Recovery Youth Conservation Corps Day of Service on Maui

On Monday, February 15th from 9:30 to 3:30, forty-five Recovery Youth Conservation Corps (RYCC) AmeriCorps members worked together during a day of service restoring Kanaha Pond on Maui.  Throughout the day, RYCC members removed invasive plants, planted native plants, and removed debris from the surrounding area. 

Click here to see the front page story in the Maui News!

 Kanaha Pond is a 234-acre wetland adjacent to industrial buildings, commercial centers, and the airport in Kahului.  Despite these challenges, Kanaha pond is extremely productive and home to three endangered Hawaiian birds: Hawaiian coot ('alae ke'oke'o), Hawaiian stilt (ae'o), and Hawaiian duck (koloa maoli). 

Over 80 species of migratory shorebirds, waterbirds, and ducks frequent the pond. Native plants including makaloa and kaluha, species favored by Hawaiians for matmaking, are also found at Kanaha.

To find out more about the Youth Conservation Corps program and other ways to get involved, visit the DOFAW website here.

Celebrate World Wetlands Day - Saturday February 6th 2010

You are invited to a World Wetlands Day celebration 

in Kailua, Oahu on Saturday, February 6th 2010!

This event is free and open to the public, and this year, the festivities will take place in the covered parking structure at the Kailua Long's Drugstore. The day will begin at 8:30 am with pule and continue until 2:00pm.

Take a free guided tour of the Kawainui and Hamakua Marsh complex, browse interactive exhibits in the covered parking structure, listen to music by Hawaii Loa, or take a stroll through the marsh and experience the natural beauty of the wetlands right near Kailua town!
 
Several federally-listed endangered bird species live in Kawainui and Hamakua marshes.
While visiting, keep an eye out for the Hawaiian stilt; ae'o (pictured above), Hawaiian moorhen; 'alae 'ula (a black bird with a red shield above its beak), and Hawaiian coot; 'alae ke'oke'o (a black bird with a white shield and beak). Click the above links for more info and photos.

Did you know that Kawainui Marsh was designated a "Ramsar Wetland of International Importance" in 2005? To read more about what this means, visit the Ramsar webpage here.

Hope to see you in Kailua on Saturday, February 6th!

This Week in Nature: The 4th week in December - Koloa maoli

What's Happening in Hawaii 

during the 4th week in December:

 
Koloa maoli
Photo courtesy of USDA NRCS

Koloa maoli, the Hawaiian duck, (Anas wyvilliana) can now be seen making vertical flights that indicate the onset of mating. Courting pairs fly virtually straight up from ground level to an altitude of one hundred feet and chase one another in tight circles. Sometimes a second male joins the chase, trying to approach the female, but is ritually driven off. Courtship resumes on the ground, where eventually as many as ten eggs will be laid and hatched in a large, well-concealed nest. Koloa appear to mate throughout the year, but their main breeding period begins in December.

Once plentiful on most of the main islands, koloa is now an endangered species, and is fighting for survival against threats like predation by foreign animals, draining and filling of marshes, and breeding with feral and domesticated mallards.

Koloa maoli means "indigenous duck," distinguishing this native from six North American species that visit the islands in the winter. The only other native duck is a resident of Laysan, toward the northwest end of the archipelago.

To learn more about koloa maoli, visit the Comprehensive Wildlife Conservation Strategy koloa fact sheet. 

For lessons and activities about the native Hawaiian duck, visit Malama Hawaii's koloa webpage.

Taken from "Hawaii: A Calendar of Natural Events"

published by the Bishop Museum and Kamehameha Schools in 1989

Hamakua Marsh gets a mini make-over

On Friday October 2nd, over 100 volunteers from Actus Lend Lease worked together with DOFAW staff to beautify and clean up the Hamakua Marsh area in Kailua, Oahu.

Actus Community Day at Hamakua Marsh.

Most of the busy bees in these photos are employees of Actus Lend Lease, a company that organizes this Community Day event every year as a way for their employees to give back to the community and work together on a service project in the field.

 Actus employees and DOFAW staff getting their hands dirty.

You couldn't turn around without seeing another group of Actus employees clad in matching blue shirts and hats, working side by side with DOFAW staff to dig holes, plant Naupaka and Naio, pull trash out of the stream, and remove invasive plants. It's amazing what a hundred people can accomplish in one day!

 Volunteers picking up litter on the side of, and in, the stream.

Hamakua Marsh is a Wildlife Sanctuary, and DLNR-DOFAW is committed to the long term management of the area. To further enhance management capabilities and to improve habitat for the four endangered native waterbirds that call this area home, DOFAW has been engaging in projects to care for the marsh.

A tip for protecting the native birds. 

Another sign reads: "These birds are on a diet, please do not tempt them!"
 

The Hawaiian moorhen (Gallinula chloropus sandvicensis), or Alae 'ula, is one of the endangered birds that can commonly be seen on the banks of the stream. Alae 'ula is a beautiful bird with a red plate above it's beak. In Hawaiian mythology, a moorhen brought fire to Humans; the red on its forehead is a symbol of the scorching it suffered from the fire. 

