and they might just lead you back to their nest. Puaiohi build nests of interwoven grass and twigs on small ledges of streamside cliffs in the Alakaʻi Plateau, and during the spring of 2024, field crews from Kauaʻi Forest Bird Recovery Project followed Puaiohi back to as many of these nests as possible to track nesting success of the endangered bird. Puaiohi are threatened by introduced species like rats and cats who predate on eggs, chicks, and incubating mothers. Thatʻs why every chick that successfully leaves the nest, an event known as fledging, is cause for celebration.
Back in May, I was walking down a small stream close to camp to check on a few Puaiohi pairs I knew were incubating chicks. We monitor active nests every 3-4 days during the breeding season to track how many chicks successfully fledge, giving new hope for the survival of the species. That day, I was passing right by a nest my coworker had checked the day before. I planned on walking right by without stopping, as to stay out of the way of any worried parents, but when I glanced over I saw a big ball of grey and white feathers. It was one of the chicks, and it was standing on the rim, ready to fledge. Immediately, my coworker and I started to look for somewhere to sit down and watch. We had to see this.
We found a nice clearing under some ʻōhiʻa, maybe 40 yards from the cliff wall. We could see the two chicks through our binoculars, the older one bravely looking out across the stream. A dense patch of ferns make great landing pads for Puaiohi on their first flight. Over the next hour and a half, we watched this chick make the terrifying decision to fly away from the nest. Luckily for this bird, Puaiohi are actually much safer away from the nest, where they can quickly fly away from predators. The inner turmoil was obvious in the bird’s behavior. It would flap its wings a bit, then step back and reassess. At one point, it seemed to actually start flying, but didn’t manage to let go of the nest. It went completely horizontal before doing a 180 and stepping right back up to its perch.
Eventually, though, the young Puaiohi took off from its nest, flying at a steep angle to the ground across the stream. For the next several weeks, it wouldn’t go far while it learned to fly and forage for itself. In the meantime, frequent visits from mom and dad would mean free meals of ‘ōlapa, lapalapa, kanawao, and ōhelo berries.
Not all Puaiohi chicks are this lucky. Many are eaten before they ever get the chance to fledge. At KFBRP, we deploy hundreds of rat traps in key Puaiohi habitat to prevent their decline, but we can only do so much. I feel incredibly lucky to have seen this event, and I know that this bird will always represent to me the hope and hard work of all the good people working to conserve Kauaʻi’s native ecosystems.

