Kōlea pr Pacific golden-plover are beloved indigenous shorebirds that migrate each year. They typically leave the Islands in April or May, flying nonstop to their arctic breeding ground in Siberia and westernmost Alaska - 3,000 miles away! Kōlea can fly at an average speed of 50 miles per hour. We start seeing a few returning early birds in Hawaiʻi in July and August with most birds returning in September. The juveniles lag behind, returning to Hawaiʻi in October.
We see kōlea on beaches, golf courses, rooftops, yards, etc. Because they are site-faithful, each bird returns to, and defends, the same territory for years, resulting in people observing the kōlea's comings and goings. Many people form attachments with their local birds that return year after year, even giving them names.
When the kōlea arrive in Hawaiʻi, they sport yellowish to white underparts with a primarily yellow body, speckled with brown. As spring nears, however, it undergoes a molt into breeding plumage, gaining greater speckling with the addition of whites, as well as a black face, underside, and wingtips. The black portions are separated from the speckled portions by strong, white bars. Many say that the bird puts on a tuxedo before leaving the Islands. Once they are ready to travel, they gather in large numbers at flocking sites, before migrating together to their arctic breeding grounds.
Welcome back kōlea!
Here, you can see the various plumage. First, is a bird that just returned (photographed in August); second is a bird starting to add black plumage on its underside (taken in March); and the last (taken in April) has its formal attire on!
Comentários