The ‘Alala Project is announcing the next steps in the recovery efforts of the ‘alala, or Hawaiian crow.
Last October, in response to mortalities of released ‘alala, including predation by ‘io, or Hawaiian hawk, conservationists brought the remaining birds from the Pu‘u Maka‘ala Natural Area Reserve on Hawaii Island back in from the wild, returning them to the conservation breeding program at the Keauhou Bird Conservation Center.
Released between 2016 and 2019 and having lived in the wild for up to three years, these five birds gained knowledge about foraging, predator avoidance, pair bonding and other social behaviors that could be passed on to the birds residing within the conservation breeding program and aid with future recovery efforts.
“The partners of The ‘Alala Project will keep the momentum of Hawaii Island ‘alala release planning going as potential release areas undergo supportive habitat management and infrastructure preparations. While self-sustaining populations of ‘alala on Hawaii Island are necessary for the long-term recovery of the species, understanding ‘io behaviors and movements is crucial before we pursue future Hawaii Island releases,” said Jackie Gaudioso, a wildlife biologist with the state Department of Land and Natural Resources Division of Forestry and Wildlife and coordinator for the project.
As the effort to improve success of Hawaii Island reintroductions continues, the project began preliminary work to explore the potential for Maui to serve as an additional release site for the crows. While ‘alala were historically known to inhabit forests on Hawaii Island, there is sub-fossil evidence that ‘alala or a similar species once existed on Maui.
Predation by ‘io has been a major challenge to Hawaii Island releases, but the hawks are not present on Maui, providing an opportunity to better understand how ‘alala can live in a forest where ‘io are not present.
Fern Duvall, the Maui Nui program manager for the Division of Forestry and Wildlife Native Ecosystems Protection and Management Program, has a long history with the ‘alala, as far back as the 1980s.
“We have forests that are similar to the forest on Hawaii Island where ‘alala were released,” Duvall said. “There are abundant food resources in our Maui Nui forests; abundant trees that would be suitable for nesting platforms. And we do not have the ‘io predation risk because we don’t have ‘io here.”
The first steps in consideration of a reintroduction of ‘alala to Maui will be a careful review and assessment of potential sites for releases, as well as outreach and discussion with conservation partners and the community to assess the feasibility of releases. In the coming months, The ‘Alala Project will reach out to conservation partners and community members on Maui to evaluate habitat suitability and support for future releases.
‘Io research will also be conducted at the previous and additional potential release areas on Hawaii Island during the next few years to inform future Hawaii Island releases and support release implementation.
The research topics include species distribution and movements and monitoring the behaviors of individuals.
“We are excited to move forward with the next steps for the recovery of ‘alala together with the community,” said Bryce Masuda, conservation program manager of the San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance’s Hawaii Endangered Bird Conservation Program. “As we have seen with the recovery of other endangered species, successful programs must problem solve, incorporating new strategies and applying science to achieve thriving populations of wildlife.”