AERIAL WAR AGAINST BIRD-KILLING MOSQUITOES ON KAUA‘I AND MAUI

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(ALAKA‘I PLATEAU, KAUA‘I) — An airborne war against avian-malaria-spreading mosquitoes is actively underway on Kaua‘i, and on Maui.
In the 2013 film “Planes,” audiences of all ages became familiar with a crop duster named Dusty.  On Kaua‘i conservationists are flying a helicopter version of Dusty to spread a harmless bacterium in native forests inhabited by near-extinct honeycreepers, like the ‘akikiki.
BTi, short for the larvicide Bacillus Thuringiensis Israelensis, is a bacterium naturally occurring in soils and waterways. The beauty of using BTi to suppress populations of the species of mosquito that carries avian malaria is that it is harmless to other creatures, including people.
“It won’t affect any vertebrates like fish or birds, or your dog or your pig, or even you if you happen to drink water that this bacterium is found in,” explains Dr. Lisa ‘Cali’ Crampton, project manager for the Kaua‘i Forest Bird Recovery Project (KFBRP).
Since last fall, twice each month for three days at a time, a helicopter equipped with a boom with dozens of nozzles has flown up to a 1,200-acre parcel on the vast Alaka‘i Plateau to spray BTi over the forest and streams.
During a June briefing for the Board of Land and Natural Resources, Lindsey Nietmann, the forest bird recovery coordinator for the DLNR Division of Forestry and Wildlife, noted, “BTi has been used globally for public health and nuisance control of mosquitoes. It’s EPA-approved, and you can buy it over the counter. It can be applied by truck, handheld broadcast sprayer, or aircraft. We’re using a helicopter because we’re trying to target the millions of little pools of water in Hawai‘i’s rainforests, where mosquitoes can breed.”
The second phase of BTi work on Kaua‘i is underway now. The first phase last fall showed that water with BTi killed mosquito larvae at far greater rates than water without the bacteria. BTi applications are scheduled to begin on Maui after the first of the year.
Crampton said, “Like most mosquito control treatments, this is year-round suppression. We want to keep their numbers down to decrease disease transmission rates, so birds will not get infected as often by mosquito-borne diseases like avian malaria.”
She added that once you take the foot off the brake, the mosquito train will roll on. “So, we have to keep applying that brake.”
The Incompatible Insect Technique (IIT) is another tool currently being used to control mosquito populations on Maui. It will join the BTi arsenal on Kaua‘i next year.
“I think the tricky question in conservation right now is that there is such a crisis and there is such a demand on financial and other resources, we’re all trying to figure out the best way to deal with our huge problems,” Crampton said.
Is it BTi combined with IIT? “Is it bringing all remaining individuals of at-risk species into captivity until we can get landscape-scale mosquito suppression,“ Crampton wondered. “We need people to understand the importance of these tools and backing initiatives to employ all available tools.”
If “Chopper Dusty” has any say, it would be to throw everything possible at controlling mosquitoes in Hawai‘i’s native forests.
“It is to our benefit to do everything humanly possible to protect these birds. The tiny cost of this helicopter operation is worth it, compared to the catastrophic losses, economically and culturally, we would experience if we lost our native forest birds,” Crampton concluded.
Graham Talaber

KAUA‘I FOREST BIRD PROTECTION AWARDED GRANTS TO RESEARCH AVIAN MALARIA IN HAWAIIAN HONEYCREEPERS

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(HONOLULU) – The U.S. National Science Foundation (NSF) and the Paul G. Allen Family Foundation has announced a $644,758 grant to the Kaua‘i Forest Bird Recovery Project (KFBRP) to support on-the-ground efforts in its battle against avian malaria. The grant was awarded Tuesday.

A like amount of grant funding was also awarded to the University of Hawai‘i and the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) for continued research to improve mosquito breeding to create non-viable offspring to reduce the disease transmission to Hawaiian honeycreeper forest birds.

Dr. Lisa ‘Cali’ Crampton, KFBRP Program Manager said, “We are very excited to be involved in this effort to use top-notch science to help us advance conservation of critically endangered forest bird species through reduction of mosquito-borne disease. Funding from the Partnership to Advance Conservation and Practice (PACSP) program will allow KFBRP to better monitor and refine the application and efficacy of a new tool, the Incompatible Insect Technique (IIT), to suppress mosquitoes in Hawaiian forest bird habitat.”

This research is one of 10 projects receiving funding under the PACSP program, a first-of-its-kind collaboration between the NSF and the Paul G. Allen Family Foundation. Now in its second year, the program is designed to catalyze deep collaboration between researchers advancing basic science and conservation partners engaging in on-the-ground conservation.

The projects focus on a range of species, from Hawaiian honeycreepers to grizzly bears and Venus flytraps. The outcomes will have far-reaching implications for biodiversity and conservation, policy, and the economy.

“The fundamental knowledge these projects create, even though related to specific species, will unlock innovative conservation efforts across a broader range of threatened species and ecosystems,” said Lara Littlefield, executive director for programs and partnerships at the Paul G. Allen Family Foundation. “For instance, studying whether mosquitoes infected with bacteria can limit the spread of malaria among birds in Hawaii could ultimately limit disease spread among other animals more broadly.”

Each project extends basic science into on-the-ground conservation to address critical knowledge and data gaps, enabling greater real-world impact to benefit species and ecosystems.

