Recent News

A Kolea in Oahu Cemetery.  Photo courtesy Rick Bernico

December 1, 2020

Today is the first day of Big Counts, meaning we plover lovers are starting to count Kolea in Hawaii’s parks, cemeteries, golf courses, and other grassy areas that host our wintering Pacific Golden-Plovers.

We waited until December 1st to begin Big Counts because last summer’s chicks arrive in Hawaii through November, depending on the Alaska weather, and we wanted to include the youngsters in the counts. Big Counts end March 31st because soon after, the birds start gathering for their end-of-April migration north.

I’ve heard from several Kolea watchers about fights between birds. Fights in fall are normal, and are likely between an old-timer defending its area, and a newcomer looking for food. Fighting over territory is understandable for these site-faithful birds. Securing a food source is a matter of life and death.

Some Kolea tolerate another individual nearby. These two forage near one another, with no fighting, at Hawaii State Veterans Cemetery, Windward Oahu. ©Susan Scott

Because plovers are site-faithful, we know we aren’t counting the same bird over and over. As we walk around, a startled bird may fly away, but sooner or later, it will return to its home place. Some birds are shyer than others, and stay away longer than we’re willing to wait. That’s why we would like three counts (or more if you can) of the same areas. One count, however, is fine if that’s all you can do. It’s still more than we’ve had in the past.

This bird, unperturbed by vehicles or people, forages in the parking lot of the Ala Wai Golf Course. ©Susan Scott

Try different times of day if possible. In 1992, Wally Johnson counted Kolea on all Oahu golf courses with count times ranging between 7:45 AM to 5:45 PM. Use your judgment for the area. For instance, Craig’s and my trial counts of Dillingham Air Field varied greatly – from a low of 14 birds to a high of 38 – depending on skydiving activity. I don’t know where the birds went during airplane commotion, but when skydiving operations were closed, the birds returned.

Besides getting a head count, an equally important goal of the Kolea Count is to increase community awareness and appreciation of these magnificent shorebirds. I invented this project intending the counts to be fun, an activity to enjoy while walking around our lovely islands. Please don’t worry about doing it wrong. Any numbers you get …

Pacific Golden-Plovers love what we humans have done with the Hawaiian Islands, particularly our creation of golf courses. Hawaii has 74 statewide. (Above photo, Arnold Palmer Golf Course, Turtle Bay, Oahu.)

Knowing that golf courses were prime Kolea wintering grounds, plover expert, Wally Johnson, in 1992, counted all the Kolea he found on Oahu’s 28 (today 38) golf courses. Wally conducted the counts between January 22nd and March 26th in fair weather, meaning no high winds or heavy rain, sometimes from a cart, and sometimes on foot.

Kolea stand tall and have a distinct run-stop-run gait. They are easy to distinguish from mynahs, doves and cardinals.

Typical winter colors of Kolea. ©Susan Scott

The count totaled 1,902 birds, and contained some surprises. For Kolea density, it didn’t seem to matter if the courses were new or old, whether they were large or small (some high counts were on 9-hole courses), or where they were located. Both the highest and the lowest counts were all in the same general area, and all on 18-hole courses.

• Least: 2 Kolea each in Honolulu Country Club (Salt Lake) and Ted Makalena Golf Course (Waipio Peninsula)
• Most: 168 Kolea at Pearl Country Club (Aiea) and 161 at Mamala Bay Golf Course (formerly Hickam AFB Golf Course.)

Now, 28 years later, the Hawaii Audubon Society, with Wally as advisor, are trialing a statewide Kolea count, including all of Hawaii’s golf courses. Most clubs don’t allow nongolfers to wander about counting birds, but we might not need to. Golfers can count Kolea while golfing.

Mauna Kea Golf Course, Big Island.

