What Kind Of Bird Is That?
If you keep your eyes open (especially while eating breakfast on the veranda of the Waikoloa Beach Resort Hotel) you will see a few uninvited but beautiful guests attempting to share breakfast with you. They look vaguely familiar but are certainly not the usual birds you find in your back yard at home, unless you come from the East and Midwest and have Cardinals to brighten up your day.
Most of the birds on land at sea level in Hawaii are introduced birds and not native to the Big Island or to the Hawaii complex. The exception might be some of the visiting shore birds (wandering tattler or Ulili, sanderlings or Hunakai, the Pacific Golden Plover or Kolea and the rarer bristle-thighed curlew or Kioea). Interestingly enough, no Gulls visit the Island. To see the scarce, beautiful endemic (only found in this location) birds of Hawaii, you need to go higher in the mountains (above 2000-3000 feet) and look carefully and be very patient. Visit this web site to get a picture of these beautiful birds: <http://chandra.as.utexas.edu/~kormendy/hibirds.html>
The common birds that you will see around the Island have been introduced by man and released into the environment. Since everyone loves living in Hawaii, these birds had little difficulty adapting to the wonderful weather, the abundant fruit and crops and easy living characteristic of life in Hawaii (at least for the birds).
The most frequently seen bird is the COMMON MYNA that was introduced from India in 1865 to control pests. These black birds with a yellow crescent behind its eye, waddle all over the place. They squawk, eat everything, fly in flocks and are feisty. There are three types of CARDINALS seen in Hawaii—the Red Crested Cardinal seen here (the most beautiful in my eyes), the Yellow -Billed Cardinal found only on the Big Island and the Northern Cardinal found on the Mainland.
These are the birds that join you for breakfast (or lunch or dinner or snacks) and are found on lawn, scrub or near the beaches. The SAFFRON FINCH (golden yellow with an orange patch on the face near the bill and the eye) is found along the Kona Coast (where we will be) and is found in groups, foraging for insects and seeds on the ground. There are many interesting birds to see and I suggest that you bring a pair of binoculars and purchase as copy of the Hawaii Audubon society’s book: Hawaii’s Birds (you can get it at the airport or at the small store in the Marriott Waikoloa Resort Hotel). One last bird, that is one of my favorites is a native of Indonesia and is the JAVA SPARROW.
This bird is found in flocks on lawns and in fields. The body is gray with a black tail and head. The bill is very large and it and the eye-ring are pink. There is a wide white patch on the cheek. I think that you will find it as beautiful as I do.
There are other exciting things to observe on the Island and in the future, I will introduce you to some of the exotic trees, bushes and plants—many of which are also introduced. Bring a camera…