“The unique partnerships this program creates forge a roadmap to broader conservation action by uniting the skills, expertise and tools needed to address the most urgent threats to our natural world,” said Susan Marqusee, NSF assistant director for biological sciences. “These projects also will engage the public, policymakers, law enforcement and others in conservation through education, outreach and other broader impacts.”

David Smith, DLNR Division of Forestry and Wildlife (DOFAW) Administrator commented, “This grant builds on the strong multi-partner collaboration already in place to combat avian malaria as the single-largest threat facing native forest birds, like the honeycreepers. Every little bit helps, particularly currently, when we are facing the strong likelihood of one or more species of honeycreepers going extinct in the very near future.”

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RESOURCES

(All images/video courtesy: DLNR)

HD video – ‘Akikiki egg collection, Kaua‘i (May 10-11, 2023):

https://vimeo.com/1001383557

Photographs – ‘Akikiki egg collection, Kaua‘i (May 10-11, 2023):

https://www.dropbox.com/sh/ub9d8rq35b1zu4z/AACSUGGUfBdknMOC_iK9ea8Aa?st=2rdp779x&dl=0

Learn more about the Partnership to Advance Conservation Science and Practice program and view the full list of awards and awardees: https://www.nsf.gov/

 

Media Contact:

Dan Dennison

Communications Director

808-587-0396

DLNR.comms@hawaii.gov

 

Birds, Not Mosquitoes Partnership Receives Hawaiʻi Conservation Innovation Award

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The Birds, Not Mosquitoes (BNM) partnership  received the Hawai‘i Conservation Alliance’s (HCA) Conservation Innovation Award on July 31 during the 31st annual Hawai‘i Conservation Conference in Honolulu. The award recognizes new technologies or techniques used in conservation activities that lead to significant advances to the structure or nature of environmental conservation in Hawai‘i. In choosing BNM for the award, HCA noted the speed, cooperation, strategic thinking, and community engagement that characterizes this unique alliance of federal, state, and nongovernmental organizations.

“The Birds, Not Mosquitoes coalition has shown exemplary collaboration that embodies the collective spirit and innovation needed to tackle Hawaiʻi’s toughest conservation challenges,” said Emma Anders, HCA Director. “Thanks to their teamwork and application of cutting-edge science, we are now giving native forest birds a chance at survival. This award is especially significant as it is taking place during Makahiki o Nā Manu Nahele, the Year of the Forest Birds.”

Each of the BNM partners have been working to restore habitat and combat non-native mosquitoes and avian disease, but the rapid collapse of four bird species — the ʻAkikiki and ʻAkekeʻe on Kauaʻi and the Kiwikiu and ʻĀkohekohe on Maui — catalyzed the formation of the partnership focused on suppressing mosquito populations to stop avian malaria from killing them. Since its inception in 2017, the BNM team has collaborated to develop and safely deploy an innovative tool called the Incompatible Insect Technique (IIT). While IIT has been used safely around the world for mosquito-borne diseases that affect human health, this is its first application for conservation.

Following years of rigorous study, analysis, and technological innovation, BNM has successfully and safely conducted releases over the last eight months of more than 15 million nonbiting, infertile male mosquitos across several thousand acres in remote conservation areas on Haleakalā, Maui. Planning is underway to begin deployment over a few thousand acres of remote forests on the Alaka‘i Plateau, Kauaʻi in early 2025.

This work could not have been accomplished without funding support from the Department of Interior’s Hawaiian Forest Bird Conservation Keystone Initiative, the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, the Inflation Reduction Act, and substantial additional funding from the State of Hawai‘i Department of Land and Natural Resources. The National Fish and Wildlife Foundation is also a major supporter, along with several private foundations, private donors, and nonprofit organizations.

