Release aims to widen habitat of bird

By Jan TenBruggencate
Advertiser Science Writer

Biologists have released a clutch of five palila — the small, yellow Hawaiian forest bird with a finch-like beak — on the north side of Mauna Kea, where the bird has not lived since the 1960s.

Five more should be released in the same area during the next few weeks.Scientists are hoping the palila will establish a breeding population there, separate from the last stronghold of the birds, on the western slope of the volcano.

"The real conservation dilemma is that they are all concentrated on the west slope. It's like having all your eggs in one basket. A hurricane, a fire or some other catastrophe could be a big problem if there is only one population," said wildlife biologist Paul Banko of the U.S. Geological Survey's Pacific Island Ecosystems Research Center.

The released birds were all raised in captivity. Banko said palila populations rose and fell through the 1980s and early 1990s, but seem to have stabilized at around 5,000 individuals in the past five years and shown a slight upward trend.

Reach Jan TenBruggencate at jant@honoluluadvertiser.com or (808) 245-3074.