Birds of Kaloko-Honokohau National Historical Park

Abstract

Twenty-five bird species were detected at fifty-one count stations located along seven transects in Kaloko-Honokohau National Historical Park. Each station was counted once during fall-winter (October and November 1992) and once again during spring-summer (April and May 1993). Significantly more species per station were detected during the spring counts, but there was no difference in the mean numbers of birds detected per station when the two count periods were compared. Nine of the bird species (36%) were indigenous waterbirds or shorebirds and the other 16 species (64%) were introduced, non-native species. Two of the three indigenous waterbirds are also endemic and endangered. As expected, the bird checklist for Kaloko-Honokohau contains many more species than those detected during the two short-term censuses. The relatively high species diversity can be attributed to the large amount of wetland (primarily brackish water fishponds with associated marshy areas and anchialine pools) and sandy shoreline available within the park. Like other lowland sites, the high percent of non-native bird species is attributable to centuries of direct or indirect human impact.