The BNM partnership includes the following organizations:

The Last ‘Akikiki

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PAYING HOMAGE TO THE LAST ‘AKIKIKI IN THE WILD

Dr. Lisa “Cali” Crampton was featured on KITV, after the following DLNR press release was by Dan Dennison:

 

Dr. Lisa "Cali" Crampton

Click on the image to view the featured video on KITV

When a group of men hiked into a remote mountain valley in April, they knew it could be the last time they saw an ‘akikiki in the wild.

“This was kind of a trip to say goodbye. ‘Akikiki are down to at most, a handful of individuals, maybe even fewer,” said Justin Hite, a longtime field supervisor for the Kaua‘i Forest Bird Recovery Project (KFBRP), now working on mosquito control planning with the DLNR Division of Forestry and Wildlife.

“What do you do at the end of a species? They don’t take any solace from us coming to visit. It was much more about us wanting to be able to say goodbye and to get around them one last time,” Hite added.

Once numbering in the thousands in the stunning valleys and ridges of native forest, their decline in recent years has been predicted and precipitous.

Just when the broad collaboration of government agencies, nonprofits, and countless individuals seemed to be making inroads in protecting the birds from predators like cats and rats, avian malaria upset the equation. Global warming has forced disease-carrying mosquitoes to the higher elevation habitats of the ‘akikiki and other Hawaiian honeycreepers. One by one the deadly disease has picked them off.

“That is the tragedy, right?” asks Dr. Lisa “Cali” Crampton of the KFBRP. “We are seeing this climate disaster, so I apologize (to the ‘akikiki) for what we have done as people. I do want the ‘akikiki to know that we really appreciated getting to know them. You know, were it not for this crisis, I don’t think people would have gotten to know ‘akikiki as well as we have and come to love them as well as we have.”

Photo: Dan Dennison – DLNR

Their plight has reached far and wide. School children in India named an asteroid after ‘akikiki.

During the recent trip, the team kept an eye out for one female bird, named Pakele. Hite said, “We met her in 2020 and she was exceptional from the start.” In Hawaiian, Pakele means to escape. Three seasons in a row she had successful nests, possibly while being infected with malaria. “She’s like, it doesn’t affect me. She’s kind of this incredible individual.”

For more than a decade, field teams forged personal connections with the birds by naming them and instantly knowing who they were from their multi-colored leg bands.

“This is much harder to talk about than I thought it was going to be. Just recapturing the emotions that we felt, as we know these birds. In my case I spent ten breeding seasons up on the Alaka‘i,” Hite added.

The spiritual connection, as Crampton describes it, is one layer of the extinction of the ‘akikiki. “That’s represented now by one bird like Pakele still being out in the wild. That’s enormously important to my staff. I think it’s enormously important to the public and to cultural practitioners who look at Pakele as representing the hope we have, because she just keeps going. Hopefully she’ll find a mate. Even though they cannot sustain a wild population, they can sustain our hope and that’s critical at this juncture.”

Despite the existence of one, two, or three birds remaining in the wild, the species is considered functionally extinct. The best and only chance for a viable future lies with captive ‘akikiki at bird conservation centers operated by San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance. Perhaps one day, after the threat of avian malaria is stamped out, ‘akikiki can be released back into the high plateau, mountains, and deep valleys of Kaua‘i.

“We did our best, given our knowledge and the available science,” Crampton said. “I want us to understand that we’re all in this together. The fate of all these species is collectively the responsibility of humans everywhere in this world. It is our actions that have led to the situation our planet is in. I’d like everyone to just champion the environment wherever they are.”

 

 

 

 

 

LĪHUʻE AIRPORT WINDOW DISPLAY HIGHLIGHTS NATIVE FOREST BIRDS

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(LĪHUʻE, KAUA‘I) – A display in the Līhuʻe Airport is showcasing the unique wildlife found on Kaua‘i and the threats it faces from invasive species.

