Seven Palila Flying: Rare Birds Released
December 2, 2005

On Thursday, December 1, seven rare Hawaiian birds were released into their native habitat on the island of Hawaii. The birds, which were hatched and reared at the Keauhou Bird Conservation Center, are part of an effort to establish a new population of this species on the north side of Mauna Kea.

Palila are a critically endangered species of honeycreeper native to Hawaii. Like many native bird species on the Hawaiian islands, the palila has become critically endangered due to loss of habitat and the threat of introduced predators.

“At the Keauhou Bird Conservation Center we work to preserve and build a sustainable population of several Hawaiian bird species,“ said Alan Lieberman, director of the Center. “We provide an ark where these species can be maintained while conservation and forestry officials work to set up protected habitat where they can be re-released.”

Since 2003, 22 palila have been released back into the State’s Puu Mali Forest Reserve on Mauna Kea. Tracking of released birds indicates that they are doing well. There has been one documented case of a captive-reared, released male breeding with a wild female that had been previously translocated by U.S. Geological Survey biologists from the west side of Mauna Kea.

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