Birding The Big Island - Part 1

Birding on the Big Island of Hawaii was one of my favorite birding experiences. When I travel to a new destination, I fantasize about all the exotic birds I am going to simply stumble upon, and Hawai'i does not disappoint! Even the common pigeons and sparrows are birds that you won't see anywhere else in the United States.

With some research, I decided my goal was 30 new life list birds, 25 of which appeared to be common birds on the big island, so I was inspired to turn that list into a BINGO and have my family help, in exchange for prizes, of course. My family does not mind being bribed, and I love that about them.

February 26th, we flew in late and woke up the first morning at a little hotel called the Aeolian Ranch, a converted ranch house near Kona airport with a beautiful view over the coast and lush gardens. As the birds started their day and my family groggily arose, I handed out the BINGO cards, and we spent the morning bird watching from the panoramic windows. As the sun rose, we quickly picked up our first 6 birds: the Yellow-fronted Canary, Yellow-billed Cardinal, Saffron Finch, Zebra Dove, Warbling White-eye, and Kalij Pheasant. An hour of birding flew by; everyone was feeling amped up. We debated hanging out to see how many we could observe from our vantage point but decided to move on and explore the island.

Aeolian Ranch - Yellow-fronted Canary, Yellow-billed Cardinal, Saffron Finch, Zebra Dove, Warbling White-eye, Kalij Pheasant (1 - 6 life list & BINGO birds)

Our beautiful sunny morning turned rainy as we drove over the Saddle Road and apparently straight into a cloud. The rainforest at the Kaulama Manu Nature Trail was rainy as advertised. In a drizzling mist, we made our way around the nature loop trail and found it surprisingly devoid of birds. At the overlook, we saw some evidence of a red bird in the treetops in the distance but had no way of determining which of Hawai'i's many red birds it was. As the rain thickened, most of the party headed back to the car, but my dad and I lagged behind. Out of the blue, with the growing sound of falling rain, appeared the sounds of bird calls. We stared up through the thick canopy with fat raindrops falling on our faces and tried to get a good look at the birds darting above us. Finally, a floofy stationary bird with a full, gorgeous song sat above us. I struggled to get my camera lens clean enough to see it in the dim light. I suspected and later confirmed with a playback of that song that it was an 'Ōma'o. As we climbed the initial slope at the end of the nature trail loop, we were finally poised to observe one of the red birds busily checking flowers for nectar; it was none other than the iconic 'I'iwi, a stunning bird and a real treat to watch.

Kaulama Manu Nature Trail - 'Oma'o and 'I'iwi in the pouring rain (7, 8 life list & BINGO birds)

Down in Hilo, it was dry again. I plotted a loop for us from the Hilo farmer's market to the Wailoa River State Recreation Area via the Hilo Bayfront soccer fields. We picked up a Common myna, Rock pigeon, and Spotted dove amongs the downtown shops. The soccer fields were full of Pacific golden-plovers. The grass around the Wailoa Art Center was full of Red junglefowl, Muscovy ducks (escapees), and a Helmeted guineafowl (escapee). On the beachfront path on the way back, we encountered Ruddy turnstones and a Western cattle egret. It was a long walk but a huge success. I wondered how long we could keep up the birding pace.

Hilo Bayfront Soccer Fields - Common myna, Rock pigeon, Spotted dove, Pacific golden-plover, Red junglefowl, Muscovy ducks, Helmeted guineafowl, Ruddy turnstone, Western cattle egret (9 - 15 life list birds, not including escapees, 9 - 14 BINGO birds)

I knew the true test of our birding success would be at the higher elevations where the birds are more timid and hidden in the trees rather than walking around the sidewalks in town. On our first morning in Hawai'i Volcanoes National Park, we decided to hit the combined Lava Tube and Kilauea Iki Crater loop. We were welcomed by a Kalij pheasant in the parking lot who checked us out, no doubt for food, but we were soon beckoned onto the trail by the song of an 'Oma'o. From the second we hit the trail, the trees buzzed with small, busy, red birds. We all strained to get eyes on one, and I repeatedly asked, what color is their butt? Finally, we concluded it was white, and a few photos showed that we were glimpsing 'Apapane. The native Hawaiian birds were vocal but quick like warblers, and Merlin sound id wasn't trained to help us with the natives. It was sheer luck then when starting our climb out of the Kīlauea Iki crater, as I pondered why there were no birds harvesting from the crater's dispersed flowers, that a yellow bird dropped into the bush in front of us. A Hawaii Amakihi, we were still on a roll.