The Hawaiian moorhen, Alae 'ula.
 

Unfortunately, the moorhens that call Kawainui stream and Hamakua marsh home are becoming very comfortable with humans. During our visit, Alae 'ula were wandering the parking lots and were not afraid of people. Part of the project on Friday was planting Naupaka and Naio along the stream on the parking lot side to encourage Alae 'ula (and the Hawaiian coot, the Hawaiian stilt and the Hawaiian Duck; all endangered) to remain in the sanctuary and avoid the dangers of developed areas.

Alae 'ula getting a little too close to the parking lot.

The native Black-Crowned Night Heron also utilizes this wetland area. Although it is not endangered, it is a native bird, and will benefit from this restoration project too.

A Black-Crowned Night Heron trying to blend in along Kawainui stream.

Read the official press release about the event at the official DOFAW News Release webpage.

In 2005, Kawainui Marsh was designated a Ramsar Wetland of International Importance, read more about Ramsar as well as the social and cultural significance of this area here.

To visit a fun, interactive and educational website created by school kids, visit: www.hamakuamarsh.com

Visit the Ahahui Malama i ka Lokahi blog to learn more about Kawainui Marsh and find out how you can assist in the care of this special area. 

All photos: C. Tucker, DOFAW

New Wetland Resource in Development

Kawainui Marsh, Oahu

 DOFAW is currently working with partners and wetland experts across the state to develop a wetland brochure and poster. 

 Cattle crane [a non-native bird] and taro (kalo)

Hawai'i has many unique and special wetland areas. Some are in remote areas, but several, like Kawainui marsh and Hamakua marsh, are accessible and available for enjoyment by the public.

When visiting wetland areas, be sure to respect any posted signs, and avoid disturbing birds and other wetland creatures.

Honouliuli Marsh, Oahu

 The hope for the brochure and poster is to share educational and scientific information about wetlands in Hawai'i with the public. Stay tuned for more info about this wonderful wetland resource!  

Pinao (dragonfly) on taro (kalo)

 Web resources:

Hawaii Ecosystems At Risk project: www.hear.org

An informational and entertaining website created by students: www.kawainuimarsh.com 

Learn how to get involved at Kawainui marsh with Ahahui Malama i ka Lokahi and the Kailua Hawaiian Civic Club. 

All photos: C. Tucker

Native Species of the Week - Hawaiian Stilt; Ae'o

Hawaiian name: Āe'o

English name: Hawaiian Stilt

Scientific name: Himantopus mexicanus knudseni

A stilt with a chick.
Photo: DOFAW

 

The Hawaiian Stilt is an endangered and endemic bird that lives in Hawaii. In fact, it lives only in Hawaii. Species endemic to Hawai'i are found nowhere else on earth. This is their only home.
 

What a great reason to protect these special plants and animals!
 

The Hawaiian stilt is a subspecies of the Black-necked Stilt of the Americas. But the two birds look almost identical. Here is the Hawaiian Stilt:

Himantopus mexicanus knudseni
Photo: C. Tucker

And here is the Black-Necked Stilt:

Himantopus himantopus mexicanus
Photo: DOFAW 

The stilt is a waterbird that enjoys hanging around wetlands like marshes and ponds. Stilts have loooong pink legs. In fact, they have the second-longest legs in proportion to their bodies of any bird, exceeded only by flamingos. They prefer water that is shallow, under 24 cm or 9 in. deep. It likes to keep its body out of the water and dip down and pick little critters out of the mud.

Hawaiian Stilt dipping into the mud for a snack.
Photo: C. Tucker

The stilt is black and white, and has a long thin beak, perfect for pinching the worms, fish, crustaceans and insects that it loves to eat. The stilt moves between two different habitats each day, one is for foraging and eating, the other is for breeding and nesting.

To find out more about the Āe'o, visit the bird's fact sheet on the Hawaii Comprehensive Wildlife Conservation Strategy webpage.

Volunteer Opportunities

This page will be updated as volunteer opportunity info becomes available. Stay tuned!


On Oahu:
What: Makiki Watershed Awareness Initiative needs volunteers to help clean up and care for Makiki stream.

When: Every last Saturday of the month from 9am to 2pm. (No November and December workdays due to holidays)

Join the Oahu Na Ala Hele Trails and Access Program and Hawaii Nature Center in removing invasive plants, building trails and bridges, planting native plants and working as a team to improve Makiki Valley. Click here for more info.
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Help keep Ka'ena beautiful!
Location: Ka'ena State Park
Groups: Friends of Ka'ena
Activities: Volunteer activities such as trash cleanups, vegetation restoration, cultural site protection, interpretation, and education. 
Contact: Josh Heimowitz, (808) 637-4615, friends@friendsofkaena.org
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Care for Kawai Nui marsh!
Location: Na Pohaku, Kawai Nui State Park Reserve
Groups: ‘Ahahui Malama I Ka Lokahi
Activities: Workdays for site maintenance, tours, educational groups, restoration of the cultural landscape.
Contact: Chuck Burrows, (808) 595-3922, chuckb@hawaii.rr.com

If you know about other volunteer opportunities, we'd love to hear about them. Leave a comment below!