Pueo ~ Hawaiian short-eared owl ~ Asio flammeus sandwichensis

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 subspecies to the ubiquitous short-eared owl. Polynesians brought with them the islands’ first rats, which has led some scientists to believe that pueo needed this food source to fully adapt to its new locale. Either way, the early Polynesians saw in pueo an ancestral spirit and family protector, a bringer of good luck. The bird entered numerous Hawaiian legends and myths.

content-img