Nov. 8, 2009 - Hawaiian Goose

The Nene, also called the Hawaiian Goose, is the official state bird of Hawaii. Its ancestors were probably Canada Geese that may have reached Hawaii 500,000 years ago. In 1778 when Captain Cook arrived on Hawaii, Nene were quite common, with an estimated population of 25,000 geese. However, hunting and introduced predators (mongoose, pigs, cats) were very hard on these birds and by the early 1950s it was estimated that only 30 - 50 Nene still existed. Thanks to a captive breeding program, the Nene population has increased to over 1000 in the wild and they are again breeding on the Hawaiian Islands. The easiest place to see them is at Kilauea Lighthouse National Park on the Island of Kauai and that is where all of these photos were taken. Notice the leg bands on this bird. The park staff is attempting to band all the Nene born in the park. This helps them to keep track of the individual Nene and it gives them a way to trace the lineage of each goose. This is important because, with the small number of geese in the original group, they are concerned about problems that might occur as a result of inbreeding.

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Here is a close-up look at a Nene. Notice the furrows in the neck feathers that give them a unique appearance.

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Here is a photo of two Nene flying near the lighthouse.

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Wedge-tailed Shearwaters also nest at the lighthouse. Their nests are simple burrows and some of these burrows are right next to the walking path. The adults leave the nest at dawn and fly out to sea to search for food. They don’t return until dusk so I didn’t see any adults, but the babies are quite visible in the burrows.

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Most birds nest in the spring but Nene nest in the fall. According to the rangers at the park these were the first babies that had been seen this fall.

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While I was at the lighthouse I suddenly heard a loud commotion; it sounded like some birds fighting. I ran over to where a crowd had gathered and it was apparent that a Nene was attacking one of the Shearwater chicks on the other side of the chain link fence. In this photo you can see the baby goose in front and the gray Shearwater chick on the ground. At this stage of their development, the Shearwater chicks are pretty helpless. A tour guide jumped over the fence and rescued the Shearwater chick. It wasn’t clear what had provoked the attack but the Nene might have seen the chick as a threat to its babies.

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The tour guide handed the chick over to this park volunteer who then took it to the park rangers. The chick wasn’t entirely helpless because, with its beak, it gave the volunteer a cut on his arm.

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A little while later this ranger came back with the chick wrapped in a towel. She searched in the bushes to find the chick’s nest.

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She assured us that the chick was just fine. When she unwrapped the chick from the towel, it went back to its nest in the bushes.

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