Kilauea Iki Crater Loop - Kalij pheasant, 'Oma'o, 'Apapane, Hawai'i 'amakihi (16 - 18 life list birds, 15 - 17 BINGO birds)

Over halfway through the BINGO birds, we had already checked off most of the highland forest birds. It seemed doable as long as we didn't miss any before descending to sea level for the second half of our trip. Also, importantly, a caveat I had given everyone was that the Nene, the center of everyone's BINGO, had to be spotted in the National Park. The windows in the Volcano House were another great place to relax with a great view and birds. In the distance, the caldera smoked, and in the foreground, 'Apapane paused momentarily on the branches of shrubby trees, but it was unlikely any Nene would walk by. On the Visitor Center lawn, we found House sparrows, Yellow-billed cardinals, and Saffron finches but no Nene. Like the Canada Geese on the mainland, I had hoped to find the Nene on any available lawn. So I took us to our backup lawns for lunch at the Kilauea Military Camp.

Upon arriving at the Kilauea Military Camp, we were thrilled to discover the extensive network of parks and lawns throughout the area, but our excitement quickly faded when we realized it was lawnmowing day. We spread out like a search party, thoroughly exploring the compound, but had no success. In a final attempt, we decided to drive around the camp's perimeter and that's where we spotted a mating pair with two juvenile goslings resting in the shade of some trees. They quickly retreated, and we didn't want to disturb them further. We left, eager to get a better view of the beautiful birds with their slender necks.

Plan B (since Plan A was the lawns) involved searching for the Nene on the coastal lava rocks, where I had read they could be found using their specially adapted partially-webbed feet to navigate the crumbling lava. We got lucky though and spotted a pair of Nene crossing the road at the Luamanu Crater pullout. This pair, without goslings, seemed relatively unfazed by our presence. We eagerly sat at a respectful distance to watch them and were surprised when they approached us and moved around us with little concern. This allowed us to examine their partially-webbed feet, admire their beautifully patterned necks, and observe their curiosity as they searched for food.

Luamanu Crater - Nene (19 life list birds, 18 BINGO birds)

4,000 feet down, we were once again at sea level in a stiff wind. We made our way out to the sea arch where all the tourists crowded on one end of the viewpoint to photograph it. I stood at the opposite side, trying hard to distinguish the sea birds coming and going from the cliff face. Debating between Brown or Black noddy. Both were common in the area, but after a while, I determined the very slender bills, dark plumage, and grey tails were indicative of the Black noddy.

Sea Arch - Black noddy (20 life list birds, 19 BINGO birds)

If the day wasn't busy enough, we made our way to the Bird Park to try to secure the last of the high elevation species. As we turned down the road to the bird park, my dad, the driver, said we just passed a ground bird. As we were all complaining that he didn't pull over and debating if he should turn around, he said, "Look, another," and came to a full stop. We rolled down the windows and all hung out of the car. It was a medium-sized brown and tan ground bird with... spikes? coming out of the back of its legs. No way, I thought, that must be the Erkel's spurfowl. Its mate came out, and together they were an incredibly handsome pair. At the bird park itself, we weren't so lucky; the density of flowers and consequently birds was relatively lower than in the slightly lower elevations of the park. We saw a handful of birds that we had already seen and a house finch that was so red we mistook it for an exotic until a tourist with a guidebook came over to convince us it was a house finch. Context was playing mind tricks on us!

Hawai'i Volcanoes Bird Park - Erckel's spurfowl, Warbling white-eye, 'Apapane, House finch, Northern cardinal (21 lift list birds, 20 BINGO birds)

Only 5 BINGO birds left to go. To be continued...