San Francisco Chronicle:
Bird watching on the Big Island: Tourism on a wing and a prayer

By Carolyn Zinko, March 12, 2006

We were about to enter the realm of the gods -- what Hawaiians call the wao akua -- and our guide thought it best that we bow our heads and ask permission first.
It wasn't Pele, the fire goddess, that we were hoping to see. It was something much more benign, but nearly as elusive: the akiapola'au, a tiny yellow-green honeycreeper with a curved bill used to pry grubs from wood.
We had trekked for 30 minutes across a jagged lava field, sweating under a hot sun, with our guide Kevin Schneider, an East Coast native who's embraced Hawaiian lore. We'd reached the spot where the Pu'u O'o Trail, on Mauna Loa's northeastern slope, meets a hillside forest, elevation 6,000 feet.
We were part of a group of nine bird watchers -- novices, amateurs and ultra-dedicated among us -- on an 11-hour trip led by Hawaii Forest and Trail.
The Big Island company, founded 12 years ago by Rob Pacheco, a mainland naturalist, offers eight nature adventures -- waterfall trail hikes, an outing in a six-wheel, 1970s-era Pinzgauer Swiss army vehicle to the volcanic vents of Hualalai, and tours of Kilauea volcano among them.
Because the Hawaiian islands are thousands of miles from other land masses, their flora and fauna evolved in isolation, making for rare birds and plants that had few natural predators. Over the centuries, with colonization by Westerners, many species have died off, in part due to the introduction of non-native mammals and the loss of forest habitat due to ranching. On the Big Island, rare birds are found in the mountains, protected by elevations that are inhospitable to non-native mosquitoes, which carry disease.
This tour took us to the dry forest on Mauna Kea, home to birds such as the chestnut-colored elepaio, the bright red apapane and I'iwi, and the endangered gold-headed, gray-winged palila. It also took us to the cloud forest on Mauna Loa, home to the endangered omao'o, or Hawaiian thrush; the i'o, a Hawaiian hawk; and the akiapola'au.
These are the names that cause serious birders to travel the globe, checking them off their "life lists."
Two such people were in our group. For the rest of us -- a pair of lawyers from the Seattle area, three hikers in their 60s, and my husband and me -- the trip afforded a chance to venture into remote terrain without mishap and get back to our hotel in time for an important part of many tropical vacations -- a sunset cocktail on the beach.
Our trip began with a 6:30 a.m. check-in at the tour group's headquarters near the Kona Airport. We set out with our gregarious guide in a four-wheel drive van loaded with continental breakfast, sandwiches for lunch and all manner of gear including waterproof binoculars and rain gear for the wet forest (or cloudburst).
Now, you don't need a tour to look for birds -- you can always strike out on your own with a guidebook -- but the rarest avians are found off the Saddle Road, which is paved but so remote that car rental companies won't let you drive on it. In addition, there are military training facilities along the route, with occasional live gunfire. The official tour seemed the way to go.
For safety's sake, we did our grassland birding from the van, spotting the indigenous pueo, or short-eared owl, and non-native francolins and wild turkeys through the windows.
At the Humu'ula hunter check-in station, at an elevation of nearly 7,000 feet, we entered the Kaohe Game Management Area. After a breakfast break at a scenic lookout, we donned orange hunters' vests as a precaution. Our guide's keen ear then helped us locate the apapane and elepaio, as well as the gray and yellow amakihi flitting about.
The day was going well, but we still had the cloud forest honeycreeper to find. After the 3-mile hike across the lava flow, which our guide told us dates back to 1855 and 1881, we made our silent appeal at the koa forest's edge.
We found the endangered Hawaiian thrush and made a path - literally -- toward the akiapola'au. A fallen tree blocked the usual route, so Schneider drew out a machete and began hacking a new one from the underbrush. After 40 minutes going this way and that, we turned to give up -- and heard the bird's song high overhead.
Panting, we raced along the steep, wooded hillsides, chasing the sound.
"It's flown over there," Schneider said of a section of forest across an exposed clearing.
"If it's over there," intoned one of serious birders, "what are we doing here?"
Another 20 minutes of racing about and we were finally rewarded with a glimpse of the tiny fellow - and some lucky photographers in the group snapped a few frames for posterity. Our prayers seemed to have worked.
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IF YOU GO
Hawaii Forest and Trail, 74-5035B Queen Kaahumanu Highway, Kailua-Kona, Hawaii (Big Island). (800) 464-1993, http://www.hawaii-forest.com/. Eight eco-adventures including two birding tours. Birding trips require four-person minimum and go out rain or shine. Rainforest and Dryforest Birdwatching Adventure and Hakalau Forest Wildlife Birding Adventure, $155 per person. Major credit cards accepted; 24-hour cancellation policy.
Other resources
"Hawaii's Birds," by the Hawaii Audubon Society. Color photos of birds, descriptions of islands on which they are found.
"A Pocket Guide to Hawaii's Birds," by H. Douglas Pratt, Mutual Publishing. Color photos, birding hot spots on each island. Note: McCandless Ranch is no longer open to birding as its main attraction, the last flock of Hawaiian crows, is now extinct in the wild (scientists are trying to rebuild numbers in captive populations).