DESCRIPTION: 10″-11″. A slender, gray and white bird with _large white
wing patches_ and white outer tail feathers.
PARK DISTRIBUTION: Introduced since 1928 on Oahu and Maui.
Kilauea—Birds, apparently migrants from Maui, were seen in the northern
part of the island in 1959; however, none have yet reached the park
(1961). Haleakala—Occasional on slopes below the summit; rare inside
Haleakala Crater. Probably still increasing its range within the park.
VOICE: The song is a brilliant series of phrases often repeated like the
Chinese thrush but more varied. One note is an emphatic _thack_.
You are most likely to see mockingbirds along the lower slopes of
Haleakala during your drive up to the crater. Park Headquarters is about
the upper limit for these birds on Maui. The food consists of insects,
fruit, and occasionally greens.
OMAO _Phaeornis obscura_
(also Hawaiian thrush)
[Illustration: OMAO]
DESCRIPTION: 7″. Usually heard first, then seen if you are patient, for
it often remains motionless. A medium sized gray-brown thrush with no
distinct markings. Only similar species is the Chinese thrush which is
larger, more reddish brown, and has white markings around the eye.
PARK DISTRIBUTION: Kilauea—Moderately common in the wet ohia forest,
especially along the Crater Rim Trail between Park Headquarters and
Thurston Lava Tube. Uncommon on lava flows between 7,000 and 9,200 feet
elevation—to be seen along the Mauna Loa trail. Haleakala—Absent from
Maui.
VOICE: Any one of several buzzing notes, a medium pitched _eéau_, or
_prueeé_, or a low throaty _whuaaá_ are likely to be heard before the
song. These notes may be interspersed and are often repeated many times
with a few seconds interval. The song is a rapid, erratic whistled
phrase, having the loud fluty quality of other thrushes.
This strange thrush lives in two contrasting habitats within Hawaii
Volcanoes National Park. In the dense forest you will usually find it
singing from its perch part way up an ohia or other tree. But there may
be no trees in sight at its other locality which is among the barren
lava flows on Mauna Loa. However, there will always be berry bushes
nearby—ohelo, pukeawe, or kukaenene; and insects also comprise a part of
the diet. The lava flow birds establish day-time roosts on the higher
rocks and remain at these sites for long periods, judging from the
accumulation of droppings. Old perch sites stand out clearly on a flow,
for a yellow-green lichen colors the top of whatever rocks have been
plastered with omao droppings.
[Illustration: _Ohelo—favorite food of the omao_]
The nesting sites for these birds have remained an enigma until
recently. Now it is known that birds living on the flows will build
their nests on ledges within deep horizontal lava cracks, especially in
collapsed lava tubes, while the forest birds are said to nest in trees.