10,000 Birds

OCTOBER 2, 2013

For the most part the Black-footed Albatross is an all-American bird, with 97% of their population breeding in the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands (in the District of Hawaii), and a few others breeding in islands owned by Mexico and Japan. The Black-footed Albatross.

Albatross 157

Albatross Hawaii North America California 157

10,000 Birds

NOVEMBER 7, 2012

Christmas Shearwaters Much less common that their larger relatives, but at the same time their habit of surface breeding means they are always around to find in certain spots. Tristam’s Storm-petrel From a tiny petrel to a fairly hefty storm-petrel, this species has a small breeding presence on Tern Island. These guys get around!

Albatross 126

Albatross Hawaii Japan New Zealand 126

10,000 Birds

APRIL 2, 2024

She explains complex and sometimes controversial topics including captive breeding, environmental toxins, feral cats and other invasive predators, Hawaiian avian extinction, avian disease, California Condor distribution and history, legal loopholes, and lead poisoning.

California Condor 176

California Condor Falcons California Birds 176

10,000 Birds

JUNE 27, 2017

27, 2015 Christian Gutierrez, Raymond Justice, and Carter Mesker went on a camping trip to Ka’ena Point Natural Area Reserve on Oahu, Hawaii. Ka’ena Point is also a breeding ground for the Federally protected Laysan albatross, where 45 nests were being carefully monitored by the non-profit Pacific Rim Conservation.

Albatross 214

Albatross Honolulu Hawaii Killing 214

10,000 Birds

AUGUST 31, 2016

Irruptions of Snowy Owls in 2011 and again in 2013 found these Arctic birds wintering well south of their usual range , in some cases straying down to Bermuda and even Hawaii. (I Many North American birders have, over the last few years, received a rare treat. I know, I’m still scratching my head about that one.).

Owls 100

Owls Hawaii Stray North America 100

10,000 Birds

JULY 13, 2011

The birds are not allowed to breed on the runway, but many loaf around on it. Around 100,000 of these terns breed on almost every available space on the island, and walking through groups of them is a deafening and quite painful experience. This species doesn’t breed on Tern Island itself, but does sometimes turn up there.

Hawaii 173

Hawaii Breeding Wildlife Eggs 173

10,000 Birds

APRIL 11, 2012

There cannot be many ABA area breeding birds harder to get than those that only breed on the remotest tips of the north of North America and then fly off to places that aren’t on the major continental flyways. You can encounter them from Hawaii across to French Polynesia and Fiji.

North America 181

North America Fiji Hawaii America 181

10,000 Birds

APRIL 26, 2016

In Hawaii, they are found as high as 11,000 feet ! Partners in Flight estimates that the global breeding population is around 50 million; 30% of which can be found in North America and Canada. Ring-necked Pheasants have a wide and varied diet, which is made up of seeds, grasses, fruits, insects, nuts, and more.

South Dakota 100

South Dakota Hawaii United States North America 100

10,000 Birds

APRIL 24, 2021

They covered so much water so quickly, so effortlessly, I understood how they could wander from Hawaii to Costa Rica, make steady constant progress over countless kilometers of waves and deep blue water. Also known as the Fairy Tern, this species breeds on Cocos Island and is very rarely seen from pelagic trips in Costa Rica.

Costa Rica 264

Costa Rica Dolphins Sea Turtles Turtles 264

10,000 Birds

APRIL 27, 2011

I got rather carried away showing all the plumages you can see around a breeding colony, which means I had to split my post on the species into two. Here I’ll finish off what I started, looking at the lives of these amazing birds, using the pictures I took working on Tern Island in French Frigate Shoals, Hawaii.

Albatross 163

Albatross Birds Hawaii Philippines 163

10,000 Birds

OCTOBER 11, 2012

So while we are dealing with Hawaii and all, let’s change how one rule is applied! The rules of the game, and what you can and cannot count, are the domain of the ABA. Let’s call it the California Condor exception.

California Condor 150

California Condor Rescue California Game 150

10,000 Birds

JUNE 26, 2013

Take Hawaii, for example. The population of Millerbirds on Laysan has doubled , and breeding seems to be going well. (Photo by David Guttenfelder, courtesy of National Geographic ). If it makes you feel better, though—and you probably need some cheering up after that—the situation for birds isn’t completely bleak everywhere.

