The Kōlea, Pacific Golden Plover, is a migratory bird that comes to
Hawai‘i from Siberia and Alaska at the end of August and leaves for its trip
across the north Pacific in late-April to early-May.
The bird’s Hawaiian name, Kōlea, is a phonetic imitation of the sound
of its flight call. One olelo no‘eau
(Hawaiian proverb) states ‘Ai no ke kolea a momona hoi i Kahiki!’ (The Kōlea
eats until he is fat, and then returns to the land from which he came.)
Unlike many birds capable of trans-oceanic migrations, Kōlea can
neither soar nor glide; and, they can’t swim.
When Kōlea fly between Hawai‘i and Alaska, they will continuously beat
their wings twice per second for about fifty hours over some 2,500 miles of
open ocean—one of the most grueling non-stop migrations in the avian world.
Kōlea spend each summer on the treeless tundra of western Alaska and
Siberia; there, they’ll breed and incubate a clutch of eggs—Kōlea chicks are
left largely on their own once they’re born.
Chicks can fly at three weeks, though not yet as far as Hawaii; when
adult Kōlea lift off for the Islands in late August, they leave the young
behind to follow some weeks later.
Scientists aren’t certain how the chicks find Hawai‘i. By October the juveniles arrive on our
shores.
Kōlea return to and vigorously defend the same spot in their summer
and winter grounds, an extreme example of what ornithologists call "site
faithfulness."
During late winter and spring, the Kōlea eat voraciously, nearly
doubling their body weight to make the demanding flight north.
Another seasonal visitor is the Koholā, the Humpback Whale (part of
the North Pacific stock – whales in the North Pacific also winter in western
Mexico and southern Japan.)
From mid-December through mid-May the Koholā make their home in the
waters surrounding the Hawaiian Islands.
An endangered species, the Hawaiian Islands Humpback Whale National
Marine Sanctuary was created by Congress in 1992 to protect humpback whales and
their habitat in Hawai‘i.
The sanctuary, which lies within the shallow (less than 600 feet), warm
waters surrounding the main Hawaiian Islands, constitutes one of the world's
most important humpback whale habitats.
While they were here, the humpback whales were involved in courtship
rituals, mating, calving and nursing their young (gestation lasts about 11
months.)
Both male and female humpback whales vocalize, however only males
produce the long, loud, complex "songs" for which the species is
famous.
In the Pacific, humpbacks migrate seasonally from Alaska to Hawaii -
they can complete the 3,000-mile trip in as few as 36 days.
Humpbacks continuously travel at approximately three to seven miles per
hour with very few stops; they typically stay near the surface during
migration.
The humpbacks don't eat during their stay in the Hawaiian Islands. Hawai‘i doesn't offer their food, krill and
herring; they carry their summer food supply in their fat.
During the summer months, humpbacks spend the majority of their time
feeding and building up fat stores (blubber) that they will live off of during
the winter. Humpback feeding grounds are
in cold, productive coastal waters.
Soon, the last of the Kōlea and Koholā will be gone; to return,
again, in the fall.
