Big Island Birding Part 1 – Town & Abundant Birds

Over the holidays, we visited the island of Hawaiʻi (the Big Island) and enjoyed some wonderful birds. In this post, we’ll explore some of the birds we observed in abundance around populated town areas. Many of these species were introduced some time ago, and have now become naturalized.
 
Upon waking on our first morning, this incredible view greeted us and we met several common species.

A Hawaiian lanai wouldn’t be complete without a visiting Common Myna. The Common Myna is native to southern Asia and was introduced to Hawaiʻi in the 1860s. This boisterous and vocal bird is part of the starling family (Sturnidae) and makes an impressive array of vocalizations.

The Warbling White-eye was one of the most abundant birds throughout our trip. This eye-catching species is native to east Asia and was introduced in the 1920s. Also known as the Mejiro (which means “white eye” in Japanese), this beautiful green bird certainly is hard to miss with that bold eye-ring!

Warbling White-eyes are pretty vocal — listen below to its rapid, high-pitched chitter calls.

Movement towards the roof of the hotel caught our eye — we looked up and discovered this pair of Java Sparrows peering at us!

Java Sparrows are native to Indonesia, and were introduced to the Hawaiian Islands in the 1960s. We spotted so many of these giant-billed finches around populated town and neighborhood areas — usually in pairs or in groups feeding in the grass, and popping in and out of nooks and crannies in buildings. This little, dirt-laden nook under the hotel’s roof is obviously a favorite spot for this Java Sparrow!

Our lanai gave us a “bird’s eye view” of this school of yellow tang every day as well!

One morning, we also spotted a pod of spinner dolphins performing acrobatics not too distantly offshore — a highlight of our trip!

Another visitor our first morning was the stunning Yellow-billed Cardinal. Native to South America, this species has become established on only the Big Island of Hawaiʻi.

An immature bird hung out in the hotel palms as well.

These dapper cardinals appeared in a variety of habitats throughout our trip — towns, coastlines, the higher elevation cloud forest, and in Hawaiʻi Volcanoes National Park. The vividness of that red head was striking against the earth tones of coastal rocks.

This juvenile Zebra Dove — the most abundant Columbidae on the island — puttered around the patch of grass each morning of our stay.

Now and then, an adult Zebra Dove appeared and the juvenile chased the adult around frantically, clinging to the hopes of receiving a handout. When the adult was absent, however, the youngster managed to forage successfully for itself.

Listen at 0:01, 0:08 and 0:11 seconds below to the coo vocalization of a Zebra Dove — several rapid notes in succession. This soothing vocalization permeated the landscape of the island.

Zebra Doves seemed to carpet the island and we encountered them everywhere, like this pair at the rocky shoreline of Kaloko-Honokōhau National Historical Park.

Before we move on… who else happened to be along that very same shoreline? This resting green sea turtle!

Zebra Doves may have carpeted the island, but Spotted Doves came in close second in terms of abundance. Check out the beautiful signature spots on this beauty below.

Listen to the Spotted Dove’s low-pitched coo vocalization below.

On a walk to town, a song with a sweet quality stopped us in our tracks. We discovered the songster to be a Yellow-fronted Canary — a fairly common bird throughout our trip.

At Kaloko-Honokōhau NHP we managed to record the Yellow-fronted Canary’s sweet song — listen here.

Here’s a peek at the singing individual buried in a tangle of tree branches.

Birds and sea turtles weren’t the only things that caught our attention at Kaloko-Honokōhau… we ran into some roaming baby goats. Their pattern reminded us of the Belted Galloway cattle that dot the Jenner Headlands back home.

A vibrant and widespread species is the Saffron Finch — a species native to South America, introduced in the 1960s. Similarly as in their native habitat, Saffron Finches in Hawai’i are seen in dry grasslands and town/park lawns. Male Saffron Finches are particularly vivid with a bright orange crown like the beautiful bird below.

In this quiet recording, you can hear some Saffron Finch sounds, including a call at 0:09 and 0:13 seconds that, to our ears, sounds very similar to a California Towhee’s “tink.”

We’ve reached the last species of this post — the Common Waxbill. Introduced in the 1970s, the Common Waxbill is a tiny finch native to southern Africa and is commonly found in grassy areas. This itsy-bitsy bird — barely bigger than a hummingbird — congregates in large flocks that move around like energetic clouds.

The namesake waxy red bill and red face mask add a pop of color to an otherwise barred-brown color scheme reminiscent of our North American wrens.

Juvenile birds show a dark-colored bill, like this individual below.

Hope you’ve enjoyed this recap! Check out the other posts in our Big Island Birding series here:
 
Big Island Birding Part 2 – Familiar Favorites
 
Big Island Birding Part 3 – Hawaiian Endemics & Other Fun Stuff