Japanese White-eyes in Maui

These little birds are cute -- cute faces, cute voices, cute antics, and they are everywhere on Maui. Unfortunately, Japanese White-eyes (Zosterops japonicus) aren't native to the Hawaiian islands, and they are causing problems for native birds. These cheerful little birds were introduced to O'ahu in 1929 and Hawaii in 1937 to help with bug control. Since then they have become invasive and are now one of the most abundant birds in the Hawaiian Islands...

Japanese White-eye (Zosterops japonicus) in a plumeria tree.

Japanese White-eyes are also called by their Japanese name, Mejiro. 

...that white eye ring stands out against the yellow and olive-green feathers!

A cute bird in a beautiful plumeria tree...

If you visit Maui, you'll see one of these sweet birds. They live in all environments, wet, dry, urban, suburban, rural, and even on the way up the volcano! 

Click here for more information on White-eyes in Hawaii, including one positive benefit of their presence...Japanese White-eyes might be able to be "replacement pollinators" for certain plants that used to be pollinated by native species of birds that have become extinct.

I photographed this bird on 6-28-2013 on Maui.

Hawaiian Stilts at the Kealia Coastal Boardwalk on Maui

We've been back from Hawaii for two months, and I still haven't posted any of the birds we saw there. I think it's about time I got busy. Here's the first in a Hawaiian Birds series:

On June 28, Rick and Matty, and our friends, Cindy, Tom, Emily and Joe all went out to Molokini (a submerged volcanic crater that forms a small island off Maui) to snorkel. They took a Trilogy sailing trip out to Molokini and had an amazing time. Unfortunately, I couldn't go because I get seasick...horribly seasick, but I wasn't too disappointed because I had plans to go to the Kealia Coastal Boardwalk at Kealia Pond...

...even the Kealia Coastal Boardwalk sign is beautiful. I loved the vibrant painting of the Hawaiian Stilt and the Hawaiian Coot.

I really didn't know what to expect when I got there. From all I had read, summer was the "off season" for Kealia Pond, but it wasn't the off season for me. As soon as I started walking the boardwalk, I started hearing the insistent kek-kek-kek call of the beautiful and graceful Hawaiian Stilt (Himantopus mexicanus knudseni), which led me directly to an area where a few of the gorgeous birds were foraging. On the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service web site, the phrase "Chihuahua of the wetland" is used to describe their constant chatter. It fits, and you can hear the bird's call in the following video...


Hawaiian Stilt Feeding in the Shallows at the Kealia Coastal Boardwalk on Maui from Kelly Riccetti on Vimeo.

This bird is spectacularly slim and delicate looking. Stilts have long, "bubble gum" pink, pencil-thin legs that cut through water effortlessly, and because they are the longest legged of all the shorebirds, they have extra depth when foraging for food. I enjoyed watching him tip his body over to capture invertebrates and other water creatures with his long, thin and pointy bill. Dennis Paulson in his book "Shorebirds of North America" (one of my favorite shorebird ID books) decides stilts should be called "Slenderellas" (Paulson, pg. 91). What a perfect description!

A Hawaiian Stilt wades through the mudflats along the Kealia Coastal Boardwalk. Female stilts have a bit of brown on their backs, so this bird is probably a female. Males have only black feathers on their backs.

Their long, thin pink legs when combined with the sleek black feathers on their head, neck and back, and the snowy white feathers on their belly and throat, create one good-looking bird! There is no getting around it, "Slenderella" is pretty.

Hawaiian Stilts are visual feeders. This bird definitely has its eye on something here!

Hawaiian Stilts look like our Black-necked Stilts, except they have more black on their neck.

Interpretive signs on the boardwalk are helpful. At the beginning, maps and other helpful information are on the signs, but as you progress along the boardwalk, the birds take center stage...

The Hawaiian word for the Hawaiian Stilt is Ae'o. All the interpretive signs are beautiful and colorful paintings like this one.

If you're visiting Maui, definitely make the Kealia Coastal Boardwalk a destination for a birding trip. Even though I was there during the "off season," I saw spectacular birds. Fall and winter are reported as the best viewing times because large numbers of shorebirds overwinter at the ponds and along the boardwalk. 

...more to come on the Kealia Coastal Boardwalk and the Hawaiian Stilt.

Spotted Eagle Ray flies through the water in Hawaii...

Earlier this summer, Rick, Matty and I visited Hawaii for the first time. We stayed on Maui and loved every minute we were there. We saw many new bird species, and through snorkeling (another first for me), we were introduced to a whole new world of tropical fish...

A Spotted Eagle Ray swims through the warm and clear waters off Maui.

I should mention I didn't see this fellow while I was snorkeling. I saw him from our hotel balcony. It was our last day, and before we had to leave I looked down at the ocean one last time. I was shocked to see this huge Spotted Eagle Ray "flying" by in the water. Of course, it only looked like he was flying. He was swimming, but the way he slowly moved his fins up and down in the water reminded me of the graceful flight of a heron.

This was the first time I had ever seen a Spotted Eagle Ray, and I had no idea rays could be so big. Considering I was on the fifth floor of a hotel perched on a cliff 30 or 40 feet above the water, you can start to get an idea of how big he was. After doing a bit of research, I learned a Spotted Eagle Ray's "wingspan" can reach up to nine feet. The length from his nose to the end of his pelvic fins can span eight feet, and he can weigh up to 500 pounds. The tail floating behind him in the water can easily be 28 feet long...

Spotted Eagle Rays are not small fish. They can weigh up to 500 pounds and have a nine-foot "wingspan."

Spotted Eagle Rays are cartilaginous fish (chondrichthyes) and therefore have no bones, only cartilage. They fall into the same subclass as sharks (click here for details on chondrichthyes). Spotted Eagle Rays are easy to spot and identify by the white spots on their dark dorsal surface. They have several barbed, venomous spines or stingers just behind the pelvic fins, under the tail. Their snouts are distinctive and almost resemble a duck's bill. Click here for information from the Florida Museum of Natural History on this beautiful ray. You'll find cool close-up photos and an incredible view of the Spotted Eagle Ray's unique snout.

A Spotted Eagle Ray's tail can be up to 28 feet long.

...it didn't take this fellow long to "fly" out of view. It's easy to see why he has the common name of Spotted Eagle Ray.

Click here to see a video showcasing the graceful "flight" of the beautiful ray under water.

Click here for additional information on Spotted Eagle Rays, including personal accounts of researchers studying the rays.