Lehua is a small island located off the coast of Hawaii. It is home to diverse wildlife, including various birds native to the island.
These birds have adapted to the unique ecological conditions of Lehua and play important roles in the island’s ecosystem.
From the endangered Hawaiian hawk to the colourful tropicbird, the avian species found on Lehua are a fascinating subject for birdwatchers and nature enthusiasts alike.
In this article, we will explore the different types of birds that live in Lehua and their remarkable characteristics.
15 Beautiful Birds Found In Lehua
Lehua is a small, uninhabited island in the Hawaiian archipelago, known for its pristine beauty and unique wildlife. Here are 15 beautiful birds that can be found on Lehua:
1. Northern Storm Petrels
Northern storm petrels are one of the smallest seabirds, inhabiting oceans worldwide.
They can hover over water and pick planktonic crustaceans and small fish from the surface.
Northern storm petrels belong to the genus Hydrobates in the family Hydrobatidae, part of the Procellariiformes order.
This species was once lumped with austral storm petrel, but recent studies show that they aren’t closely related, splitting them into two distinct species.
These birds can be identified by their dark grey upperparts, wings, and white underparts when seen from afar while feeding on the ocean’s surface.
Scientific classification:
| Kingdom | Animalia |
| Phylum | Chordata |
| Class | Aves |
| Order | Procellariiformes |
| Family | Hydrobatidae Mathews, 1912 |
| Genus | Hydrobates F. Boie, 1822 |
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2. Brown Booby
The Brown Booby is a large seabird from the booby family Sulidae. It has a pantropical range and can be found in many areas of the world.
This bird lives in flocks and forages by plunging into shallow waters to catch small fish that are driven near the surface by predators or storms.
The brown booby is known for its short wings, which make it highly manoeuvrable when hunting; this allows it to pursue prey quickly with sudden turns and dives.
Its diet also includes squid, crustaceans, eggs of other birds, and scraps from boats or ships they may come across while flying around coastlines.
They sometimes rest on floating objects during their long flights over open water between islands or continents.
Scientific classification:
| Kingdom | Animalia |
| Phylum | Chordata |
| Class | Aves |
| Order | Suliformes |
| Family | Sulidae |
| Genus | Sula |
| Species | S. leucogaster |
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3. White-Tailed Tropicbird
The White-tailed Tropicbird is a beautiful seabird that lives in the tropical waters of the Atlantic, Pacific, and Indian Oceans.
It is the smallest member of its order Phaethontiformes, measuring only 28 inches from head to tail.
Its wingspan can reach up to 45 inches wide. The bird has white plumage with black markings on its wings and tail feathers.
It also has an unmistakable long streamer, which trails out behind them when they are in flight – a characteristic feature for all tropicbirds.
They nest mainly on remote islands throughout their range but have also recently begun nesting on Little Tobago.
These birds feed primarily off flying fish or squid near the ocean’s surface during daylight hours before returning back home at nightfall.
Scientific classification:
| Kingdom | Animalia |
| Phylum | Chordata |
| Class | Aves |
| Order | Phaethontiformes |
| Family | Phaethontidae |
| Genus | Phaethon |
| Species | P. lepturus |
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4. Red-Tailed Tropicbird
The Red-tailed Tropicbird is an exotic seabird found in tropical areas of the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It has a striking appearance, with mostly white feathers and a black mask covering its eyes.
Its bright red bill makes it stand out against its pale plumage. Both males and females have similar looks to one another – unlike many other bird species where the male looks significantly different from that of the female.
As described by Pieter Boddaert in 1783, this impressive bird can be seen soaring through tropical skies, looking for food alone or within small flocks made up of several individuals at once.
Scientific classification:
| Kingdom | Animalia |
| Phylum | Chordata |
| Class | Aves |
| Order | Phaethontiformes |
| Family | Phaethontidae |
| Genus | Phaethon |
| Species | P. rubricauda |
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5. Bulwer’s Petrel
Bulwer’s petrel is a small seabird in the Procellariidae family that can be found across tropical and subtropical regions of the Atlantic, Indian, and Pacific Oceans.
It was named after English naturalist James Bulwer, who described it in 1828, along with Jardine and Selby.
The bird has dark greyish plumage on its back, while the underside is typically white or pale grey.
Its wings are short but broad, making them ideal for soaring high above large bodies of water looking for food such as squid, fish, crustaceans and insects.
They use their long pointed bill to catch prey from both surface-skimming dives or underwater plunges up to 15 meters deep.
These birds nest in burrows dug into soil cliffs, laying just one egg each year, which takes about 55 days to hatch.