The Garden Island Arts Council teamed up with Hallux Ecosystem Restoration, LLC, to create the large window display. As part of the ‘Year of the Forest Birds’ (ka Makahiki o Nā Manu Nahele), models and photos of Kaua‘i’s endemic birds and plants illustrate information about the uniqueness of these species, and the many local groups working to save them.

“I feel the connection to the birds in the forest is really an important part that everybody that lives here and visits here should really understand. They are like our messengers to tell us the health of the forest and to just be the indicator of things that are changing.  They’re the ones that seem to be the most impacted,” said Kat Ho of the Garden Island Arts Council.

The exhibit also educates viewers about invasive species putting the birds at risk. “In this display we highlight feral goats, feral pigs, feral cats, along with the variety of invasive plant species like strawberry guava, banana poka, blackberry and Himalayan ginger, the list goes on and on,” said Aliana Ho of Hallux Ecosystem Restoration. “A lot of folks are saying that they didn’t know that these species were not native to Hawai‘i, a lot of folks are saying that they’re really grateful for this information and they wish it was in more places, or that it was in every airport.”

A scannable QR code encourages people to interact and provide feedback about what they learned. The responses reflect a high level of engagement so far.

“Each of our islands has endemic species, bird species, that are only found on this specific island. And one of the things that I really would like visitors and residents that come here looking at this display to learn is how special this is, and how unique this is,” said Dr. Julia Diegmann planner at Kaua‘i Forest Bird Recovery Project. “They are important for the forest. They have ecosystem functions. They are important for the culture here in Hawai‘i. To me this is really, really important because it shows us how important and special they are and how much they are a part of the essence that makes Hawaiʻi, Hawaiʻi.”

BLESSING FOR THE START OF FOREST BIRD FIELD SEASON ON KAUA‘I 2024 is The Year of The Forest Birds

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(KŌKE‘E STATE PARK, KAUA‘I) –A muddy and weary team from the Kaua‘i Forest Bird Recovery Project (KFBRP), arrived here in time for the annual blessing of the field season for conservationists working against the clock to save numerous species of Hawaiian Honeycreepers from extinction.

For more than a decade, the hālau from Ka ʻImi Naʻauao O Hawaiʻi Nei Institute have performed ‘oli and chants to kick off the annual forest bird field season. Kumu Keahi Manea commented prior to last Friday’s blessing, “We made the commitment years ago and we’ve learned a lot about the birds we didn’t know. They’ve learned a lot about hula, and chant, and mele, and things Hawaiian they didn’t know. They inspired us to create new ‘oli, mele, songs, and hula. We love doing it.”

Tyler Winter, a field crew leader with KFBRP, spent the first four-day long field excursion with a team doing predator control work and bird captures. The teams are trying to bring as many of the extremely endangered birds into safety as possible, while efforts to control avian malaria-carrying mosquitos ramp up. Once the disease threat is under control the hope is to return honeycreeper species to the wild, like the remote mountainous areas in the Kōke‘e, Waimea Canyon, Alaka‘i Plateau regions of Kaua‘i.

“I think it’s important to have these blessings. As the populations of these birds diminish and we must go further and further into the field to access them, so much of our time is spent in the field, we don’t have much time to interact with people. Being at a blessing like this is super important, because it’s one of the few times we get to see the impacts these birds have on people and their important cultural significance. It also helps with our new hires we take into the field to have them see the engagement that’s going on with the forest birds.

On Friday’s blessing day, KFBRP and the Kaua‘i Invasive Species Committee (KISC) had outreach and education displays set up under tents, along with experts to answer visitors’ questions.

Kim Rogers of KISC said, that while her organization typically deals with issues like Rapid ʻŌhiʻa Death (ROD), there’s a clear nexus between forest health and biodiversity and the plight of Hawai‘i’s forest birds.

“When people think about fauna in our forests, they think about our precious forest birds. ʻŌhiʻa and the forest birds have a very reciprocal relationship in that the trees provide homes, food, and nectar. In return the forest birds help pollinate ʻōhiʻa lehua. It’s a mutually beneficial relationship. You can’t have one or talk about one without having the other.”

