Big Year Birding in Hawaii - Part 1

After spending the night on the floor in the Portland Oregon Airport, I arrived in Maui early in the afternoon of Wednesday, October 11, 2023. I had a half hour break before my commuter flight to Kona on the island of Hawaii so I walked around the Maui airport parking lot counting birds for an eBird checklist. The only native species I encountered was Pacific Golden-Plover. The rest were exotic (introduced) species, including House Sparrow, Red Junglefowl, Common Myna and Scaly-breasted Munia. Only Zebra Dove (USA and Territories Biggest Year-Bird number 764) was new for the list. At the airport in Kona, I added two more exotic species: Spotted Dove (765) and Warbling White-eye (766). 

Bill Kaempfer and John Vanderpoel picked me up at the Kona airport and brought me to our house overlooking Kona, where I added Java Sparrow (767) and Saffron Finch (768). 

I have known Bill and John for years from the Colorado birding community.  Bill was president of Colorado Field Ornithologists before he retired as Assistant Provost at the University of Colorado (Boulder) and moved to Florida. John produced the Gull and Hummingbird ID videos and did his own ABA Continental Big Year in 2011. They were both doing Big Years in 2023 and when they learned that my Hawaii dates were the same as theirs, they invited me to join them. 

Hawaii became an important destination for Big Year birders several years ago (2016) when the ABA decided to include Hawaii as part of the ABA Area. There are between 50 and 60 species found regularly within the state of Hawaii that are not encountered anywhere else within the ABA Area, so any serious Big Year birder needs to plan at least one trip to Hawaii during the year. The Big Year competition in the traditional area of the USA and Canada became known as “ABA Continental,” and this term is considered a region by eBird, so Big Year birders and their followers can track their totals in this category and compare numbers with Big Years of the past, such as John Vanderpoel’s 744 species in 2011 (which did not include Hawaii). 

Birding in Hawaii represents several challenges. First and foremost is the plight of Hawaii’s endemic species. Hawaii’s four largest islands each has its own set of endemic species, mostly honeycreepers with slightly different adaptations for different feeding behaviors. Most of the endemic species known to science have already gone extinct, primarily due to avian malaria, a parasitic infection carried by the common house mosquito, a pest brought to Hawaii by human settlers within the last century.  Some of the disease-free areas are either too difficult for birders to access (e.g. Kauai) or restricted for access (e.g. Maui). Besides the resident endemic species that must be learned by Big Year birders, there is a variety of migratory shorebirds and waterfowl that can occur as vagrants from both North America and Asia. The Hawaiian islands host a horde of nesting seabirds as well so pelagic birding during a trip to Hawaii is also important. Finally there are dozens of exotic species with naturalized populations that were originally introduced to the islands by human settlers. These exotics come from all over the world and are generally very attractive birds with interesting personalities. They are mostly foreign to North American patch birders so they represent yet another group of novel birds to identify for Big Year birders. 

 

We began birding as a team on Thursday, October 12, 2023. At a relaxed pace we birded several eBird hotspots along the coast north of Kona, including several municipal parks and beaches (Waikaloa Skate Park, Keokea Beach Park, Waimea District Sports Park) and a nature trail through native Hawaiian forest (Kaulana Manu Nature Trail). New species for my USA and Territories Biggest Year included Gray Francolin (number 769), African Silverbill (770), Eurasian Skylark (771), Red-footed Booby (772), Wedge-tailed Shearwater (773), Great Frigatebird (774), Yellow-billed Cardinal (775), Erkel’s Spurfowl (776), Chestnut-bellied Sandgrouse (777), Yellow-fronted Canary (778), Hawaii Amakihi (779), Hawaiian Hawk (780), Apapane (781), I’iwi (782) and Oma’o (783). The last five are endemic Hawaiian species. Except for the shearwater, booby and frigatebird which are locally nesting seabirds, the remainder are exotic species that have become established on the Big Island. The sandgrouse is actually quite rare and very beautiful. We were excited to find a flock of these interesting birds from Africa at a previously unknown location for them. 

On Friday, October 13, 2023, we began our day at the Kealakehe Wastewater Treatment Plant in Kona. Facilities like this one attract a great variety of birds and this was no exception. I added three new species here: Common Waxbill (784), Hawaiian Coot (785) and Sharp-tailed Sandpiper (786), a migrant from Asia that I have been awaiting for many years. This facility was unusual in that it welcomed birders to view its wildlife. There were several other rarities there besides the Sharp-tailed Sandpiper, including Lesser Yellowlegs, Eurasian Wigeon and Least Tern. We ran into the coordinator of the birding program for the facility and it turned out to be Reginald David, an old friend of mine from 20 years ago. We had each tried contacting each other but had old contact info. I hoped to have a chance to bird with him again before the year is over. 

In the afternoon, Bill and I explored the Pu’u O’o nature trail in the native forest (an hour drive from Kona). Here we added the exotic Chinese Hwamei (787) to our trip list. This shy species sang loudly but never made an appearance. At the end of the day I spotted a pair of free-ranging Helmeted Guineafowl (788) in our neighborhood. 

On Saturday, October 14, 2023, I added the exotic Kalij Pheasant (789) in our driveway. Bill and I headed to the Palila Discovery Forest hoping to find the critically endangered endemic Palila. The dry open forest covers the base of the Mauna Kea volcano. We spent several hours on foot and added Black Francolin (790), Hawaiian Elepaio (791), and Red-billed Leiothryx (792). We also saw the Hawaiian subspecies of Short-eared Owl here. 

Three days into our trip, we were off to a good start.