Trip Report: Maui, Oahu, Kauai, March 25 - April 8, 1999

This trip was from Mar 25 to Apr 8, 1999. My wife (who birds) and our 3 boys (who don't) had a great time snorkeling, reading, watching TV, and birding. Although there aren't a lot of species, you get out to the most beautiful and wonderful places, it is sunny, the cool tradewinds, the clean air--ah, but I digress.

We saw 53 species on Maui, Oahu, and Kauai; they are listed in detail at the end.

Recommended clothes are shorts, t-shirts, and sandals for most of the time, shoes and a poncho or raincoat too for high elevations. I got a lot of use out of Pratt's Where to Find Birds in Hawaii for finding the best sites to visit, and also the Audubon Society's CITE>Birds of Hawaii for photo identification. I also had the tape of Birds of Hawaii for sound ID, and had transcribed it onto a MiniDisc for rapid access. This helped for a few birds; Chukar and Japanese Bush-Warbler come to mind.

These are some highlights for me:

In Maui, we stayed in Kihei, a small town on the west coast of the Haleakala part.

1. Hosmer Grove was wonderful. It is at 6500 feet, on the road to Haleakala summit, just after you pay. We parked in the lot, and immediately saw the Iiwi feeding in yellow flowers there. It is the most beautiful bird I have ever seen, vermillion and black, with a scimitar yellow bill. Also common were Apapane, Amakihi (with a gnatcatcher-like call), and Maui Creeper. On the way up, we saw Skylarks (4000-5000 feet), and Short-eared Owl (1 of the 2 days).
2. Other good birds were
   a. Chukar - heard at overlook between Hosmer and Haleakala summit.
   b. White Throated Munia (Warbling Silverbill) - dry gulch on north side of Kameole Sands Hotel in Kihei.
   c. Sanderling - Kealia Pond
3. Excellent snorkeling at 14-mile milepost a few miles south of Lahaina and at Molokini.

In Oahu, we stayed in Honolulu.

1. Kapiolani Park in Honolulu is a nice place. Saw Yellow-fronted Canary and White Fairy Tern, in the ironwood trees near fountain.
2. North Oahu, Punamano Pond. I think Pratt's location there is different now, or maybe I was lost. I did not feel welcome when four snarling huge beasts, luckily chained, greeted me--though for an instant, I thought I was dead meat. Since we were on Marconi Rd anyway, I found an overgrown paved area and path 1/2 mile from the highway, on the left as you drive in. There, we saw Japanese Bush-Warbler and Common Waxbill.
3. Manana Island. Red-footed Boobies, Laysan Albatross, Sooty Tern. Good outdoor lunch place (Kaneke's at Waimanalo) a few miles north.
4. It was great to meet our oldest son at Pearl Harbor. He had been on a 6-month submarine tour with the Navy.

In Kauai, we rented a house for 5 days, in Hanalei. Talk about heaven. There is something magical for us about Kauai.

1. Kokee - out of mosquito range, at 4000 feet, this is a forest I just got a taste of. This is the area where the rare endemic species have been found. I wanted to see the five most common species, and that's what we saw. I took a tour with David Kuhn (808) 335-3313; he was very knowledgeable and even though we both got soaked, it was a lot of fun. We walked about 3 miles - got great views of mature and immature Elepaio.
2. Kilauea Lighthouse - a wonderful sight, we saw Red-tailed Tropicbirds and a White-tailed Tropicbird catching drafts and flying right up at us. It's worth it just to stare out at the blue Pacific. The 2nd and 3rd times here were after hours (10-4) but from the turnaround area we did see five Nene's fly overhead, Laysan Albatrosses and Wedge-tailed Shearwaters, one Brown Booby, and a Shama. Just outside the Lighthouse, we saw a Mockingbird, supposedly uncommon.

These are the birds that I saw, with estimated number of each species:

Maui    Oahu    Kauai   Common Name
        50      5       Laysan Albatross
                4       Wedge-tailed Shearwater
        10      5       Red-tailed Tropicbird
                10      White-tailed Tropicbird
        1       4       Great Frigatebird
        100     200     Red-footed Booby
                1       Brown Booby
                5       Nene (HawaiianGoose)
        10      4       Hawaiian Duck (Koloa)
100     100     100     Cattle Egret
3       1       1       Black-crowned Night-Heron
1                       Chukar
2                       Gray Francolin
                150     Red Junglefowl
10              2       Common (Ring-necked)Pheasant
        2       3       Common (Hawaiian) Moorhen
3       6       7       Hawaiian Coot
                1       Wandering Tattler
2                       Sanderling
5       4       2       Black-necked (Hawaiian) Stilt
10      25      20      Asian (Pacific) Golden-Plover
        300             Sooty Tern
        3               Common (Fairy) White-Tern
5       5               Rock Dove
50      100     50      Spotted Dove
50      50      50      Zebra Dove
2                       Short-eared (Hawaiian) Owl (Pueo)
                6       Elepaio
                3       Northern Mockingbird
300     100     200     Common Myna
                5       White-rumped Shama
        50              Red-vented Bulbul
25      10      25      Japanese White-eye
        2       6       Japanese Bush-Warbler
                2       Hwamei (Melodious Laughingthrush)
10                      Eurasian Skylark
200     50      2       House Sparrow
        4               Common Waxbill
10                      White-throated Munia (Warbling Silverbill)
2               20      Scaly-breasted Munia (Nutmeg Mannakin)
                100     Black-headed Munia (Chestnut Mannikin)
        300             Java Sparrow
20      10      10      House Finch
20                      Common (Hawaiian+Maui) Amakihi
                10      Kauai (Common) Amakihi
                5       Anianiau (Lesser Amakihi)
20                      Maui Creeper (M.Alauahio)
                5       Akekee
10              4       Iiwi
10              12      Apapane
4       25      30      Red-crested Cardinal
50      5       10      Northern Cardinal
                5       Western Meadowlark

