Oitf Liviuii Resources — Hawaii 



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Hawaiians called it iikhi. not to be confused 

 with the huge, extinct, flightless birds in New 

 Zealand of the same name. How many other 

 bird species may have been brought by the 

 Polynesians and failed to become established is 

 unknown. 



Since Captain Cook first visited Hawaii in 

 1778. alien bird species have been brought to 

 the islands in a steady stream. Only a few have 

 been successful in establishing a continuing 

 breeding population. Of the 54 alien species 

 now considered to have established populations, 

 fully half have origins in Asia (Fig. I). Fewer 

 are from North America and Africa; a few have 

 come from Australia and South America. 

 Among the continents, only Antarctica is not 

 represented by an established alien species. 

 Penguins have indeed been brought to Hawaii, 

 and one thriving population is in captivity 

 today. But were they to escape, they would not 

 find sufficient krill and ice to maintain a wild 

 population in the islands. 



Fig. 1. Origins of ttie 54 alien species establisiied in 

 Hawaii. 



Breeding Visitor Species 



Visiting species that come to Hawaii to 

 breed are basically pelagic, that is, living on the 

 open ocean. They come to land to breed, but 

 depart again as soon as parental duties end. 

 Many go to the food-rich boundaries of ocean 

 currents just north of the equator, but some 

 species range throughout the North Pacific (Fig. 

 2). None appears at any other land during non- 

 breeding season. First-year birds of most 

 species remain at sea for 3 years or more before 

 returning to breed. Breeding visitors are the 

 albatrosses, shearwaters, petrels, terns, and 

 some tropicbirds. Other seabird species, includ- 

 ing boobies, frigatebirds, and noddies, are 

 classed as residents since they remain based at 

 their breeding areas throughout the year, going 

 to sea usually for only a few days at a time. 



Nonbreeding Visitor Species 



A great many birds that breed elsewhere 



depart their nesting grounds after chick rearing 

 is finished, some wandering freely and others 

 following traditional migration routes. Some 

 species, notably the familiar Pacific golden- 

 plover (PJiivialis fulva) and some other shore- 

 birds and ducks, have developed migration pat- 

 terns that bring large numbers to Hawaii regu- 

 larly each year, with some individuals even 

 coming to the same plot of ground each winter 

 (Johnson et al. 1981). For other species, just a 

 few individuals turn up each year. For still oth- 

 ers, an individual or two may be reported in 

 only a few years out of ten. A number of species 

 have been recorded in Hawaii fewer than a 

 dozen times, perhaps only once or twice. All 

 regular visitors and most others are strong fly- 

 ers, accustomed to making long migration 

 flights annually, or are larger birds able to store 

 enough energy to reach Hawaii on their own. 

 Almost all are waterbirds. Only nine species of 

 passerine landbirds are known to have straggled 

 to Hawaii, and most of these have been record- 

 ed only one or two times each. Note that 

 absolutely no species of small landhird 

 migrates regularly to Hawaii, either for breed- 

 ing or in nonbreeding season. Virtually all non- 

 breeding visitor species nest in the northem 

 hemisphere, most of them in the far north (Fig. 

 3). A few shearwaters and petrels, a skua, and 

 the great crested tem (Sterna hergii) are the 

 only exclusively southern hemisphere nesters 

 that have straggled to Hawaii. 



Fig. 2. Dispersal of the 13 breed- 

 ing visitor species when not breed- 



ina. 



Fig. 3. Origins of the 155 visitor 

 species that do not breed in 

 Hawaii. 



