Oahu Birding Recap

This April I visited Oahu with my dad and younger brother. Despite some hiccups (like my dad losing his wallet at Sea-Tac Airport) we got to Oahu fine. Unfortunately there was a bigger hiccup. In my rush to get going, I had left my camera sitting on my desk at home. I had all my lenses, batteries, and memory cards, just no camera to use them with. With a bit of searching, I was luckily able to find a rental for the week for a very reasonable price and we picked it up the next day. The first day was fairly tame for birds, we got in late and I had no camera so I wasn't very motivated. I did find a pigeon nest on our balcony however. I also saw Common Waxbills, House Sparrows, Common Mynas, Red-Crested Cardinals, Red-Vented Bulbuls, Warbling White-eyes, and the ubiquitous White Tern (Native).

The view from our hotel.

The resident pigeons.

The second day, after picking up my camera, I was eager to explore the park next to our hotel. Some of my favorite birds to watch were the White Terns. They are so loud and active, soaring with fish or bickering in the trees. They were also exciting because they are a native bird. Most of the birds you see in Hawaii are non-native, many of the endemic birds having been pushed to higher elevations. While White Terns aren't endemic, the native birds are always more interesting to me. I also saw Java Sparrows, Yellow-fronted Canaries, Pacific Golden-Plovers (Native), Common Waxbills, Rose-ringed Parakeets, Spotted Doves, and Zebra Doves.

The next day took a trip to Ka'ena Point, the westernmost point of the island, home to nesting Laysan Albatross (Native). It was about a 3 mile hike to the point. I was worried that there wouldn't be any or that they wouldn't be active, but as soon as we reached the gate to the preserve we started seeing them. There were even chicks. The albatrosses were hard to miss. Laysan Albatrosses have a wingspan of about six feet, small for an albatross but massive by any other standard.

The next day I decided to wake up for sunrise before I adjusted to Hawaii time and walk to the nearby Ala Moana Park. Here I saw Cattle Egrets, Black-crowned Night Herons (Native), Ruddy Turnstones (Native), Saffron Finch, Yellow-fronted Canaries, Common Waxbills, Red-crested Cardinals and Mallards. Additionally that evening I saw two Brown Boobies (Native) offshore.

The next day we visited Kualoa ranch. This is where Jurassic Park, Lost, and Jumanji (among many others) were filmed. This was a really cool experience and along the way I saw plenty of forest birds. I didn't bring my camera, but after the tour we visited Ho'omaluhia Botanical Garden where I saw all of the same birds. Additionally on the drive I spotted Black-necked Stilts (Native) and a Great Frigatebird (Native). At the botanical garden I saw White-rumped Shamas, Red-billed Leiothrix, Red-whiskered Bulbuls, and Chestnut Munias.

On the way back we stopped briefly at Lanai Lookout, a cliff overlooking the ocean. It was a bad time of day but I still saw Red-tailed Tropicbirds (Native), a Sooty Tern (Native), Red-footed Boobies (Native), and a Wandering Tattler (Native). We also saw a Humpback Whale and a Green Sea Turtle.

The next two days I didn't bird much. We visited Pearl Harbor. I went surfing and paddle boarding. We hung out on the beach. On our last day I woke up early to do a last birding walk around the park by our hotel. Here I saw a flock of Rose-ringed Parakeets, White Terns, Pacific Golden-Plovers, Java Sparrows, and Scaly-breasted Munias.