Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 10, Number 10, 1 October 1993 — Ke ao nani [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

Ke ao nani

^ Naturally Hawaiian

by Patrick Ching artist/environmentalist

'Ā Boobies are a type of seabird related to gannets. They ean be distinguished from other seabirds by their laek of facial feathers.

Three species of boobies inhabit coastal areas of Hawai'i. All were known to Hawaiians as 'ā. Red-footed boobies are the most numerous. They are white birds with black wing edges, blue or green bills,

and of course, red feet. They nest in colonies throughout the Northwestern Hawaiian islands and at the Kllauea Point Wildlife Refuge on Kaua'i. There are two red-footed booby colonies on O'ahu: one at Mōkapu Peninsula,

Kāne'ohe, and one at Sea Life Park, Makapu'u Point. Red-foot-ed boobies were important homing birds to ancient navigators

| because they would leave their roosting sites on land eaeh morning and return to land eaeh evening. Navigators paid close attention to the flight paths of the boobies, especially in the early morning and late I evening hours.

Brown boobies are easily identified by their chocolate brown heads and upper body parts, with stark white underparts. They are often seen cmising the shorelines in search of food, whieh usually consists of squid and fish.

Boobies are plunge feeders and often dive from great heights and even pursue fish while under water. Unlike red-footed boobies, whieh nest in trees or shrubs, brown boobies nest on the ground. They are not known to nest on the main Hawaiian islands, though they do roost on some of the tiny offshore islets. The largest species of booby in Hawai'i is the masked booby. It is a white bird with black wing edges and tail. It has a strong, stout bill that fades to black around the eyes, giving it a masked appearance. This species is the least eommon of the three and is seldom seen around the main Hawaiian islands.

Masked booby with ehiek; the largest of three booby species all known to Hawaiians as 'ā. Art by Patrick Ching