The hālau performed several original mele, including one that describes the beauty and characteristics of several at-risk species like, ‘akikiki and kiwikiu, two of the honeycreepers expected to completely disappear from Hawaiian forests imminently.

Governor Josh Green, M.D. and Kaua‘i Mayor Derek S.K. Kawakami have both proclaimed Makahiki o Nā Manu Nahele, The Year of the Forest Birds. That recognition along with Friday’s blessing is giving encouragement and hope to the teams working to save the birds.

Winter explained, “This season is going to be really cool. We’ll be traveling a lot across the Alaka‘i Plateau. Last season we did a really focused recovery effort for the ‘akikiki, as such we spent a lot of time in areas that we knew were good habitat and high quality for those birds. This year we’re doing more of a survey of the entire plateau. The dream would be if there are ‘akikiki still out there or other pockets of endangered species we’ll be able to encounter them and hopefully gain more information on how to protect them.”

All the researchers and conservationists involved in forest bird recovery projects, especially on Kaua‘i and Maui say they are realistic but hopeful. To work in conservation and to protect these species you have to be hopeful. We’ll have keen eyes and ears out for them. That’s what we’ll be doing this year.”

 

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RESOURCES

(All images/video courtesy: DLNR)

 

HD video – Kaua‘i forest bird field season blessing (March 1, 2024):

https://vimeo.com/919279997?share=copy

(Shot sheet/transcriptions attached)

 

HD video – Ka ʻImi Naʻauao O Hawaiʻi Nei full mele and hula (March 1, 2024)

https://vimeo.com/919283327?share=copy

(Recorded as live)

 

Photographs – Kauaʻi forest bird field season blessing (March 1, 2024):

https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fo/0lf0zs955ss6n7ls8qftr/h?rlkey=t7dt4vm55gwvz1g2vvexndant&dl=0

 

Media Contact:

Dan Dennison

Communications Director

808-587-0396

DLNR.comms@hawaii.gov

Mosquito Control Project to Save Honeycreepers Underway on Maui and Kaua‘i – Method Aims to Prevent Hawaiian Honeycreeper Extinctions

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Several Hawaiian honeycreepers are facing imminent extinction due to avian malaria carried by invasive southern house mosquitoes. Members of the multi-agency partnership Birds, Not Mosquitoes (BNM) have begun releasing non-biting male southern house mosquitoes on Maui and Kaua‘i to reduce their populations. Following years of rigorous study and analysis, the releases began in November 2023 after regulatory approval from state and federal agencies.

“This really is a critical milestone as it demonstrates the strength of our partnerships to ensure the long-term survival of our island’s honeycreepers,” says Dr. Earl Campbell, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Field Supervisor for the Pacific Islands Fish and Wildlife Office. “It is made even more momentous as our collaborative efforts occur during Makahiki o Nā Manu Nahele, the Year of the Forest Bird.”

This work is part of the U.S. Department of Interior’s Strategy to Prevent the Extinction of Hawaiian Forest Birds and it is urgent: Hawaiʻi’s forest birds have declined from more than 50 different native honeycreepers to just 17 species remaining today.

“Manu are revered as our ‘ohana and for too long, their songs have been declining,” says Ulalia Woodside Lee, Executive Director, The Nature Conservancy Hawai‘i and Palmyra. “We have a kuleana, a responsibility, to give nā manu nahele a chance to nourish Hawaiian culture and spirit, as well as pollinate our forests and keep them growing. We are looking forward to the day when honeycreepers aren’t rare in Hawaiʻi’s forests.”

Mosquitoes are rapidly moving to higher elevations as the climate changes and native forests get warmer and drier. Without significantly reducing mosquito populations, multiple native bird species are likely to go extinct in the wild in less than 10 years, including the kiwikiu and ʻākohekohe on Maui, and ʻakikiki and ʻakekeʻe on Kauaʻi.  

