The Beautiful Kolea

I always see this cute little bird outside in our yard. Such skinny, long legs and such a pretty golden color. I remembered learning something about this bird in my Hawaiian Studies class...the Kolea, more commonly known as the Pacific Golden-Plover (Pluvialis fulva)Order: CHARADRIIFORMES Family: Plovers (Charadriidae). Have you seen it?

Well, this week I decided to do more research on this bird. They are found in Hawaii almost every season except for summer, when the migrate to...Alaska. The kolea is a shorebird and is probably capable of flying 5,000 km nonstop. But here in Hawaii, kolea's like people's front lawns, parks and sometimes parking lots. There are about 195,00 of the Kolea birds left. Their population is being threatened by many things such as intensive agriculture, urbanization, tourism and ranching. It is listed by the US Shorebird Conservation Plan as a Species of High Concern, due to its low relative abundance, and threats during both breeding and non-breeding seasons.

Ways to idenitfy a Kolea: medium sized plover, the Pacific Golden-Plover’s wings usually reach just to the tip of the tail. The Pacific Golden-Plover has a more long-legged appearance and its upperparts are sprinkled with bright yellow markings. They can weigh up to 180 grams.

In Hawaiian culture, the Kolea bird is important, powerful bird in many chants. It was thought of as a bad omen in ancient Hawaiian times, giving a warning to families. There are even legends that talk about the kolea, look at the myth of Lonopuha and Milu.

What do they eat? Food items include invertebrates, berries, leaves and seeds. Many are territorial when it comes to looking for food. One thing I found particularly interesting is that the baby Kolea are never fed by their parents, although their parents guard them intensively after hatching. They watch their parents eat food, but after hatching, they soon are able to walk and look for their own food. Pretty cool yeah?

Teachers out there: there is a Kolea watch open to students in grades K-12, look at this website for more infomation.