Here’s how nature-loving golfers can help:

1. Choose your golf course at bit.ly/2BFwVXG We recently gave golf courses their own section on the far right.
2. Open the CONTACT tab on this site, and email me, Susan, your name and the golf course you can count. I’ll sign you up on my private list, and mark the course as TAKEN.
3. To count and report Kolea, see Guidelines and FAQs. Also email me with any questions or comments.
4. Spread the word among fellow golfers.
5. Large areas are easier to count with tally clickers, sold with Kolea Count T-shirts on the Audubon website’s store tab: www.hawaiiaudubon.org All sales help further Kolea research. If you want a clicker and no T-shirt or book, email me, and I’ll get you one.

Humans and wildlife aren’t always compatible, but in this case, people and plovers are well-suited. The birds get to eat bugs and worms on lush, manicured fairways, while residents and visitors get to play a sport surrounded by native birds in some of the most lovely landscapes on the planet. Kolea and golfers are a match made in heaven.

Read about our still-arriving Kolea at www.susanscott.net/ow/incoming-kole-kids-arrive-from-alaska/

Kapalua Resort, Lahaina, Maui …

Q: What happened to the map and database on this site?
A: Deleted for now. The map got too crowded (a good thing – so many Kolea!), and names and email addresses in the database needed to be confidential. We’re working on ways to share information with counters.

Q: How often can I count and report Kolea in my area?
A: For Little Counts, report your bird’s arrival, and any change throughout the winter, such as its disappearance, or another bird’s appearance in the same space. Share your bird’s eating, behavior, and/or personality traits in the SHARE tab.
For Big Counts, count and report three times between December 1 and March 31 if possible. If you can count only once or twice, report that. If you can count more than three times, please do. All data enhances knowledge.

Q: How do I sign up for a Big Count?
A: Go to bit.ly/2BFwVXG Use the CONTACT tab to send me your chosen location by its name and/or Site Code. The sites are numbered only to help me find locations in long lists. If your location isn’t listed, let me know, and I’ll add it.

Q: How do I know I’m not counting the same bird twice, or missing some birds?
A: Absolute precision isn’t possible, but you can get pretty close. A territorial Kolea stays in its chosen site throughout the day, and there, the birds become accustomed to the presence of people, traffic, and sometimes even mellow dogs. If an unusual noise, animal, or person startles a Kolea and it flies off, it will return to its territory after the disturbance. Counting an area at least three times helps arrive at a more accurate number. Watch for patterns, and do the best you can.

This Kolea, named Gracie, learned that the family dog, Lucy, was no threat. A screen separates the dog and the bird. ©Susan Scott

Q: Do I count single birds in flight?
A: No. Only count Kolea on the ground.

Q: What about Kolea in flocks?
A: Flocks are of two types:
1)Territorial Kolea gathering to roost for the night. At night, the birds sleep together in places safe from predators, such as rooftops and rocky outcrops. Don’t count flocks that are gathering for sleepovers.

Bedtime for birdies. A dusk gathering of Kolea on a rooftop at Midway Atoll. ©Susan Scott

2) Social Kolea that live in groups. Not all Kolea are …

Summer Kolea in Waiau District Park, Pearl City. Photo courtesy Evelyn Nakanishi, June 18, 2021.

Project leader: Susan Scott, www.susanscott.net

Science advisor: Dr. Wally Johnson

Aloha Plover Lovers,

Thank you for helping collect information about Hawaii’s Pacific Golden-Plovers. In this ongoing study, we are asking these questions: (Also see the REPORT tab.)

• When do Kolea arrive in the Islands? (ARRIVAL DATE, July 1 – November 30)
• How many Kolea spend the winters here? (LITTLE AND BIG COUNTS, December 1 – March 31)
• When do the birds leave for Alaska, and where do they gather for departure? (DEPARTURE DATE, April and May)
• How many spend the summer here? (SUMMERING-OVER BIRDS, June only)

LITTLE COUNTS

For those who want to count a small area, such as their backyard, a schoolyard, or church lawn, choose the LITTLE COUNT button in the REPORT tab. In the Little Count report tab, let us know any changes between December 1 and March 31 from your initial number.

Little Count: A Kaneohe resident grows mealworms for his backyard Kolea. ©Susan Scott

BIG COUNTS

People who can count Kolea three times this winter in large areas such as campuses, parks, cemeteries, or golf courses go to this read-only link, bit.ly/2BFwVXG  to see the sites I’ve listed.

