Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 9, Number 6, 1 June 1992 — Naturally Hawaiian [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

Naturally Hawaiian

by Patrick Ching artist/environmentalist

"Blinded by the light" — birds that fall from the sky

n A few nights ago, B while taking a stroll in I the dark of the new I moon, I heard a familiar I sound that I haven't I heard in months. lt was I the eall of a Newell's I Shearwater. Some peoI ple compare the eail to I the braying of a donkey I or the cry of a crow. To J me it sounds more like

an elephant stepping on a squeaky dog toy. The Newell's Shearwater, or 'a'o, is a threatened endemic species of seabird that comes to the Hawaiian islands during the breeding season, from Apnl to November. Their only eonfirmed nesting sites occur on Kaua'i, although they may possibly be nesting on other islands. In 1980 1 found a young bird on the road in Moanalua Valley on O'ahu. Although they are seabirds, Newell's Shearwaters nest in the mountains in burrows beneath dense stands of uluhe fern. Most of their day is spent out at sea where they hunt for fish, small squid ana crustaceans. The birds leave their nests eaeh day before first light and return home after sunset. During mating season they ean be heard all night as they fly around searching for a mate. Egg-laying starts in ear!y June and by August most of the eggs have hatched. The young Shearwaters are ready to fly by early October. It is at this time that they fall from the sky. As the birds leave their nests for the first time and head for the sea, many of them are attracted to the bright lights of ballparks, hotels and

streets. Onee they get close to the lights, they get disoriented and fall to the ground. Many of the birds hit power lines or buildings and become injured or die. Still more are hit by passing cars. On the island of Kaua'i the fallen birds are rescued by residents eaeh morning and taken to the Shearwater Aid Stations set up at the fire stations and at other specified locations. Eaeh day government wildlife workers gather the birds whieh are then banded and released. Hundreds of birds are saved in this way every year.

This summer, for the first time, a study will be done on the effects that power lines have on Shearwater flyways. The Kalihiwai area on Kaua'i will be the site of the study, whieh was prompted by community outcry over high power lines that were going up in the area. Newell's Shearwaters are not the only birds that fall from the sky. Dark-rumped petrals, 'ua'u, wedge-tailed shearwaters, 'ua'u kane, are affected. All are burrowing ground nesters, extremely vulnerable to predation by introduced cats, dogs, rats, mongoose, barn owls and pigs.