Save Our Shearwaters
SOS is a community conservation program initiated by the Hawai`i Division of Forestry and Wildlife (DOFAW) in 1979. From 2005-2007 the Kaua`i Island Utility Cooperative (KIUC) fully funded and implemented the Program for DOFAW under DOFAW's oversight. Beginning in 2008, KIUC contracted with the Kaua`i Humane Society (KHS) to operate the SOS program on its behalf. Residents of Kaua`i are encouraged to take fall-out birds to seabird aid-stations established at local fire stations, hotels, and businesses. Aid stations are public drop-boxes suitable for holding birds. SOS staff then retrieve and release these birds and, from time to time, provide treatment to compromised birds giving them a chance of full recovery. If you find a downed seabird please bring it to the nearest designated Save Our Shearwaters Aid Station or call Save Our Shearwaters at (808) 632-0610 for more information, you may also visit the Save Our Shearwaters web page.
Seabird aid station managed by Save Our Shearwaters. There are 18 aid stations available on Kaua`i, which are checked daily from 15 Sep - 15 Dec. Photo courtesy of Save Our Shearwaters.
A Newell’s Shearwater being released after suffering from light attraction.
Save Our Seabirds
SOS on Maui is a cooperative program involving Maui Nui Seabird Recovery Project, Maui Electric Company, DOFAW, Haleakala National Park and The Maui Coastal Land Trust. Designed in the image of the Save Our Shearwaters program on Kaua‘i, the Maui program addresses issues of light attraction and downed seabirds due to anthropogenic causes. The problems on Maui for seabirds are most apparent during fledging of young birds each fall. SOS involves the public and responsible agencies and businesses in recovering, rehabilitating and releasing downed seabirds and working toward long term solutions to fallout and bird strike hazards.
A similar program for downed seabirds on Maui has been in place since the 1980s. It is cooperatively run by DOFAW and Haleakala National Park. Please visit the Haleakala website for more information www.nps.gov/hale/naturescience/animals.htm .
Maui Nui Seabird Recovery Project
The focus of the Maui Nui Seabird Recovery Project (MNSRP) is the research and recovery of the Hawaiian Petrel, Newell’s Shearwater and the Band-rumped Storm-Petrel on the islands of Maui Nui (Maui, Moloka‘i, Lana‘i, and Kaho‘olawe). Efforts focus on locating breeding colonies, mitigating threats and facilitating conservation at known colonies. Project staff lead the work of Save Our Seabirds on Maui. MNSRP also works to locate, protect and monitor any other seabird species remaining on the islands of Maui Nui. Wedge-tailed Shearwaters are the most visible of these species and the project works to build public support and participation in monitoring and protecting these birds before they reach an endangered state.
Lana`i Native Species Recovery Program
Lana`i Native Species Recovery Program (LNSRP) is a program of the Maui Nui Seabird Recovery Project. LNSRP works to protect and enhance the colony of Hawaiian Petrels on Lana`i. The habitat altering invasion of alien weeks in the petrel colony also threatens the watershed of the island of Lana`i. LNSRP carries out habitat restoration activities for the benefit of both the petrels and the watershed. The program is staffed by Lana`i residents, trained and employed through the University of Hawai`i. LNSRP has an active outreach and education role on Lana`i, involving students, seniors, and other island residents in on the ground restoration activities and surveys.
Kaua`i Endangered Seabird Recovery Project
The focus of the Kaua`i Endangered Seabird Recovery Project (KESRP) is the research and recovery of the Newell’s Shearwater, Hawaiian Petrel, and the Band-rumped Storm-Petrel on Kaua`i. Important tasks include using modified marine radar to monitor numbers visiting Kaua'i each year, searching for active colonies in the remote, mountainous regions of Kaua`i, and facilitating conservation efforts at known breeding colonies. The project also undertakes conservation directed research, including what these birds eat at sea, where they go while out at sea and how to best monitor these birds.
Observers use night vision goggles to watch these birds fly into the mountains at night – Nick Holmes
Ornithological radar truck – Nick Holmes
The Kilauea Point National Wildlife Refuge Newell's Shearwater Social Attraction and Monitoring Project
At least three pairs of Newell’s Shearwaters have bred at Kilauea Point National Wildlife Refuge since 1997, likely the progeny of a unique project in the early 80’s where 100 eggs of Newell’s Shearwaters were taken from the mountains were given to, and raised by Wedge-tailed Shearwaters at the refuge (Byrd et al. 1984, Zaun & Hawkes 2006).
Surveys in April 2011 found 11 to 13 Newell's Shearwaters prospecting for burrows at the refuge, including a male that was hatched on the refuge in 2006!
This Newell’s chick was raised in an artificial burrow at Kilauea Point National Wildlife Refuge – Brenda Zaun
The Upper Limahuli Preserve Conservation Project
This hanging valley adjacent to Hanakapi`ai on the North side of Kaua`i is owned and managed by the National Tropical Botanical Gardens (NTBG), and contains critical breeding habitat for Hawaiian Petrel and Newell’s shearwater. In addition to its several other conservation efforts, NTBG currently manages the 400 acre preserve in the interest of protecting and conserving the area’s many rare and endangered plants, as well as the endangered seabird species it hosts. The construction of a fully enclosed fence was recently completed around the perimeter of the preserve, which has allowed for more effective predator control, and set the stage for further seabird management efforts on behalf of the Kaua`i Endangered Seabird Recovery Project, such as the installation of subterranean artificial nest boxes and social attraction by broadcasting calls.
The fence at Upper Limahuli Preserve will help protect seabird breeding habitat – Nick Holmes
Kauai Seabird Habitat Conservation Plan
KSHCP website: http://www.kauai-seabirdhcp.info/
Haleakala National Park `Ua`u Conservation and Management Program
The park has over 40 years of investment in the `Ua`u population. Limited seasonal nest monitoring dates back to the 1960s. Breeding biology research at Haleakala in the early 1980s serves as a foundation for current conservation and management program statewide. Habitat management activities implemented in the 1980s continue to benefit the `Ua`u today. A boundary fence was completed and subsequently feral ungulates were eradicated from the summit area. Predator control traplines were also established. The park’s current program, began in the early 1990s, consists of nest monitoring, banding, salvaging of grounded seabirds, and predator control. New seabird monitoring protocols to collect information on legacy nest plots and colony expansion will be implemented in 2010.
Hawaii Volcanoes National Park `Ua`u Monitoring and Management
Within Hawai`i Volcanoes National Park, Hawaiian Petrels, or `Ua`u, nest on sparsely-vegetated, high-elevation lava flows and cinder fields. The park has inventoried much of its suitable petrel habitat to identify the most important subcolonies, and within these, conducts annual breeding colony monitoring. In concert with Haleakala National Park, Hawai`i Volcanoes will enact improved monitoring protocols within the next several years. The park manages subcolonies by maintaining perimeter ungulate fences and controlling introduced predatory mammals. Spurred by an ongoing interest in improved management techniques, particularly to address feral cat predation, which is the most critical threat to Hawaiian Petrels in Hawai`i Volcanoes, the park has adopted widespread use of telemetry on its live traps. Currently, the park is exploring the use of specialized fencing to exclude feral cats from colonies.