— Select your island and region, find your count location, and email me your choice in CONTACT. I keep track of who is counting, and where, on my master list. I’ll keep your name and email private.

— Count Kolea in your site 3 times between December 1 and March 31. If you can only count once or twice, that’s OK.  If you count more than 3 times, that’s fine. All data helps.

— Report each of your counts separately in the REPORT tab. Enter location, date, and number of birds counted. No need to re-enter your personal information each time. I’ll know by the location.

Big Count: Mililani Cemetery, 2020. ©Susan Scott

On the bottom of the HOME page, subscribe to get updates about T-shirts, tally counters, access tips, and other details  Also check NEWS at the bottom of the HOME page, or click the NEWS tab above.

You can help to improve this all-volunteer Kolea monitoring program by sharing this website and these guidelines with other Kolea fans. Let me know what’s working, and what isn’t.  Contact me if I’ve missed Big Count locations, and I’ll add it, and you, to the count list.

Mahalo,

Susan

T-shirts available at https://www.hawaiiaudubon.org/store

On July 25, 2020, my Julie/Jake arrived on the MidPacific Golf Course.  

July 30, 2020.  Last week, a day after I wrote that I would soon hear from plover lovers that their Kolea are back, one of my two Kolea came back. Our dear Jake, or Julie, who forage all winter on opposite sides of a giant monkey pod tree off our lanai, showed up last Saturday, July 25th.

Because Kolea begin shedding their bright breeding-colored feathers while sitting on their eggs in June on the Alaska tundra, by the end of July most of those brilliant feathers are gone. We can’t, therefore, be sure whether a returned bird is male or female.

Like most animals, though, wide variations occur among individuals. Our returned bird still carries some spring colors, but whether its Jake with his winter outfit peeking through, or Julie still wearing much of her spring attire, I can’t say.

According to my neighbor, Joanne, I am the Head Honcho Queen Bee Leader of Kolea Kounters. That lofty title got me looking through my Kolea email file, saved since 2012, for first return dates:

— July 30, 2012: “I live in Mililani Mauka and came home to see my favorite Kolea in my backyard this afternoon!”
— August 3, 2013: “Saw a lone Kolea today @ Wailua Golf Course, on Kauai, on the 17th fairway.”
— August 2, 2014: “Jane said that your plover returned on Thursday–mine, too!”
— July 1, 2015: “I saw a Kolea at Hunakai Park in Kahala.”
— July 26, 2016: “Just saw two female plovers foraging together in my neighbor’s yard [Keeamoku.]”
— July 25, 2017: Plover at BYUH yesterday [with photo] reported to Wally Johnson who forwarded to me.
— July 3, 2018: “…on my noontime walk at work yesterday, I spotted the first Kolea to show up in the area where I work near Whitmore Village.”
— July 16, 2019: “On our walk this morning we saw 3 plovers at Mililani Mauka Community Park.”
— July 25, 2020: “…I may have seen our first sighting(s) of a (pair?) of newly returned koleas.” Several of us saw our birds return last weekend, arriving just before Hurricane Douglas passed near Hawaii.

Most of the plover watchers above remarked that this seemed an early return for the birds, but a glance shows that late July/early August is normal. After these initial sightings, emails poured in about plover returns.

It’s possible that the July 1st and 3rd dates above were birds whose eggs or hatchlings were eaten by foxes, gulls, falcons, or jaegers, causing the parents to give up the season and come home. Migrating caribou also sometimes trample nests.

There’s also the chance that the July 1st and 3rd birds had been here all summer, a group we just this year began to count. Birds that aren’t in good enough shape to make the 3-day, nonstop, 3,000-mile migration in April and May know it, and stay in Hawaii. Plover expert, Wally Johnson, thinks most of those are first-year birds, but …

The 2019 summer had an exceptionally early arrival of Kolea in Hawaii.

The Kolea that spend winters in Hawaii and nest in Alaska are just ...