Oh, beautiful Hawaii, the soft waves, warm breeze, and the bright sun is heaven on earth. Many people know Hawaii for many things, whether it’s because of its amazing beaches, beautiful warm weather, the array of fresh tropical food it offers, or its culture. Everyone has their reasoning, but many people don’t associate with Hawaii are animals, specifically birds.
When you think about beaches, you think about seagulls chirping. When you think about open areas, you imagine birds flying in flocks, yet you don’t think about birds when you think about Hawaii. Weird right?
Sure, you don’t get to see exotic animals right at your doorstep, but true beauty doesn’t need to be rare for it to be important. Hawaii is filled with hundreds of species of birds, many of which you don’t even have to step out of your house to observe.
It doesn’t matter if you are an avid bird watcher or not; we all can unanimously agree that there is nothing better than sitting by your balcony or your window with a hot cup of tea/coffee and just watching the birds do their own thing.
So, let’s not beat around the bush. Here are the most common backyard birds of Hawaii. Although we can’t promise you that we will list all, we can certainly try our best to list the one that you are most likely to see.
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Top Backyard Birds Found in Hawaii
House Finch
Number one on our list is the beautiful House Finch which is one of the most common backyard birds of Hawaii. These birds might be tiny creatures, but their personality is very bold and out there. Not only will you see these birds flitting around Hawaii, but you might also find yourself in a situation where you are interacting with them. House Finches love visiting people’s backyards, especially if you give them a reason to. Not only that, due to their social personality, you’ll generally find them around human settlements and busy areas.
Okay, enough about their big personality, let’s come to their small features. A House Finch, otherwise known as Haemorhous mexicanus, is around five to ten inches (12.7 cm to 25.4cm) starting from the tip of their bill all the way to the tip of their long but medium-sized tails. On average, they weigh about twenty-one grams. Their bill is short and conical and looks adorable on their small, round head.
They have a brown tail, belly, and back, which is streaky. It’s really easy to distinguish a female House Finch from a male House Finch. Adult male House Finches have a rosy, red chest, rump, and crown. Depending on their diets and genetics, the rosy, red color can also be replaced with orange or even yellow (although that’s not a common occurrence). The adult female House Finch, on the other hand, is a brownish-gray color with thick but blurry
streaks along their sides and a marked face.
Northern Cardinal
If you see a bright red bird with a wispy crest and a cute little plum body, it might just be a Northern Cardinal. Yes, that is right; the Northern Cardinal is also not so commonly known as Cardinali’s cardinalities (not confusing at all) bright red. On the other hand, the female Cardinals are more greyish with hints of red color in their wings and tails and have a black face. If that was not pretty enough, Northern Cardinals also have a gorgeous crest that adds to their identity.
And size-wise, Northern Cardinals are almost the same size as Red-winged Blackbirds and are shorter than American Robins. If that confuses you a bit, just know that they are anywhere between eight point three to nine-point 4 inches long (21 cm to 24 cm) from their tail to unfit bill. Along with Northern Cardinal also has a fuller and plump body which makes them look adorable.
If you want to lure these beautiful bright birds, try feeding them various kinds of berries, nuts, and seeds like black oil sunflower seeds, in a tray feeder. If they do visit you, notice how they use their conical bills to open the sunflower seeds, spit the hull out and use their touches to remove the kernel from it. It’s fascinating in its own way.
Common Myna or Indian Myna
Originally from Centra, South and Southeast Asia, Common Myna is the next on our list. Regardless of where it originates from, Common Myna is a species of birds that have accustomed themselves to the urban areas of Hawaii. They mostly inhabit parks and gardens, and if not those areas, you’ll find them in open fields, stubby woodlands, and
floodplains.
They have several other names as well. Whether it’s something as complicated as Acridotheres tristis or something like Indian Myna (they are named that due to the vast majority of the population that lives there), they are around nine points one inch (which is roughly 23.1 cm), and they weigh anywhere between three points eight to four-point nine ounces. Although they have a plain dark brown body, their yellow beak gives them a distinct look. The color extends from their bill to around their eyes, giving them a fierce look. They also have long and strong legs, which they use for hopping instead of walking, and a stocky body to go with it.
Another great thing about Common Myna is their singing. It can consist of gurgling, chirping, or even squeaking. This is why many people like to have them as pets because they can also start imitating human speech if captive.
Luckily, their diet is very flexible as they are omnivorous creatures. They are happy with picking on tiny insects to eat along the way to feed on berries that they find on shrubs. The only problem with their diet is that although they are great at removing pests and insects from fields and gardens, their search for those said insects is very destructive. They ruin a lot of crops that otherwise would have been someone’s source of income. Due to this reason, many farmers and gardeners try their best to keep the common Myna away from their plants with the help of things like installing bird nets.
St. Helena Waxbill or Common Waxbill
St. Helena Waxbill, also known as Common Waxbill, is a small passeriform bird belonging to the estrildid finch family. Although they are native to sub-Saharan regions of Africa, now they have been introduced all around the world. These birds are very easy to maintain in captivity, but their true beauty shines when they are allowed to soar.
Common Waxbill, sometimes also known as Estrilda astrild, are generally small birds, with their average length being four to five inches (11 cm to 13 cm). Their plumage is somewhere between gray and brown. What makes them even more beautiful is the red stripe around their eyes and a lighter shade of red on their belly. Their small bill is also stark red. In contrast to its slender body, the area around its neck is whitish.
There isn’t much that differentiates a female Common Waxbill from a male Common Waxbill except for the fact that females tend to be paler and have fewer, red-colored feathers on their stomachs. However, you can differentiate between an adult Common Waxbill and a young Common Waxbills. The younger ones are paler with barely any red on their stomach, and their beak is also black, instead of the bright orangish-red.
Now enough about how amazing they look. Let’s move on to what they feed on to fill any requirements their small body has. Usually, these birds prefer to have seeds, either directly from the ground or from the flower heads, using their spindly claws. Although there is a time where they need high protein content in their body, such as during the breeding season, they feed on insects. And since their main diet (that being seeds) is very dry, you’ll often see them drinking things. So, a bird fountain in your backyard might do them good.
In Conclusion
So here you go, the most common backyard birds of Hawaii. Now it might be the singing of the Common Myna or the bright colors of the Northern Cardinals. All birds have at least one thing that allows us to connect to nature and appreciate its true beauty.
Although we believe each of these birds backyard birds of Hawaii deserves equal amounts of love, adoration, and praise (maybe that’s because we quite literally can’t pick a favorite), do tell us if there is a specific bird from the list that sings to your hearts, more than the others?
