Birding tours in Hawaii in June? (1 Viewer)

[Birdingmom]

Hi,

In Mid-June to early July, I'm traveling to Kauai, Big Island, and Oahu with my teenage son who is a passionate birder. Any recommendations for endemic bird tours, local birding guides or specific places to go? I can't seem to find any tours that offer dates during that period of time.

 

[Mysticete]

You probably are not going to find any regularly organized tours in summer, except maybe more informal ones led by a local birding club/Audubon chapter. Peak birding season is generally winter and early spring, although most everything other than Bristle-thighed Curlew should be around for your visit.

On the Big Island you should consider contacting Lance Tanino. Just a heads up though, private guides are ridiculous in Hawaii. I think the main guide now in Oahu charges something like 1700 a DAY to take folks out. I think in Oahu and Kauai you can pretty much self guide (at this point most of the really tough Kauai endemics are no longer possible due to climate change). For the big island, you will need a guide to access some of the reserves for some of the endemics, although some of the commoner endemics should be gettable without one.

 

[pbjosh]

Hi,

In Mid-June to early July, I'm traveling to Kauai, Big Island, and Oahu with my teenage son who is a passionate birder. Any recommendations for endemic bird tours, local birding guides or specific places to go? I can't seem to find any tours that offer dates during that period of time.

On Oahu the endemic birds can be found, with patience, on easily accessible trails. If there are over summering BT Curlews you’d see it on eBird as well as the area near a cemetery / along the edge of a golf course they normally are found at.

On the Big Island most visitors do guided trips to Hakalau reserve. I believe it tends to be $250/head and there is a minimum number of participants necessary but don’t recall if it is 2 or 4. The last endemic, Palila, is ever harder to find. Plenty of info about where it generally is found and the small reserve area where you park is findable on eBird or in trip reports. Where to find them on any given day though is a challenge. It took me a couple days to find them a few years back. You can get to the area easily with a bit of care on a dirt track with a standard vehicle.

On Kauai I don’t know about guides but if you rent a 4x4 and then hike you can get to the area to see some of the remaining native birds in the Akalai Swamp (which is a bit of a misnomer as you’re up on a ridge actually). If you do want to try to do that, be warned that you’ll need a lot more information. For the Petrel and Shearwater eBird will also tell you good seawatch points. The endemic form of Band-rumped SP is hard to see from land. The Na Pali coast boat trips that cross the channel to snorkel in the crater islet of Lehua can occasionally be good for seabirds and are enjoyable outings.

I would recommend reading a trip report or two and perusing eBird to get some idea of how much effort you want to dedicate. Essentially, at least half of the native birds require some serious effort to see. However they are all getting ever rarer and many will be extinct in 10-20-30 years, sadly, so if you are keen there is no better opportunity than now.