Scientific classification:
| Kingdom | Animalia |
| Phylum | Chordata |
| Class | Aves |
| Order | Procellariiformes |
| Family | Procellariidae |
| Genus | Bulweria |
| Species | B. bulwerii |
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6. Red-Footed Booby
The Red-footed Booby is a large seabird of the Sulidae family, easily distinguished by its bright red feet. These birds are strong and agile fliers but can be clumsy in takeoffs and landings.
They live mostly in tropical areas and breed colonially on coastal islands worldwide.
The species faces few threats from either nature or humans. However, their population has decreased slightly due to disturbances near breeding sites.
Despite this mild decline, they remain an incredibly common sight across many parts of the tropics – so much so that they have become symbolic of island life.
Scientific classification:
| Kingdom | Animalia |
| Phylum | Chordata |
| Class | Aves |
| Order | Suliformes |
| Family | Sulidae |
| Genus | Sula |
| Species | S. sula |
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7. Wedge-Tailed Shearwater
The wedge-tailed shearwater is a medium-large seabird found in the tropical Pacific and Indian Oceans. It is one of several species called muttonbirds and the sooty and short-tailed shearwaters.
These birds have long wings that allow them to soar for extended periods over large bodies of water while searching for food, such as fish, squid, crustaceans, cephalopods and other marine invertebrates.
During mating season, they nest on islands or small sandy beaches where both parents take turns caring for their chicks until they fledge at around two months old.
Wedge-tailed are an important part of many island cultures that traditionally hunt these birds during certain times of the year when populations peak due to migration patterns.
Scientific classification:
| Kingdom | Animalia |
| Phylum | Chordata |
| Class | Aves |
| Order | Procellariiformes |
| Family | Procellariidae |
| Genus | Ardenna |
| Species | A. pacifica |
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8. Great Frigatebird
The Great Frigatebird is a large seabird found in tropical regions of the Pacific and Indian Oceans and the South Atlantic.
It can grow up to 105 cm long with black plumage, making it one of the largest frigatebirds around.
The species also exhibits sexual dimorphism; males have bright red throat pouches, while females have white or grey ones instead.
These birds nest in colonies on islands or near coastal areas, feeding off fish schools, squid and other marine life that they snatch from their dive-bombing prey.
They are adept at soaring for hours above oceanic waters, searching for food sources below them before diving into shallow water to catch unsuspecting meals.
Scientific classification:
| Kingdom | Animalia |
| Phylum | Chordata |
| Class | Aves |
| Order | Suliformes |
| Family | Fregatidae |
| Genus | Fregata |
| Species | F. minor |
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9. Black Noddy
The Black Noddy bird is a medium-sized member of the Laridae family, identifiable by its black plumage and white cap.
It closely resembles the Lesser Noddy but has slightly darker feathers with dark lores instead of pale ones.
The species was first formally described in 1758, although it was previously considered to be part of Anous tenuirostris before being identified as a separate species.
They are usually found near tropical oceans or islands where they forage for food such as crustaceans, molluscs and insects during the day.
They roost on trees or shrubs close to shorelines at night, avoiding larger predators like sea eagles.
During the breeding season, females lay single eggs, which both parents protect until hatching occurs around four weeks later.
Scientific classification:
| Kingdom | Animalia |
| Phylum | Chordata |
| Class | Aves |
| Order | Charadriiformes |
| Family | Laridae |
| Genus | Anous |
| Species | A. minutus |
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10. Laysan Albatross
The Laysan albatross is a large seabird found in the North Pacific Ocean. Most of its population (99.7%) resides in the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands, where they form strong colonies and thrive in their natural habitat.
They are small for an albatross but still have distinguishable features such as long wingspans that help them soar gracefully above oceans while searching for food over great distances with ease.
It’s estimated to have 1.18 million birds worldwide and continues to expand or re-expand its range throughout other areas of the oceanic region.
Scientific classification:
| Kingdom | Animalia |
| Phylum | Chordata |
| Class | Aves |
| Order | Procellariiformes |
| Family | Diomedeidae |
| Genus | Phoebastria |
| Species | P. immutabilis |
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11. Black-Footed Albatross
The black-footed albatross is a species of large seabird from the Diomedeidae family, found primarily in North Pacific coastal areas.
Unlike many others, it is one of three species of northern hemisphere albatrosses and has dark plumage.
These birds are mostly located around the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands, nesting on isolated tropical islands.
The population numbers have been rapidly declining due to human activities such as fishing nets and plastic waste consumption, affecting their food sources.
Conservation efforts must be made to protect these majestic creatures before it’s too late.
