Saving the forest birds

Conservation efforts on kauai help feathered friends.

Posted: Tuesday, August 30, 2016 12:30 am

ALAKAI — Over the past two years, Kauai Forest Bird Recovery Project has led expeditions into the forests of Kauai’s Alakai Wilderness Preserve, searching for the nests of two bird species: the akikiki and the akekee.

There are fewer than 1,000 akekee, and the population of akikiki is below 500 members.

“Both have experienced significant declines over the past decade leading to concerns that these species will disappear in the future,” said Lisa “Cali” Crampton, in a talk at Department of Land and Natural Resources headquarters on Oahu Friday.

She said during the expeditions, eggs have been collected from the wilderness and brought to a captive breeding facility.

“The creation of captive populations serves as insurance for the possible extinction of the species, while simultaneously providing young that can eventually be reintroduced back into the wild,” Crampton said.

Also speaking at the Friday conference focused on the future of forest birds was John Vetter, with DLNR Division of Forestry and Wildlife.

He pointed out habitat loss, non-native predators, landscape-altering invasive weeds, and avian disease spread by mosquitoes have all contributed to the current predicament faced by these species.

“Kauai is the starkest example of this endangerment,” Vetter said. “Since the 1960s, five species have gone extinct, with three others considered critically endangered.”

He said introduced avian malaria is the biggest driver of the “extinction crisis.”

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Rats suspected of eating endangered ‘akikiki eggs

Hawaii Forest Bird Recovery Project Reminds People, “Birds Not Rats”

Posted: Tuesday, June 7, 2016 2:00 am | Updated: 9:51 pm, Tue Jun 7, 2016.

The Garden Island 

HANAPEPE — With fewer than 500 ʻakikiki, an endemic Hawaiian honey creeper, (Oreomystis bairdi) left in the wild, a loss of even a couple of eggs to predators like rats is considered a setback to the people trying to save this native species from extinction on Kauai. 

During a routine nest check at Halepaakai on Monday, a team from the Kauai Forest Bird Recovery Project discovered an empty nest, where previously there had been two ʻakikiki eggs. The team had planned to harvest the eggs today as part of their efforts to create a captive breeding population. 

“With the population of ʻakikiki declining so dramatically, it’s heartbreaking to see a nest impacted like this,” said Dr. Lisa “Cali”Crampton, KFBRP director. “We think rats are the likely predators because they leave eggs fragments behind. An avian predator, like an owl, would have probably taken the whole egg. This nest was outside a rat trapping grid at Halepaakai, in an area just northwest of Mt. Waialeale.” 

The grid area has 150 traps. 

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service recently up-listed the ʻakikiki’s recovery priority to the highest level. Very few species have this designation. 

The KFBRP, which is administratively attached to the DLNR Division of Forestry and Wildlife works with multiple partners, including the USFWS, the University of Hawaii and San Diego Zoo Global on conservation efforts for the ʻakikiki and other threatened and endangered forest birds on Kauai. 

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Endangered Hawaiian Bird Immortalized In Space

Thanks to a science teacher in India, an asteroid has been named after the critically endangered Akikiki.

By John R. Platt

April 20, 2016

One of Hawaii’s most endangered native birds, the Akikiki, recently received an unexpected honor: an asteroid has been named after it.

The idea for the unusual moniker—most asteroids receive the name of their discoverer—came from Prakash Vaithyanathan, a teacher in Chennai, India. As part of a lesson on at-risk and extinct species around the world, Vaithyanathan asked his middle school students to adopt nicknames of endangered birds. He hoped the exercise would spur more interest in the animals and their plight, and he was pleasantly surprised when seven girls wanted to be called Akikiki. (The top scorer on a science quiz ultimately got to keep the title.)

The children’s enthusiasm got Vaithyanathan wondering about taking the name game to another level, potentially sparking interest in imperiled wildlife beyond his classroom. Encouraged by his students, he wrote to the International Astronomical Union in May 2015 to see if it would be possible to name a celestial body after an endangered bird or flower. The IAU responded the same day with a yes and asked what species he had in mind. He suggested Akikiki, not only because it was so popular among his students, but also knowing that the IAU was about to hold its triennial meeting in Hawaii. It took nearly a year, but in December the asteroid formerly known as 7613 officially became Akikiki.

Lisa “Cali” Crampton, project leader for the Kauai Forest Bird Recovery Project, was “thrilled and excited to hear that someone from across the world cares about our endangered species here in Kauai.” (She first learned of the asteroid receiving the avian appellation when Auduboncontacted her for this story.)

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