Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 33, Number 11, 1 November 2016 — Rescued Aʻo chick heads to sea [ARTICLE]

Rescued Aʻo chick heads to sea

A rescued Newell's Shearwater ehiek left a manmade burrow last month and headed out to sea, a bright spot in the effort to save the endemic seabirds from extinction. Team members from the Kaua'i Endangered Seabird Recovery Project have been rescuing seabirds and placing them in a predator-proof enclosure at Kīluaea Point National Wildlife Refuge. This a'o was the first time the team encountered a live ehiek in the open, rather than in a burrow. After a month of fluids, feedings and health checks, the ehiek had recovered enough to strike out on its own. "This particular ehiek holds a special plaee in our hearts because it was rescued from one of the upper montane colonies after being found lost, alone, and hungry on a trail in the Hono o Na Pali Natural Area Reserve in August," explained Dr. Andre Raine of the Kaua'i Endangered Seabird Recovery Project (KESRP). "If the ehiek had been left by itself in the colony it would have surely died, so it's great to see it now flying safely out to sea as a strong and healthy fledgling." Another seven young birds have

been translocated to Nihoku where the recovery team hopes they'll help establish a protected breeding colony.