A Wandering Blog

Some other good things going on here across the islands that are helping native birds are the habitat restoration programs and predator-proof fencing projects. These fences help keep native bird habitat free from invasive predators—the ones introduced by humans—like the house cat and the mongoose. These fencing projects protect both forest habitat and sea bird nesting sites. Sea birds are vulnerable because most species nest on the ground. They are so vulnerable in fact, that one loose house cat can destroy an entire colony of birds in one night. Sadly, this has happened repeatedly at the loss of entire families,...

When I first got to Hawai‘i I was excited to go to the zoo and see some ‘i‘iwi’s with my own two eyeballs. But I hadn’t really grasped just how precarious the situation is for native birds. You won’t find these honeycreepers in the zoo and you won’t find any at low elevations. The birds that have survived are the birds that stay high up on the mountains, where the mosquitos don’t go. One bite from a mosquito can kill a native honeycreeper. And most Hawaiian forest birds don’t do well in captivity, some won’t even breed. So that’s a...

Hawai‘i’s forest birds are unique and beautiful and adorably round. Probably the most iconic native bird, the ‘i‘iwi, is a bright red and black bird with a beak and legs a little longer than maybe looks quite right. It’s a wonderfully weird bird. It hangs upside down and does all sorts of stretches and contortions to get to the nectar inside flowers. Its beak is shaped just perfectly to slip down the blossoms of the native lobelias and it has this tiny little tongue for slurping nectar. Their song sounds like a squeaky door and I love them so much. But...

I get asked that sometimes and it's an interesting question. Why anything? Why do some people love cars, or sports, or books, or cooking? Why does someone pick mint chocolate chip over butter pecan? What makes us like our favorite colors? Is it nurture? Is it nature?  I actually remember the first time I noticed a bird, believe it or not. I was still in a stroller, sitting on the edge of a strawberry field. My mom pointed out a robin and I remember watching it hop down the path. The cuteness, the singing, the flight--the whole package--I just fell in...