There are all kind of pretty birds here in the Hawaiian Islands, though perhaps not as many as I might have thought. Most of the endemic birds--those birds blown in from somewhere else long ago--have mostly been wiped out by encroaching species, so that's no different from a lot of other disturbed ecosystems, but it is still disappointing and a big problem on an island system, where there are a relatively small number of species to begin with. (Coincidentally, most of the people I've met here have blown in from other places, t00, and have also mostly crowded out the locals.) I believe most of the birds pictured here are the encroaching kind, but you really can't blame these birds for that. Anyway, they're pretty. Supposedly, there is some kind of goose, called a Nene, that's native to the Big Island, but I didn't see any of those. Here are some of the ones I did see.

Birds are impossible to photograph, usually being little and far away. I did the best I could, photographing anything I managed to focus on.

 The Pretty Indian Pheasants, above, were hanging out in Volcano National Park, in an old growth rain forest (which was spectacular, by the way).

Like all of the best tourist meccas, the people are friendly here but at the same time guarded. With the exception of a Hawaiian fisherman I met, who showed me how to catch seaweed-eating fish in the surf--and even taught me how to bait a hook with seaweed--I haven't connected with the locals as much as I would like. Same with the birds. I just can't get past Aloha and Mahalo with most of these birds. Some of them just fall through the frame while I'm looking for something else, such as the gull that dropped in while I was taking a picture of a sailboat on Waikiki Beach.

I loved these Java Sparrows, below, that were worshiping and taking communion at our friends' B&B in Waikaloa, where the gale force winds blow non-stop, day and night.

 Of course, they all look like locals to me, even this Red Velvet Bulbul.

This Anole lizard's ancestors foolishly chose not to evolve into birds, millions of years ago. But that's not this little guy's fault. He kept us company in our bedroom at Frank and Jon's B&B, and he seemed to be making a living eating the hundreds of tiny geckos I kept stepping over. He is more beautiful in the picture than I remember him being in person. The camera just likes some folks better than others, I guess.

 Here are some additional bird sightings, two of which were spotted along the road to Hana. The first one isn't a Rich Banks clone. No, it's just a plain old rooster. Someone could probably enlighten me whether it's a Rhode Island Red. 

The second bird may be a Pacific Golden Plover, though its coloration is different from the ones I've seen pictured here. Not endemic to the islands, at least it flew here on its own and wasn't flown in by some well-meaning newcomer to the Islands:

The third is a rather angry-looking black swan, photographed amongst some gratuitous Koi fish at the Byodo-In Temple in Kaneohe.

And here's Laura, still standing under the Banyan Tree. Every night the Banyan Tree on Waikiki Beach was home to ginormous numbers of screeching birds. Don't ask me why. Ask that pigeon, hiding out over in the corner.

Enjoy the tropical birds of the Hawaiian Islands.