Cambodia 143

Cambodia Slaughter Slaughtered Cyprus 143

10,000 Birds

JULY 22, 2014

They have expanded their range through Indonesia and into Australia and is found in post breeding dispersal as far north as South Korea and Japan. Cattle Egret has been introduced by humans to Hawaii and the Seychelles. There are two main subspecies, the nominate B. ibis and the eastern B. coromandus.

Cattle 170

Cattle South Korea Suriname Seychelles 170

10,000 Birds

FEBRUARY 17, 2013

Hawaii Oo ( Moho nobilis ), depicted by John Gerrard Keulemans in 1893. Like the Australasian honeyeaters (family Meliphagidae), the Hawaiian honeyeaters had complex, tube-like, brush-tipped tongues and long, curved bills, enabling them to feed on nectar (illustrations included in the paper linked above). Christopher Taylor has more.

Saudi Arabia 214

Saudi Arabia 2008 Indonesia Groups 214

10,000 Birds

OCTOBER 19, 2011

This particular example of flexibility comes from Tern Island, in French Frigate Shoals to the north of Hawaii. Towards the end of their breeding season the islands become a somewhat melancholy place as the visits by adults dwindle and then stop, and the youngsters fledge off into the vast expanse of ocean around the island.

Albatross 179

Albatross Hawaii Seals Parrots 179

10,000 Birds

NOVEMBER 6, 2014

And, sometimes, I use chip notes to try to lure a bird in, using just a couple of notes and only if I was sure it would not be interfering with a breeding bird or other birder’s enjoyment. You can easily scroll through the 940 species of bird included, which covers the United States (including Hawaii) and Canada.

New York 174

New York Battery Hawaii United States 174

10,000 Birds

NOVEMBER 14, 2017

Now that Hawaii is in the ABA Area , the next additions should be Puerto Rico and the U.S. The Hawaii vote made it clear that that the ABA Area is about political borders, not geographical or ecological ones, and the two Caribbean territories have long been part of the United States. But even with Hawaii, there are many U.S.

Puerto Rico 152

Puerto Rico Virgin Islands Hawaii United States 152

10,000 Birds

JULY 20, 2014

We have seen them on remote beaches hunting shorebirds and taking their eggs and they have been responsible for much of the egg loss in breeding Pied Oystercatchers along the Broome coast. Feral cats have been able to adapt very well in Australia and have grown larger over the years and can survive in areas that you would not expect.

Australia 157

Australia Species Feral Cats Feral 157

10,000 Birds

FEBRUARY 17, 2016

The name of these terns comes from their utter fearlessness on their breeding grounds, which was sadly taken for foolhardiness. It does make them excellent subjects for photography if you ever find yourself in their colonies however.

Groups 100

Groups Breeding Species New Zealand 100

Animal Person

NOVEMBER 21, 2010

And managing means killing them, breeding them, and otherwise fiddling with their populations. When I was asked if I wanted to read Jeff Corwin's 100 HEARTBEATS (Rodale 2009) I was ambivalent. I know he's a conservationist, therefore I know he will advocate for "managing" the "resources" that are sentient nonhumans.

Polar Bears 100

Polar Bears California Condor Bald Eagle Lions 100

10,000 Birds

MARCH 2, 2011

Birders who have been to California might be familiar with the latter two, indeed we would be close to the Poor Knights Islands later in the day, the site of the only breeding colony of Buller’s Shearwaters in the whole world. One birder from Australia even got his lifer Red-crowned Parakeet !

New Zealand 174

New Zealand Albatross 2011 Cooking 174

10,000 Birds

JUNE 1, 2021

The rest of Mexico is not included, nor is Hawaii (which isn’t in North America, after all, but has been accepted as part of the American Birding Association area). The National Audubon Society Birds of North America covers all species seen in mainland United States, Canada and Baja California. These are all informative and current.

North America 279

North America America Birds California Condor 279

10,000 Birds

MAY 8, 2018

In particular, a captive-breeding program (1960-2011) likely saved the species from imminent extinction (2,800 were released) and expanded the range of the species to islands where they had been extirpated. Populations on Kauai, Maui, and Hawaii are stable or increasing, while the population on Molokai is fluctuating.

Endangered Species 101

Endangered Species Species Hawaii 2018 101

10,000 Birds

JUNE 12, 2018

The Northwestern Hawaiian Islands are home to some of the largest assemblages of breeding seabirds in the United States. These remote islands, some more than 1,000 miles from Honolulu, are home to huge globally-significant colonies of Laysan and Black-footed Albatross, among many others.

