By Timothy Hurley
Advertiser Maui County Bureau
HUELO, Maui — An organization dedicated to the survival and welfare of parrots says it hopes to prevent the eradication of a wild flock of mitered conures in the Huelo area by capturing the birds and finding homes for them.
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| Parrots feed in a rain forest before returning to their flock high in the cliffs of Maui’s north shore.
Advertiser library photo • Dec. 30, 2000 |
The World Parrot Trust is working up a proposal to present to state wildlife officials, said Kevin Kendall, a trust member who lives in Makakilo.
Kendall said a World Parrot Trust bird veterinarian from California visited Maui in late January and early February to scout the terrain near the flock’s nesting site and to investigate the potential for such an undertaking.
State wildlife officials are continuing to monitor the flock, estimated to number between 150 and 200, and are weighing options to prevent the flock’s continued growth and potential for spreading into other areas of Maui to play havoc with the environment and agriculture. One option could be to kill the birds.
State wildlife biologist Fern Duvall said officials are willing to listen to the group’s proposal, but no promises have been made. He said no decisions have been made on what to do with the feral parrots, and further study may be necessary.
Scientists say they fear the growing number of parrots will contribute to the degradation of native ecosystems by carrying the seeds of invasive weeds far and wide and by introducing bird diseases, among other things.
Sixteen species of parrots are known to have become established in Hawai‘i. Parrots are known worldwide as a pest to agriculture, especially to growers of fruits, corn and seed crops. Already, control efforts have been launched by agricultural concerns on both the Big Island and Kaua‘i.
The Huelo flock of mitered conures grew to its present size from two birds released 14 years ago. Today, the flock nests high in the vertical sea cliffs at Huelo Point on Maui’s north shore.
The conures have been seen in pairs and groups of three within larger groups from Ha‘iku to Hanawana Point and flying into mauka areas to feed on rose apple, mountain apple, banyan figs and guava.
Kendall said he read an article about the conures in the Jan. 8 edition of The Honolulu Advertiser and alerted World Parrot Trust officials on the Mainland.
He said the tentative plan is to establish a foraging enclosure that would hold a delicacy to the birds’ liking. The idea is to get them comfortable with the structure and to add new sections over time.
"At some point we would close the door,’’ he said. "It would be a slow process.’’
Kendall said he didn’t think it was possible to capture the entire flock, but it may be worth a try. He said the birds are extremely intelligent and if officials started shooting them, they may move their nesting area to more inaccessible parts of Maui, allowing them to proliferate unchecked.
"They don’t belong (in the wild) on Maui. We agree on that.’’
Many of the parrots would be housed at an animal rescue sanctuary in Ha‘iku, and others might be able to go to the Pana‘ewa Zoo on the Big Island, which has a large aviary, or to any other sanctuary that can be identified. Others might become pets, Kendall said.
While the best thing would be to move the birds to their country of origin, that may not be feasible or may be too costly, he said.
"There’s a lot of unanswered questions at this point,’’ he said.
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