My Birding World

“OMG I’m breathing water!” I thought to myself as I stepped off the plane into Honolulu in October 2014. It was my first time visiting Hawaii, and the first time experiencing heavy humidity. I suddenly donned a new hair style of humid frizz. I quickly learned that cockroaches, or rather flying cockroaches, proliferated in the water-air. But really I was here for the birds. And to relax, of course.

I was still quite an amateur birder at this point. I spent several weeks trying to study the birds I might see on Oahu, but my knowledge of available resources for research was limited. eBird would have been incredibly valuable had I known about it, but we still managed to see a lot of terrific birds.

I desperately wanted to see a Red-crested Cardinal. Days went by without seeing one and I was getting bummed. It wasn’t until we ventured into town in search of delicious Portuguese donuts did we finally see one. The flash of brilliant red on its head was startling! Then we saw another! And another! And, well, let’s just say that there was no shortage of this inspiring bird. All we had to do was wander away from the main tourist area. Take a mental note for future trips to veer off the main drag.

There were many fascinating species: Java Sparrows, Japanese White-Eyes, and a Yellow-fronted Canary. Also some familiar birds were around, such as the Pacific Golden-Plover, Cattle Egret, and House Sparrows. I was struck by the color differences in the pigeons, which were mainly white rather than our familiar grey birds. They did blend in more with the sand with those colors.

My favorites were the Zebra Doves. A tiny bird with thinly-striped, tan feathers with a light turquoise streak in its face, the doves loved to hang out by my chair while I was dining outside. Their calls were so sweet, and every time I listen to their choppy calls online, I am transported back to the island and our trip.

I quite treasured my experience exploring such brilliantly-colored and new species. I can’t wait to visit again!