5 endangered palila
birds released
on Mauna Kea
HILO >> A team of federal, state and private agencies released five palila birds, reared in captivity, this week on the north side of Mauna Kea, facing Waimea, in hopes of establishing a new colony of the endangered native birds there.
It marked the first release of the small, yellow-headed palila reared at a San Diego Zoo facility on Mauna Loa near Hawaii Volcanoes National Park. Five more of the captively reared birds are to be released later this month, the zoo announced.
The project includes the zoo, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, state Division of Forestry and Wildlife, Biological Resources Division of the U.S. Geological Survey, U.S. Department of Transportation and U.S. Army.
In 1997-98, officials captured 53 palila from the only colony of the birds on the mountain's west side and transferred them to the north side. Within a few months to a year, 40 of them flew the 12 miles back to the original home, said Paul Banko, of the Biological Resources Division.
The other 13 died of predation by hawks, owls, cats, rats and mongooses, he said.
The expectation is that the captively reared birds, having no memory of another home in the wild, will stay put, Banko said. In turn, they might provide enough stability that later transfers of palila from the west side might decide to remain with them, he said.
There is little biologists can do to protect the new colony site from io hawks and pueo owls, since they are also endangered native birds, Banko said.
The most serious ground predators are "wild" cats, which find plenty of food in the area and have been known to kill palila hatchlings in their nests without eating them, he said.
Biologists are trapping and shooting cats in the new colony area, Banko said. If that sounds harsh, "these are truly wild cats," he noted. "It's not a good idea for somebody to think they can adopt a wild cat."