Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 6, Number 2, 1 February 1989 — Naturally Hawaiian [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

Naturally Hawaiian

By Patrick Ching Artist/ Environmentalist

Hawaf'i's State Bird — The Nene

Unlike other types of geese whieh spend mueh of their time in or near the water, the Hawaiian goose or Nene has adapted to living on sparsely vegetated volcanic slopes. The feet of the Nene have noticeably less webbing than other geese, making them more suitable for walking on coarse lava rock terrain. The Hawaiian name Nene may have been given to these birds because of a eall they make while flying. The Nene fly in a "V" formation and utter high, nasal calls, "ney-ney", mueh like the Canadian geese whieh scientists believe the Nene may have evolved from. On the ground the Nene may make a muffled "moo" sound especially when disturbed.

Among the food items in the Nene's diet are seeds, grasses, and fruits. The native 'ohelo berry is among its favorite foods. In the 1950's the wild Nene populahon had dwindled to just a few dozen birds. The fact that the Nene are ground nesters and are delicious to eat worked against the species as they were easily preyed upon by feral animals as well as humans. At one time, roasted Nene was featured on the menu at the Volcano House restaurant on the island of Hawai'i.

In 1957, captive breeding programs began in Hawai'i and in England. Since then hundreds of Hawaiian geese have been reintroduced into areas where they onee flourished such as Mauna Loa and Hualalai volcanoes on the Big Island and Haleakala volcano on Maui. The recovery of the Nene populahon from near extinction is an inspiring chapter of success in a book otherwise clouded with disappointments.

Nene, the Hawai'i state bird.