And also, for the technically minded, I couldn't find any "bar-graphs" à la Lane-Holt for Hawaii, so I figured out probabilities based on 5 Christmas Counts and 10 BIRDCHAT reports. Good thing that there aren't many species! Anyhow, here it is, and if you want the whole spreadsheet I can send it. If you want more explanation, I can try to answer. For example, you have almost no chance of seeing the Laysan Albatross in Maui or Oahu, but a 65 % chance in Kauai.

Maui    Oahu    Kauai
prob    prob    prob    Common Name
0       0.08    0.65    Laysan Albatross
0.38    0.5     0.3     Wedge-tailed Shearwater
0       0.5     0.4     Red-tailed Tropicbird
0.4     0.5     0.85    White-tailed Tropicbird
0.3     0.68    0.75    Great Frigatebird
0       0.73    0.73    Red-footed Booby
0       0.68    0.1     Brown Booby
0.35    0       0.68    Nene (HawaiianGoose)
0       0.18    0       American Wigeon
0       0.18    0       Common (Green-winged) Teal
0       0.95    0       Mallard
0       0.85    0.8     Hawaiian Duck (Koloa)
0       0.25    0.18    Northern Pintail
0       0.25    0       Northern Shoveler
0       0       0.15    Lesser Scaup
0.95    0.95    0.95    Cattle Egret
0.43    0.9     0.8     Black-crowned Night-Heron
0.13    0       0       Chukar
0.85    0.68    0.18    Gray Francolin
0.13    0       0       Black Francolin
0       0.18    0.73    Erckel's Francolin
0       0       0.63    Red Junglefowl
0.6     0.08    0.45    Common (Ring-necked)Pheasant
0.13    0       0       California Quail
0       0.75    0.75    Common (Hawaiian) Moorhen
0.25    0.95    0.8     Hawaiian Coot
0.13    0       0       Bristle-thighed Curlew
0.13    0.7     0.35    Wandering Tattler
0.25    0.4     0.08    Ruddy Turnstone
0.13    0.25    0.18    Sanderling
0.65    0.95    0.9     Black-necked (Hawaiian) Stilt
0.83    0.95    0.95    Asian (Pacific) Golden-Plover
0       0.5     0       Sooty Tern
0       0.5     0       Brown Noddy
0.18    0.5     0.2     Black (Hawaiian) Noddy
0       0.75    0       Common (Fairy) White-Tern
0.7     0.95    0.33    Rock Dove
0.95    0.95    0.95    Spotted Dove
0.85    0.95    0.95    Zebra Dove
0       0.05    0.1     Barn Owl
0.53    0       0.38    Short-eared (Hawaiian) Owl (Pueo)
0       0.15    0.53    Elepaio
0       0       0.1     Puaiohi (Kauai Thrush)
0.28    0.15    0.08    Northern Mockingbird
0.95    0.95    0.95    Common Myna
0       0.45    0.75    White-rumped Shama
0       0.9     0       Red-whiskered Bulbul
0       0.95    0       Red-vented Bulbul
0.95    0.95    0.9     Japanese White-eye
0.35    0.9     0.1     Japanese Bush-Warbler
0.48    0.03    0.55    Hwamei (Melodious Laughingthrush)
0.48    0.4     0       Red-billed Leiothrix
0.7     0.08    0       Eurasian Skylark
0.83    0.95    0.75    House Sparrow
0.13    0.18    0       Orange-cheeked Waxbill
0       0.95    0       Common Waxbill
0       0.15    0.1     Red Avadavat
0.13    0       0       White-throated Munia (Warbling Silverbill)
0.83    0.45    0.9     Scaly-breasted Munia (Nutmeg Mannakin)
0       0.45    0.85    Black-headed Munia (Chestnut Mannikin)
0.15    0.95    0.43    Java Sparrow
0       0.23    0       Yellow-fronted Canary
0.95    0.95    0.85    House Finch
0.95    0       0       Common (Hawaiian+Maui) Amakihi
0       0       0.73    Kauai (Common) Amakihi
0       0       0.63    Anianiau (Lesser Amakihi)
0       0.4     0       Greater (Oahu) Amakihi
0       0       0.18    Kauai Creeper (Akikiki)
0.95    0       0       Maui Creeper (M.Alauahio)
0       0       0.48    Akekee
0.95    0       0.63    Iiwi
0.95    0.4     0.73    Apapane
0.25    0.95    0.9     Red-crested Cardinal
0.13    0       0       Yellow-billed Cardinal
0       0.2     0       Saffron Finch
0.85    0.95    0.9     Northern Cardinal
0       0       0.48    Western Meadowlark

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