KAUAI

Relocation of birds a ‘success’

LIHUE >> An effort to relocate endangered Hawaiian seabirds has been an “enormous success” so far, according to people and organizations involved in the project.

The last of 20 petrels brought to a 7.8-acre Nihoku colony this fall have fledged and flown safely out to sea, reported the Garden Island newspaper.

“Each time one of these young birds fledges, it leads us one step closer to our ultimate goal of recovery for these native birds,” said Lindsay Young. Young is part of Pacific Rim Conservation, the nonprofit organization that cares for and feeds the birds at Nihoku.

The planned five-year relocation involves moving those birds and Newell’s shearwaters to a predator-proof enclosure at Kilauea Point National Wildlife Refuge.

The birds were collected from the island’s mountainous interior, where they are threatened by introduced predators and the loss of breeding habitat. Collisions with power lines and attraction to artificial lights can also be dangerous to the petrels.

After the birds were carefully removed from their burrows, they were flown by helicopter to the Princeville airport and then driven to the Nihoku colony, where they were placed in artificial burrows. They were fed and cared for over several weeks until they fledged.

A total of 36 endangered and threatened birds have fledged over the program’s two years.

Andre Raine, who leads the Kauai Endangered Forest Bird Recovery Project, said the birds’ predicament tells scientists something important about the entire ecosystem.

“Like the proverbial canary in the coal mine, Kauai’s endangered seabirds serve as a warning for the overall health of our forests and watersheds,” Raine said. “With the breeding populations of these iconic birds dropping so precipitously in the last two decades, we should look to the overall health of our native forests and watersheds, which is also at risk.”

hawaii island

Quake shakes North Kohala

A small earthquake rattled North Kohala on Friday.

The magnitude-2.9 quake struck just after 11 a.m. with an epicenter in the ocean just off Kawaihae Harbor.

The depth was 6 miles, according to the U.S. Geological Survey.

There were no reports of damage.

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Associated Press and Star-Advertiser staff