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Reader’s efforts
save protected bird

I need your advice," reader Liz Neroutsos e-mailed last week. "As part of the Waikiki Beach Walk Project, a banyan tree may be on the chopping block."

The project of which she writes is the Outrigger Enterprises' rebuilding of the run-down Lewers Street-Kalia-Beach Walk area. Liz and her husband live in an upper-story apartment there and, from their window, can see inside the banyan.

"As I looked out this evening, to my amazement, I saw a baby fairy tern sitting happily in the crook of the tree," Liz wrote. "Whom should I contact to save this little creature? We need the experts."

Because all seabirds are protected by federal law, they are under the jurisdiction of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. I gave Liz their number.

The FWS, however, has been hit hard with budget cuts recently, and the staff's workload is overwhelming. I didn't hold out much hope that anyone could afford the time for just one bird.

The bird in question is one of Honolulu's white terns, the only seabird species to nest in our city.

In 1961 only two white terns nested here. No one knows how they came to Honolulu or why, but apparently the urban environment suited them. Today, about 700 of these beauties raise their families in our city, and the population continues to grow.

White tern and fairy tern, by the way, are two names for the same bird. The first is the official common name, but the latter is the one most of us hold dear. My reader, Liz, calls her tern Tinkerbell.

And Tink got the attention it deserves. Liz wrote back, saying that a FWS law enforcement agent, Keith Swindle, came to their apartment to check on the bird.

He thought the tern was an adult sitting either on an egg or on a newly hatched chick.

I called Keith. "It's a fine balance," he said when I asked how he had time to make the visit. "By taking care of one bird, I hope to get the word out about how special these terns are. That helps them all."

Keith then e-mailed me the latest study on Honolulu terns.

Oahu's fairy terns nest from Hickam Air Force Base to Hawaii Kai in 31 kinds of trees. Nesting goes on year-round, but most egg laying occurs between January and April.

The birds' success rate here is phenomenal. About 74 percent of Honolulu-laid eggs hatch bird that grow up and fly away. On Hawaii's remote Tern Island, the number is 30 percent.

This seems backward, given that our city is full of cats, rats and mongooses, and Tern Island has none. But our terns are street smart. Most nest in areas busy with vehicles and pedestrians, and this traffic likely keeps predators at bay.

"Keith will contact the PR woman at the Outrigger," Liz writes, "and explain that the tree may not be cut down until the new baby can fly." Liz's family also learned that the banyan might only be pruned.

"Anyway," she writes of her tern, "our new friend Keith is now his/her protector."

Their new friend? I guess I gave Liz the right number. She got her expert and more.