Not What You'd Imagine

By popular demand (Papa maybe mentioned it one time) I've decided to try to keep another blog going for everyone (once again, probably just Papa) who wants to know what I'm up to out here. I'm sure very little of this blog will be interesting to anyone, but, quite frankly, I don't much care. It's a great forum for me to write about myself, and, being incredibly vain, that is one of my favorite pastimes (second only to actually talking about myself).

So here goes, hopefully this one ends a little bit better than the last.

For those of you who don't know (I apologize for being so bad at keeping you all up to date), I am currently living in Hawaii and doing a research internship with the Keauhou Bird Conservation Center - a facility owned by the San Diego Zoo and dedicated to the captive propagation of endemic Hawaiian bird species. I'll get into the whole living situation a bit later, but first a bit of explanation about why this place exists.

Like so many other islands, the Hawaiian archipelago was once home to an astounding array of bird, insect and plant species - basically those organisms which had managed to make the impressive journey to this corner of the world, settle and evolve to fill the various available ecological niches. As has happened on basically every island since humans began exploring the globe, these unique and previously thriving biomes were invaded by an increasing number of invasive species. Along with humans came rats, livestock, and countless other plants and animals which were able to out-compete native species which had no way to protect themselves from the invaders. As Polynesian settlers (followed by Europeans and Americans) began to develop the islands for agriculture the native habitats were stripped away, further handicapping endemic species. The worst invader, at least from an avian perspective, was the mosquito. Probably arriving via an English ship's water casks, mosquitoes (and the diseases they transmitted between birds, like avian-pox and malaria) quickly decimated bird populations across the islands.

All this leads us to the current day, where dozens of native Hawaiian birds (and other organisms) are threatened or endangered. As part of an effort to halt, and hopefully reverse, the decline of these birds, the San Diego Zoo along with government and local agencies, founded the KBCC and the MBCC (Maui Bird Conservation Centers) to begin a captive breeding effort similar to the highly successful work done with peregrine falcons.

Alright, I'm bored of history. So the KBCC, where I am working, is focused on the breeding of four species (and I will attempt a pronunciation guide, although I hope that any linguists reading this are not highly offended by my lackluster work).

The first of these, and primary reason that the KBCC exists, is the Hawaiian Crow or 'Alala. It's pronounced pretty much like it's spelled (if you need more help, think Christmas songs - Deck the halls with boughs of holly, 'Alala la la...). These guys are a bit bigger than the crows you are used to on the mainland, but just as smart. Each bird has its own personality (and traditional Hawaiian name, which the other birds do not) and they are far and away the most popular residents at the center. We have fifty or so of the sixty-seven surviving individuals.

Next is the Palila (pah-LEE-la), a type of Hawaiian honey-creeper. If any of you are familiar with the house finch (a litte red-headed guy that is common everywhere in the states) the palila looks something like that but larger, with less barring, and a bright yellow head. Honeycreepers are descended from a common finch ancestor, but have differentiated to fill a lot of different ecological roles. The biggest issue for the palila is the decline of the native Mamane tree. These trees produce seed pods (kind of like spiky green beans) that provide about 90% of the birds' diet. Unfortunately the tree is now also endangered (but we have special permits to harvest some for the birds...it's exciting to be able to check off the "remove parts of an endangered species" box on my list of life-goals, even if it is to help another one).

The Puaiohi (poo-EYE-oh-he), also known as the small Kaua'i thrush, is one of my favorites not only because it is a charming little bird, but largely for the fact that it allowed me too sneak the word "poo" into this blog (twice as funny if you know that the bird's family name is Turdidae). It's somewhat related to the American robin and looks kind of similar, but smaller and dusky gray-brown all over. They are pretty omnivorous, feeding mostly on fruits and arthropods (bugs). Captive breeding has been somewhat successful, and over a hundred individuals have been released into their native swamp since the program began.

Last but not least is the Maui Parrotbill, unique not just because it has no Hawaiian name, but because of it's sweet-ass eponymous beak. Yes I used the terms "sweet-ass" and "eponymous" side by side and yes, I am a little bit proud of that. This is another species of honeycreeper, but they are much smaller and have more cryptic coloring (kind of an olive-yellow) than the palila. They specialize in using that beak to explore under bark and into holes to pull out insect larvae.

So that's your introduction to the birds, I'll try to get some photos taken soon but I can't really guarantee anything.

Work so far is going well (even though it starts at 6:30 in the morning). I am now one week in to my three weeks of training, so far I've worked with each of the resident species except the crow. I'm getting settled in to the intern house (see photo), which is pretty nice and situated very close to the facility.

There are currently two other interns, Alexa and Emily, although this is actually Alexa's last day so soon it will just be me and Emily. They are both nice enough, but we don't really have much in common. We'll see if the friendly relationship continues, I'm already pretty sick of cleaning up after them (scary, right? I'm the neat one) in the kitchen. I've also been reminded how gross it is sharing a shower (or more specifically a shower drain) with girls. I pulled out the biggest, nastiest, soaking-wet hairball yesterday...I can handle animal excrement without flinching (I once had the stomach contents of a dead dog empty all over me; a dog which, prior to death had been eating other dog's poop). Hell, I had to help kill a mongoose just the other day. But that hairball just about made me puke.

Aside from that things are going well. As some of you already know, I'm not really living in the tourist part of Hawaii. The facility is about 4,000 feet up on the side of the volcano on the big island, which means that there is no beach or palm trees in sight. We're on a beautiful portion of what used to be a ranch (although I was surprised to learn that Hawaii has no native grass species, so I feel a little bad calling it beautiful). It gets cold at night (down into the forties) but generally warms up during the day. I did manage to get my first sun burn yesterday (thankfully nothing compared to my first burn in Zbar). I haven't decided if it's a good thing or not, but we are pretty far away from significant human habitation. The township of Volcano is nearby, but it isn't really a bustling metropolis. We are about an hour outside of Hilo, where we have to go for groceries and whatnot. That means that we only get to go to town twice a week (in the facility vehicles) which, I would imagine, will make it difficult for me to make friends outside of work. Pile that on top of my natural inability to charm people and I'm looking at a lonely few months. I will try to make myself go out and explore the island, but (as some of you know) I do better at that when I have friends making me do it.

Everyone on the staff seems pretty nice, so I may try hanging out with them (assuming they want me to) over the course of the spring. I can say right now that a repeat of the wildcat sanctuary is unlikely. I suppose that's good news, although it would certainly have made my time here a bit more interesting.

Alright, this has gone on too long. I'll try to post again soon, but no guarantees. If you have specific questions for me just leave them as comments. That might help me avoid more long, rambling messes like this one. Hope you are all doing well. I'm going to go outside and enjoy this sunny, eighty degree day.

Aloha

haha, Turdidae