{"id":26554,"date":"2019-03-20T00:05:47","date_gmt":"2019-03-20T07:05:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/hakaimagazine.com\/?post_type=custom_news&p=26554"},"modified":"2019-03-18T09:43:09","modified_gmt":"2019-03-18T16:43:09","slug":"hidden-hawaiian-bird-nests-finally-found","status":"publish","type":"custom_news","link":"https:\/\/hakaimagazine.com\/news\/hidden-hawaiian-bird-nests-finally-found\/","title":{"rendered":"Hidden Hawaiian Bird Nests Finally Found"},"content":{"rendered":"

In the four years that Nicole Galase has been studying band-rumped storm petrels<\/a> on the Island of Hawai\u2018i, she has worn through five pairs of hiking boots, thrashing their soles on the rough lava fields of Mauna Loa. But Galase isn\u2019t complaining, as the countless kilometers of travel have paid off: she is the first biologist to unequivocally locate these secretive seabirds\u2019 Hawaiian nesting sites, concealed deep in volcanic lava tubes.<\/p>\n

\u201cStormies,\u201d as Galase fondly calls the seabirds, are thought to be in decline globally and are officially listed as endangered in the United States. They spend most of their lives far out at sea, ranging across the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans and never touching land outside of the breeding season. They confine their nesting colonies to remote islands and hide their nests underground, coming and going only at night. Ancient bird bones found by archaeologists suggest that the seabirds have nested throughout the Hawaiian Islands since before Western contact, but modern-day evidence of breeding was, until now, circumstantial. While there were reports of nighttime calling, and occasional sightings of adults in breeding condition, or of fledglings, no researcher had ever found nests sheltering eggs or chicks.<\/p>\n

Back in 2014, Galase arrived at the US Army\u2019s P\u014dhakuloa Training Area on the Island of Hawai\u2018i to lead a seabird research project, a joint initiative of the army\u2019s natural resource program and Colorado State University\u2019s Center for Environmental Management of Military Lands. Previous acoustic monitoring showed that band-rumped storm petrels frequented the P\u014dhakuloa area\u2014a high plateau between several volcanoes including Mauna Loa and Mauna Kea\u2014during the May to November breeding season, yet no one could prove they were nesting there. The 28-year-old new hire\u2019s assignment was to catch them in the act.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat was a daunting task,\u201d Galase says, because the birds are so small\u2014about the size of American robins\u2014and elusive. \u201cI thought there was zero likelihood I would find anything,\u201d she admits.<\/p>\n

Galase began in 2015 by placing audio recorders at key locations around P\u014dhakuloa to pick up the storm petrels\u2019 distinctive high-pitched chatter\u2014the inspiration for the species\u2019 Hawaiian name, \u2018ak\u0113\u2018ak\u0113<\/em>. The recordings placed the birds high on Mauna Loa\u2019s northern slope, about 2,100 meters above sea level. Galase and a research technician bundled up against the cold and headed out in the dark to search for their quarry.<\/p>\n

\"P\u014dhakuloa<\/a>

Researcher Nicole Galase scoured the lava fields on the Island of Hawai\u2018i in search of band-rumped storm petrels\u2019 nests. Scientists knew the birds frequented the air above the fields, but Galase was the first to locate their nests hidden within lava tubes, with the help of a sniffer dog, Makalani. For paw protection on the rough lava fields, Makalani wore booties. Photo by Nicole Galase<\/p><\/div>\n

Peering through night-vision binoculars, they identified stormies by their rapid wingbeats and erratic, tilt-and-turn flying style. The excited calls and circling flight patterns of the birds that were still looking for mates helped Galase to zero in on a nesting zone of about four square kilometers.<\/p>\n

To figure out which openings in the jumble of jagged lava were nest entrances, Galase recruited a keen-nosed springer spaniel named Makalani and his handler. The trio searched in the early morning to beat the heat.<\/p>\n

Galase was delighted by the dog\u2019s ability to detect seabird scents over distances of up to 100 meters. But even when his nose led to the birds\u2019 hideouts, the occupants remained out of sight and reach. \u201cThe lava tubes go in deep,\u201d she explains. \u201cThey have small openings, they can get narrow, and the tubes can turn.\u201d So Galase set up motion-activated surveillance cameras to monitor suspected nests at night.<\/p>\n

In September 2015, Galase bagged several grainy photos of an adult storm petrel at a nest entrance. Since then she has recorded numerous videos, capturing scenes of parents scurrying to and from burrows, a newly emerged chick exercising its wings, and a fledgling heading out to sea, plus footage of a feral cat that killed one of the birds. So far she has documented four nests; this summer, she\u2019ll keep hunting for more.<\/p>\n