Dad and I began birding in Honolulu on September 26th. Our last report was September 28th at 4:30 pm. We had a total of 13 birds, 3 of these were wild and the rest were introduced to the island. 9 of these species were life birds.
On Friday morning, September 29th I joined the Wildside tour and Dad continued to bird locally on his own. We were hopeful that he would soon test negative and join the tour.
The red and blue “flames” are birding locations we visited. Blue flames are incidental reports and red flames are designated eBird hotspots.
The Wildside tour recapped many of the birds that Dad and I had already seen. The first thing on the 29th we headed up into the hills to Manoa Cliffs Trail.
Here we saw 12 species, including our first Hawaiian honey-creeper. Here is an excerpt from Britannica:
Hawaiian honeycreeper, any member of a group of related birds, many of them nectar-eating, that evolved in the forests of the Hawaiian Islands and are found only there. Recent evidence from osteology, behaviour, plumage, breeding biology, and genetics has led to a consensus that the Hawaiian honeycreepers are closely related to the cardueline finches, which include birds such as goldfinches, canaries, siskins, and crossbills. Most of the species are called by native names (see amakihi; apapane; iiwi; mamo). Habitat destruction and the introduction of foreign birds and mammals have led to the extinction of at least 8 of the original 23 species; most of the survivors are endangered. Numerous subspecies are known.
The native names are very confusing! In the field I simply called out their size and color. This one, the Oahu Amakihi, is a small yellow bird with a down-curved bill. This was our only sighting of this bird and I failed to get a photo. Here is one from the web. Scroll for more birds!
We drove back to Honolulu and watched some of the local birds near the city center.
The preening of the terns was a mating ritual and not long after this shot the birds were mating. The slide of the roadside shows dense undergrowth. Our guide, Eddie told us that none of the vegetation on Oahu is native, it has all been brought in one way or another.
On Saturday, 9/30, the tour took off bright and early. Dad stayed behind again but went out and did some birding on his own. He got some nice photos in the park very near the hotel.
Meanwhile, the tour group traveled up the east side of the island. We stopped at various spots for specific birds. We enjoyed the scenery along the way.
Stay tuned for more exciting episodes!