“After decades without the tools to solve this problem, this project is our best chance to save the birds and native forests for future generations,” says Dr. Chris Farmer, Hawai‘i Program Director for American Bird Conservancy (ABC). “I am excited and honored to be part of this historic collaboration to address difficult, previously intractable conservation problems, and commit to long-term solutions.” 

The male southern house mosquitoes, which do not bite or transmit disease, carry a strain of the common, naturally occurring Wolbachia bacteria. When they mate with females in the wild, which carry a different strain of this bacteria, their eggs don’t hatch, causing the mosquito population to decrease. No new species are being introduced to Hawai‘i; both the mosquitoes and the Wolbachia bacteria are already here. This method has been safely used to control the spread of human diseases by mosquitoes around the world.

“This project is our best opportunity to reverse the trend of shrinking bird populations for these species that are found only in Hawaiʻi,” says Dr. Lindsey Nietmann, Forest Bird Recovery Coordinator for the Hawai‘i Department of Land and Natural Resources Division of Forestry and Wildlife. “In addition to protecting the birds that remain in our forests, we hope these efforts will one day lead to the release of captive populations that are currently in conservation breeding facilities and awaiting re-introduction to the wild.”

Monitoring is an essential part of this project. It helps determine if mosquito populations are decreasing, malaria prevalence is decreasing, and native bird populations are stabilizing or increasing. Maui Forest Bird Recovery Project (MFBRP) has been leading implementation on Maui. Landscape level deployment has begun over a few thousand acres of remote forests on East Maui.

“Our monitoring is driven by science and is designed to gather the best possible data,” says Dr. Christa Seidl, MFBRP’s Mosquito Research and Control Coordinator. “Our field team provides essential boots on the ground and in the air, spending long, often wet days in remote forests checking mosquito traps and collecting data.”

Kaua‘i Forest Bird Recovery Project has been leading efforts on Kaua‘i, and has completed small scale pilot releases to assess how far the male mosquitoes travel. Next steps include releases over a few thousand acres of forest on the Alaka‘i Plateau.

This project could not have happened without substantial state and federal partnership and funding. In particular, the Biden administration’s Investing in America Agenda committed nearly $16 million through the Department of the Interior to catalyze extinction prevention in Hawai‘i. This funding is part of the broader Hawaiian Forest Bird Conservation Keystone initiative. The National Fish and Wildlife Foundation is also a major supporter.

“This effort represents the culmination of decades of collaborative research between the Department of the Interior and State biologists, non-governmental organizations, and private enterprises,” says Dr. Dennis LaPointe, Research Ecologist at United States Geological Survey Pacific Island Ecosystems Research Center. “The timely development of this safe and effective tool to suppress mosquito populations in forest bird habitats brings new hope for the preservation of the remaining Hawaiian honeycreepers.”

In 2024, the partnership will continue releases on Maui, expand releases on Kaua‘i, and prepare a Statewide Environmental Assessment. The State Department of Health will lead that assessment, which will address application of this method for both conservation and public health.

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American Bird Conservancy is a nonprofit organization dedicated to conserving wild birds and their habitats throughout the Americas. With an emphasis on achieving results and working in partnership, we take on the greatest problems facing birds today, innovating and building on rapid advancements in science to halt extinctions, protect habitats, eliminate threats, and build capacity for bird conservation.

The Nature Conservancy, Hawai‘i and Palmyra: The Nature Conservancy is a global non-profit organization dedicated to conserving the lands and waters on which all life depends. Informed by science and guided by traditional values and practices, we apply innovative, nature-based solutions to our world’s toughest challenges so that nature and people can thrive. TNC has forged partnerships to manage 14 preserves and other sites in Hawai‘i and Palmyra Atoll, working with government, private parties and communities to protect Hawai‘i’s and Palmyra’s forests and coral reefs for their ecological value and for the many benefits they provide to people.

