If you’re traveling to Hawaii and going to visit Kauai, you might be interested in some of the birds of Kauai. Kauai has many different species of birds. Some are native to Kauai; others have been introduced over the years. In this article, we’ll discuss some of the birds of Kauai.
Fulvous Whistling-Duck
This duck is also called the fulvous tree duck. It breeds in Mexico, South America, the Caribbean, the Southern United States, sub-Saharan Africa, and India. Its feathers are primarily reddish-brown, it has a long, gray bill, and a distinctive white band across its black tail when flying. In flight or on the ground, it makes a whistling call like other members of its ancient family.
It likes wetlands with a lot of vegetation, including shallow lakes and paddy fields. It builds nests out of plant material and places them in dense vegetation or in trees. A clutch usually contains ten white eggs. Breeding adults take turns incubating the eggs, which hatch in 24 to 29 days. The young ducklings leave their nests within a day or two of hatching, but the parents continue to protect them until they fledge around nine weeks later.
Emperor Goose
A near-threatened bird of Kauai, it is also known as the beach goose or painted goose. It’s a species of Anatidae, which includes ducks, geese, and swans. It’s blue-gray in color and grows 26 to 28 inches long as an adult. Adults have a black chin and throat, a pink bill, yellow legs, and a white head, which is often reddish-brown in the summer.
The emperor goose spends the winter on mudflats and coasts in Alaska and sometimes Canada and the contiguous United States. It migrates northward several hundred miles in the summer to arctic and subarctic climates, where older individuals breed monogamously. Nests are built in holes and stuffed with vegetation and feathers. In late June and early July, the eggs hatch, and the goslings leave the nest. This species is omnivorous and makes nasal vocalizations. According to the International Union for Conservation of Nature, the species’ population is declining due to threats like pollution, hunting, and climate change.
Snow Goose
Snow Geese are native to North America. They can be white or dark; the latter is often called a blue goose. Its name comes from its typically white plumage. It was previously part of the Chen genus, but it’s now usually included in the gray goose genus Anser.
Greater White-Fronted Goose
The greater white-fronted goose is related to the lesser white-fronted goose. This bird is named for a white patch at the base of its bill. Its Latin name, albifrons, means “white forehead” in Greek. In Europe, it’s been called the white-fronted goose. In North America, it’s called the greater white-fronted goose. This name is spreading internationally as well. Adult birds have distinctive salt-and-pepper markings on their breasts, which is why the goose is called a “specklebelly” in North America.
Cackling Goose
This species of goose is found in North America. They look like Canada geese. Male cackling geese are slightly larger than females; both sexes have long, black necks with white chinstraps. The breast, abdomen, and flanks are light gray to dark brown, blended with the black neck or separated by a white-collar. The back and scapulars are darker browns, the rump is blackish, and the tail is blackish-brown with a white u-shaped band at the end. The bill, legs, and feet are black.
Canada Goose
Canada geese are large wild geese with a black head and neck, white cheeks, white under their chins, and a brown body. Usually found in the arctic and temperate regions of North America and occasionally in northern Europe during migration. It has been introduced in the UK, Ireland, Finland, Sweden, Denmark, New Zealand, Japan, Chile, Argentina, and the Falkland Islands. Typically migratory and herbivorous, Canadian geese feed mainly on plants. They are usually found near fresh water.
Hawaiian Goose
The Hawai’ian goose is also called the nēnē. The species is endemic to Hawaii. Hawai’i’s official bird is found in the wild on Oahu, Maui, Kauai, Molokai, and Hawai’i. Their faces are black, and their cheeks are cream. It is pale grayish streaked with black and has a dark ring at its base. The gray-brown body plumage and folded wings have transverse barring. It has a black bill, legs and feet, and a dark brown iris. Both sexes look similar, but males are typically larger. You can see this bird at the Kawai’ele State Waterbird Sanctuary.
Tundra Swan
Tundra swans are small swans of the Holarctic. Its one of our favorite birds of Kauai The two taxa within it are usually considered conspecific but are also sometimes split into two species: Bewick’s swan of the Palearctic and the whistling swan proper of the Nearctic.
Birds from eastern Russia are sometimes classified as C. c. jankowskii, although this is not widely accepted, with most authors including them in C.c. bewickii. Tundra swans are sometimes grouped with other Arctic swan species in the subgenus Olor.
Baikal Teal
Baikal teals are dabbling ducks that breed in eastern Russia and winter in East Asia. This bird’s head is green, buff, black and white. Gray sides are separated from the dull brown breast and black undertail by vertical white bands. The rear flanks and tail are covered with pointed scapulars. Females, juveniles, and nonbreeding males are rather like the somewhat smaller Green-winged Teal, but with a distinctive white spot on the face at the base of its bill.
This magnificent bird breeds in the tundra and taiga of central and eastern Siberia, and winters in southern and eastern China and Japan, as well as visiting Alaska and California.
Those are some of the birds of Kauai. When you’re in Kauai, be sure to look for these birds and take pictures of them if you can – many of them are endangered and may not be around much longer.