Scientific classification:
| Kingdom | Animalia |
| Phylum | Chordata |
| Class | Aves |
| Order | Procellariiformes |
| Family | Diomedeidae |
| Genus | Phoebastria |
| Species | P. nigripes |
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12. Hawaiian Petrel
The Hawaiian petrel, or ʻuaʻu, is an endemic species to Hawai’i. Its striking dark grey-brown and white plumage makes it easily identifiable among the other birds of the islands.
It was once found on all main Hawaiian Islands except Niʻihau but has since been mostly restricted to Haleakalā crater on Maui, with smaller populations inhabiting Mauna Loa on Hawai’i and Waimea Canyon and Lāna‘ihale on Kaua’i.
This seabird feeds mainly at night by diving into water for small fish, squid, octopus and crustaceans.
The female lays a single egg in burrows located up high in protected mountain slopes, where it remains until fledging after a three-month incubation period by both parents.
To ensure their continued survival, these pets are protected from human activities through conservation efforts such as predator control programs that help protect newly hatched young from owls predating them before flight readiness.
Scientific classification:
| Kingdom | Animalia |
| Phylum | Chordata |
| Class | Aves |
| Order | Procellariiformes |
| Family | Procellariidae |
| Genus | Pterodroma |
| Species | P. sandwichensis |
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13. Newell’s Shearwater
Newell’s Shearwater, also known as the Hawaiian Shearwater, is an ocean bird belonging to the family Procellariidae.
This species can be difficult to identify due to its similarities with other shearwaters and its somewhat controversial classification – it was formerly treated as a subspecies of Manx shearwater but is now more commonly placed in Townsend’s shearwater.
It is endemic to Hawaii, where they breed on several offshore islands such as Maui’s Molokini Islet and Lana’i Island.
These birds are mostly dark brown with white bellies and have short wings, enabling them to soar over long distances at sea while searching for food like flying fish eggs or squid.
They feed mainly by diving into water from mid-air using their strong feet for propulsion under the water’s surface before resurfacing again.
Scientific classification:
| Kingdom | Animalia |
| Phylum | Chordata |
| Class | Aves |
| Order | Procellariiformes |
| Family | Procellariidae |
| Genus | Puffinus |
| Species | P. newelli |
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14. Blue Noddy
The Blue noddy, also known as the Blue-grey noddy, is a seabird that belongs to the Laridae family. It is found in various tropical areas such as American Samoa, Fiji, and French Polynesia.
The bird prefers open and shallow seas as its natural habitat. It has also been spotted in other areas outside its natural habitat, such as Australia and Japan. The scientific name for this bird is Anous cerulea.
Some other names used to refer to this bird are Hinaokū and Manuohina. The Blue noddy has a blue-grey colouration, which makes it easily recognizable. It is a beautiful and fascinating bird with interesting behaviours that make it a joy to observe.
Scientific classification:
| Kingdom | Animalia |
| Phylum | Chordata |
| Class | Aves |
| Order | Charadriiformes |
| Family | Laridae |
| Genus | Anous |
| Species | A. cerulea |
15. Tristram’s Storm Petrel
Tristram’s storm petrel, also known as the sooty storm petrel, is a seabird found predominantly in tropical seas of the North Pacific Ocean. Named after English clergyman Henry Baker Tristram, this bird belongs to Hydrobatidae’s storm petrel family.
Its scientific name is Hydrobates Tristram, and it is also referred to as ʻakihikeʻehiʻale. These birds are small and black with white patches on their wings and rump. They feed mainly on fish and squid and can be seen feeding in large flocks at night.
They nest in burrows on islands and atolls. Tristram’s storm petrel is considered a vulnerable species due to threats from climate change, introduced predators, and pollution.
Conservation efforts are being made to protect their breeding sites and better understand their feeding and migration patterns.
Scientific classification:
| Kingdom | Animalia |
| Phylum | Chordata |
| Class | Aves |
| Order | Procellariiformes |
| Family | Hydrobatidae |
| Genus | Hydrobates |
| Species | H. tristrami |
Conclusion
Lehua Island is a true avian paradise, offering a glimpse into the stunning and diverse birdlife that inhabits the Hawaiian archipelago.
From the majestic Hawaiian Nene to the graceful Red-tailed Tropicbird and the charismatic Laysan Albatross, Lehua’s pristine environment provides a haven for these beautiful birds.
It serves as a vital sanctuary for both resident and migratory species, contributing to the conservation efforts in the region.
Lehua Island’s unique and remote location, combined with its protected status, makes it an exceptional destination for birdwatchers and wildlife enthusiasts.
Visiting Lehua is a visual delight and a reminder of the importance of preserving these fragile ecosystems and the incredible species that call them home.