New trail offers key to finding island’s rare birds

KAILUA-KONA — Across the mainland, networks of destinations show bird enthusiasts where to go for best viewing of the creatures in the wild.

Even though Hawaii’s birds are a rare biological treasure, the idea of an extensive “bird trail” didn’t catch on for decades. But that has all changed.

Come fall, a steering committee made up of birding enthusiasts, an outdoor group and eco-tour operators officially will open a 90-mile cross-island trail for bird viewing. Along the way, an informational website will be launched and a new two-day Hawaii Island Festival of Birds is planned in Keauhou.

From Kona to Hilo, birders on the Hawaii Island Coast to Coast Birding Trail will know just where to glimpse herons and egrets, sand grouse and rare upper elevation denizens such as the amakihi, elapaio and the crimson iiwi.

“Florida has an amazing bird trail system and many other states have them, and it’s definitely time for Hawaii,” said Gretchen Grove, a wildlife artist and wife of Big Island bird photographer Jack Jeffrey.

The trail and festival already are creating a buzz among birders. In Toledo, Ohio, Mary Jo Hardy saw a promotion for the trail in a recent issue of Audubon magazine, and has registered for the festival and booked airline tickets. She was excited the event will offer guided bird viewing on the slopes of Hualalai and via pelagic bird outings on the ocean.

“I want to see the birds and this is the best way to do it,” Hardy said by phone from the Midwest.

That’s just the kind of enthusiasm the program’s boosters are hoping to tap as they meet later this month to finalize plans for the trail.

“Hopefully this is just the first trail that will eventually connect other resources, then other islands can develop their own trails,” said Rob Pacheco, owner of Hawaii Forest &Trail and a member of the steering committee that formulated the trail system.

In addition to the website detailing the trail, downloadable print material, apps and highway signage are possible in the future, Pacheco said.

“These are routes that connect resources,” he said. “It’s a way to impart information around a coherent theme. And all of these areas are already public access.”

The trail will take off from the west at Kaloko-Honokohau National Historical Park — home of the golden plover, herons and petrels. The trail will head mauka on Hina Lani Street to Highway 190 and provide access to upper elevation birds in Kaloko. The trail then goes north on Highway 190, through chestnut-bellied sandgrouse territory near Puuanahulu to Old Saddle Road, where glimpses of Hawaiian hawks and owls are possible.

The trail along the Daniel K. Inouye Highway will highlight such areas as Puu Huluhulu, where bright and rare honeycreepers can be seen, then down to Hilo past Kaumana Caves to Loko Waka Pond in Keaukaha, a migratory bird hotspot.

The route will connect not just birding areas but natural attractions such as the caves, Pacheco said.

The trail is receiving fiscal and administrative sponsoring by Peoples Advocacy for Trails Hawaii. Festival sponsors include the Hawaii Tourism Authority, Audubon magazine, Hawaii County, Hawaii Forest &Trail and Destination Marketing.

The birding festival is scheduled for Sept. 24-25 at the Sheraton Kona Resort &Spa at Keauhou Bay. The program will feature naturalists and birding experts, guest speakers, an outdoor gear and birding equipment trade show, birding tours and field trips, bird-related arts, crafts and photography, and a children’s area.

Lisa Brochu has been working behind the scenes for months coordinating the trail and festival. A consultant for years in interpretive planning, she moved to the island permanently last year. On previous visits, she and Pacheco and others kicked around the idea of creating the trail.

“It’s been talked about for some time by birders on this island,” Brochu said Thursday. “It seemed like the right time to go ahead.”

Email Bret Yager at byager@westhawaiitoday.com