The 200th Puaiohi!
Posted at 12:20 pm April 28, 2006 by Sharon Belcher
It’s that time of year again! The flowers are blooming, the bees are buzzing, and the birds are…well, the birds are busy making BABIES!!! On the afternoon of April 20, 2006, the Hawaii Endangered Bird Conservation Program celebrated the hatching of its 200th puaiohi (pu-ai-o-he), pictured here.
Blind, helpless, and with a hairdo fit for Fraggle Rock, the hand-reared chick experiences care and attention akin to living in the lap of luxury. But being catered to isn’t necessarily all it’s cracked up to be. Hatching can be a tiring and difficult process in itself and now the chick develops at such a rate that in only 18 days it will open its eyes, grow feathers, and multiply in weight ten times; within 6 weeks it will have learned to fly and feed itself! In order to fuel this rapid growth, staff at the Maui Bird Conservation Center are feeding this youngster on the hour. Rations include bee larvae, ground egg, and cricket innards, lightly seasoned with vitamin and mineral supplements. As the chick grows, the menu will gradually expand to include such adult foods as papaya, mealworms, and waxworms, as well as native berries that puaiohi typically encounter in the wild.
Eventually, this puaiohi chick will either become a member of our captive breeding flock, or join a cohort to be released in the Alakai Swamp of Kauai. That’s a lot of pressure for such a young bird, but puaiohi have it down to a science. Since 1999, we have released 113 birds (see Spreading the Puaiohi Across the Alakai), and have successfully hand-reared many more. For lucky #200, several months of practice lie ahead before its foraging and social skills are put to the test in the wild. In the meantime, it’s breakfast in bed and a nice, warm brooder!
Sharon Belcher is a Research Fellow for the Maui Bird Conservation Center.
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April 29th, 2006 at 12:55 pm
Excellent article featuring great information! Facinating to hear about the rapid growth and the nutritional demands necessary for that growth. Also, congratulations on your attempts to reintroduce the birds into the wild population. I always enjoy reading about success stories. My only gripe: in celebrating #200, I would have loved to see a picture of the little ” Fraggle” itself!
Editor’s note: Check back on Monday for a new photo!
May 2nd, 2006 at 1:21 pm
Congratulations to both the avian and the human parents of these endangered chicks. That gaping little beak reminds me of raising both a baby robin and a baby blue jay back in the 1970s. I stuffed them full of night crawlers, mealworms, and bird pellets until they wouldn’t open their beaks, and an hour later they were hungry again! Keeping them warm and well-fed is quite a job, but fun. I can only imagine the dialogue during feeding….
” Good morning, Fraggle. Welcome to the Brooder Cafe. Breakfast this morning is bee larvae over easy, cricket pate’, and a ground egg patty infused with vitamins and minerals. Bon appetite!”
My thanks to the great crew working for the Hawaii Bird Project.
October 23rd, 2006 at 12:55 pm
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