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service works with others to conserve, protect, and enhance fish, wildlife, plants, and their habitats for the continuing benefit of the American people. The Service works closely with partners to conserve fish, wildlife, plants, and their habitats throughout Pacific Islands. The areas we help to protect include the state of Hawaiʻi, the Territory of Guam, the Territory of American Samoa, the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, and the islands and waters located within Papahānaumokuākea Marine National Monument, Rose Atoll Marine National Monument, and the Pacific Remote Islands Marine National Monument.

Maui Forest Bird Recovery Project (MFBRP): MFBRP is a project of the Pacific Cooperative Studies Unit (PCSU) of the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa in association with Hawai‘i Department of Land and Natural Resources (DLNR), Division of Forestry and Wildlife (DOFAW). It is funded and supported by numerous partners including the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and Nā Koa Manu Conservation Inc. MFBRP is driven by science and dedicated to the conservation of Hawaiʻi’s native forest ecosystems. Our mission is to develop and implement techniques that recover Mauiʻs endangered birds and to restore their habitats through research, development, and application of conservation techniques.

Kauaʻi Forest Bird Recovery Project (KFBRP): KFBRP is a project of the Pacific Cooperative Studies Unit (PCSU) of the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa in association with Hawai‘i Department of Land and Natural Resources (DLNR), Division of Forestry and Wildlife (DOFAW). It is funded and supported by numerous partners including the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, DOFAW, and several other organizations and individuals. The Kaua‘i Forest Bird Recovery Project is committed to promoting knowledge, appreciation, and conservation of Kaua‘i’s native forest birds, all of which are unique to Hawai‘i; several are endemic to (found only on) Kaua‘i.

Pacific Cooperative Studies Unit (PCSU):  PCSU’s mission is to protect and restore Hawai‘i’s native species, ecosystems, and cultural resources. 

2024 is Ka Makahiki o Nā Manu Nahele: The Year of the Forest Birds

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2024 is Ka Makahiki o Nā Manu Nahele: The Year of the Forest Birds, a time to celebrate the jewels of our Hawaiian forests. Our native forest birds are uniquely Hawaiian: they exist only in the Hawaiian Islands and nowhere else in the world. These birds have critical ecological roles as pollinators, seed dispersers, and insect managers of Hawaiian forests. Our forest birds are an inextricable part of Native Hawaiian culture in their roles as ʻaumakua (family deities) and messengers between akua (gods) and kānaka (people). Nā manu nahele are celebrated in mele (songs) moʻolelo (stories), ʻōlelo noʻeau (proverbs), kaʻao (legends), and in the creation of feather adornments including lei hulu.

Our nā manu nahele are at risk: of 84 forest bird species known from either the fossil record or human observation, an astonishing 58 species have gone extinct. Of the 26 species that remain today, 24 are listed by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature as vulnerable, near-threatened, threatened, endangered, or critically endangered, including the ʻio seen here (PC: Bret Mossman). To learn more about why Hawaiʻi has lost so many native birds and what is being done to save those that remain, explore below and come to one of our Makahiki o Nā Manu Nahele events this year to meet the manu experts who help prevent extinction.

Makahiki o Nā Manu Nahele is brought to you by a partnership of manu enthusiasts from DLNR Forestry & Wildlife, Kamehameha Schools, Kauaʻi Forest Bird Recovery Project, Maui Forest Bird Recovery Project, the ʻAlalā Project, the University of Hawaiʻi Rapid ʻŌhiʻa Death outreach group, Bishop Museum, US Fish & Wildlife Service, Birds Not Mosquitoes, the Coordinating Group on Alien Pest Species, the Invasive Species Committees, Hawaiʻi Association of Watershed Partnerships, and the Nature Conservancy of Hawaiʻi.

Find all news and more information here: https://dlnr.hawaii.gov/dofaw/manu/