Bird-Bird-BIrd! Bird is the Word!

While we were still living in Northern California's Humboldt County, we enjoyed watching the birds from our kitchen window.  We had some really amazing sitings and enjoyed the annual return of many species.  Naturally, when we retired and moved to the Big Island, we made sure our library was well stocked with books to help us identify our new bird family.  One of the first birds we "met" was the lovely Honey Creeper, the 'Apapane; we found a dead one in our driveway when we first moved in.  We preserved it by dehydration and its sweet form graces one of our windows as a reminder of the island's fragility.

The story of both flora and fauna here in Hawaii is really a sad one.  Like other places on the planet, the birds (and plants) of Hawaii evolved for millions of years.  The isolation that produced such a distinctive array and variety did not serve well when that isolation was lost at the introduction of colonization. The birds had no predators or disease.  Even with the earliest waves of Polynesians, things began to change, but that change has reached exponential levels in current times.  Invasive plants, insects and  mammals, as well as human beings, have resulted in mass waves of extinction in the bird (and plant) population.

  "Today, the rate of colonization by alien species is estimated to be about 10-20 species per year," says Jack Jeffrey, local bird photographer (of bird guidebook below), whose website is full of fascinating history, and photography.  Check out Jack's beautiful website! 

Jack's photos in Guidbook

At our bird feeder

MYSTERY BIRDS

This week while watching the comings and goings at our feeder, we discovered a new pair of birds.  After a few tries, we were able to get some photographs to help begin identification.  Now, you may think this is easy -- but it is NOT!  

At first we got really excited because the birds appeared to be a very RARE endangered and nearly extinct Palila, but of course we suspected that was not the case. (Just look at their similarities!!)


Half the fun was the "Quest for the Bird's Identity."  We are "faceless people" that is we don't partake in Facebook.  However, just in  "tossing it out" to a small e-mail world of ohana we received a pile of helpful replies.  There are 2 (but not mutually exclusive) answers:  They are juvenile Saffron Finches (from our "regulars" the bright yellow adults pictured in our ohia trees) or they are one of many kinds of Saffron Finches (we did find an EXACT match) -- but it could go either way. 

6/6 Update:  Saw the new pair gathering nest materials - suspect that they are not juveniles.