Mice 102

Mice Albatross Honolulu Rats 102

10,000 Birds

MAY 11, 2021

For example, Danny Bystrak (Breeding Bird Survey) and Dave Ziolkowski (Bird Banding Lab) of the USGS indicated that changes would not have a substantial negative impact on their programs, and would be just a “minor annoyance.” There are surely costs to change.

Birds 264

Birds Russia Hawaii Woodpeckers 264

10,000 Birds

JULY 26, 2012

Aplomado Falcon ( Falco femoralis ) by Jon David Nelson Shakeups for shearwaters and murrelets Xantus’s Murrelet ( Synthliboramphus hypoleucus ) has been split into California-breeding Scripps’s Murrelet ( Synthliboramphus scrippsi ) and Baja-breeding Guadalupe Murrelet ( Synthliboramphus hypoleucus ).

Falcons 172

Falcons Parrots California Breeding 172

10,000 Birds

SEPTEMBER 12, 2014

Then a little later there was a spot of bother with DDT, but we pulled out of that one ok, with a toolbox that would surely stand us in good stead if we only had the will to use it – legislation and literature, captive breeding programs, nest platforms. We could do it! Then the 80s happened.

California Condor 197

California Condor United States Guam Whales 197

10,000 Birds

OCTOBER 26, 2011

I say almost because that particular distinction actually falls to another New Zealand bird, the Black Robin, of which there were once just four (including just one breeding female). In spite of being pipped to that particular post Kakapo nevertheless came very close and indeed remain very close today.

New Zealand 181

New Zealand Parrots Sanctuary Family 181

10,000 Birds

NOVEMBER 30, 2018

So, while waiting for evolution to produce new birds for our life lists is inadvisable, we sometimes catch a break and every few years get a new species or two when some genetic research or study of breeding distribution presents enough evidence to split what was once considered a single species into a few new ones.

Ohio 113

Ohio India Hawaii United States 113

10,000 Birds

DECEMBER 11, 2018

Several years ago, I read about the enormous colonies of breeding birds in the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands and I did some research to satisfy my curiosity. ( Google Scholar is an excellent resource and free full-text PDFs can be located for many papers, particularly when research is taxpayer-funded. It is helpful to have a sample paper.

Transported 113

Transported 2011 Research 2012 113

10,000 Birds

OCTOBER 6, 2020

The most significant change in terms of the Peterson Field Guide series is that the Western North America guide now has a section on “Birds of Hawaii,” reflecting the inclusion of that area in the American Birding Association Checklist. And, with the Western North American guide, you get Hawaii!

North America 226

North America America 2020 Hawaii 226

10,000 Birds

DECEMBER 7, 2021

The guide covers over 650 species, most of the breeding birds in the United States (minus Hawaii) and Canada (like most guides with ‘North America’ in its title, it does not include Mexico or the Caribbean). Acorn Woodpeckers use both communal and cooperative breeding strategies which vary widely among family groups.

Eggs 229

Eggs Birds United States Sparrows 229

10,000 Birds

AUGUST 15, 2022

A bit surprisingly (at least to me), the Kalij Pheasant has been introduced and established as a gamebird in Hawaii. thesis on the “Social Behavior and Cooperative Breeding of Kalij Pheasants” in a place with much nicer sanitary facilities than where I saw the bird (in rural Fujian).

Rhode Island 147

Rhode Island Research South Dakota North Dakota 147

10,000 Birds

DECEMBER 11, 2016

Why else would I have chosen a nice breeding plumaged Magnolia Warbler as my feature image in December if not to lure you in?] But if you look through the haze of reds and yellows and curvy bills on songbirds, you will see the horrific implications of the inclusion of Hawaii. American birders, on the other hand, obviously are.

Hawaii 157

Hawaii Albatross Europe America 157

10,000 Birds

DECEMBER 21, 2011

Christmas Shearwater ( Puffinus nativitatis ) on Tern Island, French Frigate Shoals, Hawaii. The Christmas Shearwater is a smallish, dark chocolate brown shearwater that lives and breeds in remote areas of the tropical eastern Pacific. They mostly feed on squid, which they hunt by diving.

Kiribati 202

Kiribati Hawaii Breeding Hunting 202