By Bob Krauss
Advertiser Columnist

I know the kolea aren't due back for almost a month but stories are already coming in, so let's get a head start on the season. One of the questions most frequently asked during the year about our feathered friends from Alaska is "Do some of them stay in Hawai'i all year?"

The answer is yes. I have consulted our kolea guru, Dr. Wally Johnson, who has researched the birds for decades, and he said adolescent birds or those who haven't put on enough weight for the flight to Alaska sometimes stay behind and spend the entire year here.

Testimony from Mae Higa in Hawai'i Kai bears this out. On July 6 she called to report that she has seen six or seven kolea in Koko Head District Park. "I walk there every morning," she explained. "These kolea are small, not big and fat." Then there is Lt. Col. Del Wong, who called to say that he heard the distinctive kolea cry, "keeeeeee," at Wheeler Army Airfield early in the morning just a few days ago.

So there is no question that some kolea stay in Hawai'i instead of flying to Alaska each year. Nobody really knows why but the best guess is that they don't think they are up to the trip.

I once asked Johnson how many kolea fly to Hawai'i and whether they are on the increase or on the decline. He said the last time anybody tried an official count of the kolea was about 50 years ago, so there is not much good information. He and his wife, Pat, made their own count in 1990.

"We counted the kolea on 29 golf courses on O'ahu," he said. "We got some strange looks driving around in golf carts without any golf clubs. ... The total count was 1,900 plover on 3,400 acres. Some golf courses have more kolea than others. A good kolea count would be helpful."

I've tried counting kolea in Ala Wai Park. The numbers went down this year. What's the reason? Are there fewer kolea because more people let their dogs run in the park or because the kolea have found a better place to catch insects?

My hunch is that kolea, like most tourists, see quite a bit of the island. Your kolea might consider your yard his winter residence but that doesn't mean he can't fly off for lunch at a nice, marshy lagoon and spend the night on a roof with a view where the cats can't get at him.

The point is, counting kolea is difficult. What's amazing, however, is that these indigenous birds are thriving while so many others like honeycreepers are on the endangered list. There may be more kolea today than there were at the time of Kamehameha.

They are an amazing bird. How many humans fly from Alaska to Hawai'i 30 days after they are born? And without help from their parents. No map, flight plan or flying lessons. Away they go, heading for islands they've never seen 2,000 miles away with nothing but salt water in between.

Reach Bob Krauss at 525-8073.