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Unification of the Islands (with a note about Hawai‘i’s ranching legacy) Kamehameha had inherited the longstanding feud with Maui that had already existed at the time of his birth. After 1791, Maui’s ruling chief, Kahekili, fiercely contested Kamehameha’s rulership. One…

From lonesome keiki to island king Who hasn’t heard the name? The story of King Kamehameha infuses the legends of Hawaii. Each year, on June 11, Hawaii celebrates Kamehameha’s birthday with colorful parades and flower lei. But while we all…

With its complex, melodious warble and loud chatter call, mostly olive-green feathered, and just six inches in size, red-billed leiothrix is a pretty and attractive bird. You can’t miss its bright-yellow throat, its bright-red bill, the colored edges of its…

With its complex, melodious warble and loud chatter call, mostly olive-green feathered, and just six inches in size, red-billed leiothrix is a pretty and attractive bird. You can’t miss its bright-yellow throat, its bright-red bill, the colored edges of its…

Found on all continents except Antarctica, and regularly seen on all Hawaiian islands, the common barn owl is often confused with Hawaii’s smaller-sized native short-eared owl, pueo. But barn owls are light in color. They are most active during dusk…

Found on all continents except Antarctica, and regularly seen on all Hawaiian islands, the common barn owl is often confused with Hawaii’s smaller-sized native short-eared owl, pueo. But barn owls are light in color. They are most active during dusk…

Thought to have settled in shortly after the first Polynesians came to Hawai‘i, which may have been around 300 A.D., brown-feathered pueo has flown its own course ever since. It is considered endemic, found only in the islands, as a…

A cosmopolitan amid Hawaii’s birds, standing tall and graceful, the white-plumaged cattle egret has been recorded in Iceland, Belgium, and Egypt. Native to Africa and Asia, it’s established on all the continents except for Antarctica. And all this travel has…

Listen for the clear and varied song of this passerine bird, because you may not easily see it. Shy, it isn’t easily approached. Just 8 to 9.5 inches in size, with fairly plain rusty-brown plumage marked by darker streaks, it…

Wisps of smoke-gray, pale-brown, and soft yellow intersect the dusky-green plumage of the Japanese white-eye. The clear, light voice of this small perching bird seldom sings alone. Mejiro (the Japanese word means “white-eye” and refers to the white ring around…