Comments on: Hawaii Birds: Love in the Air http://www.sandiegozoo.org/wordpress/default/hawaiian-birds-love-in-the-air/ Sat, 11 Oct 2008 00:04:19 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.0.2 by: Aly http://www.sandiegozoo.org/wordpress/default/hawaiian-birds-love-in-the-air/#comment-259097 Sat, 17 May 2008 01:02:10 +0000 http://www.sandiegozoo.org/wordpress/default/hawaiian-birds-love-in-the-air/#comment-259097 Well i hope to here about some chicks soon!:) And i'm glad your helping with these beutiful Puaioha's numbers! I had a question thats goes with Chari's now when you seperate them do you raise them your selves? And if you do that wont they like humans so if their in the wild and go to someone who wants to hurt them can't that put them in danger? Pleas give us an update soon! Well i hope to here about some chicks soon!:)
And i’m glad your helping with these beutiful Puaioha’s numbers!
I had a question thats goes with Chari’s now when you seperate them do you raise them your selves? And if you do that wont they like humans so if their in the wild and go to someone who wants to hurt them can’t that put them in danger? Pleas give us an update soon!

]]> by: Chari Mercier http://www.sandiegozoo.org/wordpress/default/hawaiian-birds-love-in-the-air/#comment-257710 Thu, 15 May 2008 06:02:05 +0000 http://www.sandiegozoo.org/wordpress/default/hawaiian-birds-love-in-the-air/#comment-257710 Thank you, Alan! Very good explanation of your breeding process and egg rearing! That does explain alot of things. I still have to maintain that the chick's parents are needed to parent their chicks along the way, tho. But, it looks like you all have this down pretty well, with a lot of trial and error over the years. Good luck with the rest of the eggs, and hopefully you will be able to release some of these Hawaiian birds back to the wild in Hawaii real soon! Chari Mercier :) St. Pete, FL Thank you, Alan! Very good explanation of your breeding process and egg rearing! That does explain alot of things. I still have to maintain that the chick’s parents are needed to parent their chicks along the way, tho. But, it looks like you all have this down pretty well, with a lot of trial and error over the years. Good luck with the rest of the eggs, and hopefully you will be able to release some of these Hawaiian birds back to the wild in Hawaii real soon!
Chari Mercier :)
St. Pete, FL

]]> by: Alan Lieberman http://www.sandiegozoo.org/wordpress/default/hawaiian-birds-love-in-the-air/#comment-257115 Wed, 14 May 2008 18:58:15 +0000 http://www.sandiegozoo.org/wordpress/default/hawaiian-birds-love-in-the-air/#comment-257115 Thank you all for your thoughtful comments. There are several reasons we remove the eggs from the parents in order to artificially incubate and rear the chicks. The most important reason is to maximize production through the process of "double-clutching." Nearly all species of birds re-lay after eggs have been removed. This natural ability to replace lost eggs is especially valuable in the wild. Nests often fail due to predation, weather, and infertility. Most bird species are capable of laying several clutches of eggs in a season. By taking advantage of this ability to lay several clutches, we are able to increase our production of chicks. By rearing several clutches of eggs from each breeding pair, we can reach our goal for recovery of the Hawaiian endangered species much more quickly. The second reason for removing eggs is because we are actually more successful "parents" than the actual parents. In captivity, females (the female does most, if not all, of the incubation) don't always incubate very well, and the parents don't always feed their chicks very well. Our success rate at artificial rearing is much better than parent-rearing. The concern over the chicks knowing how to be birds without being reared by a natural parent is a legitimate issue. We want the chicks to behave like the species they are so they will survive if released and breed with their own species (and be good parents!). One way we avoid imprinting on the human caretakers is by always rearing a chick with another chick of its own species. This allows them to imprint on each other. If we only have one chick of a species, we may raise two chicks of different species together. If we only have one chick, then we rear that one chick with a mirror so it can at least see "another" chick in the mirror. Through all of the rearing process we also play the correct bird songs on a tape so they can hear the music of their parents. In the case of the alala, we actually feed the chicks with an alala puppet so they can see their parents (even though our hand is in the puppet). All of these precautions seem to work well--the puaiohi that we have released over the past 9 years in the Alakai Swamp on Kauai have bred very well in the wild--with other captive-reared birds and with the wild birds as well. This tells us that we have raised puaiohi that know they are puaiohi and they know how to breed and survive in the wild. By using artificial incubation and rearing techniques, we can maximize production as well as maximizing the behavioral repertoire required to be survivors and breeders in the wild. The best of all worlds. Thank you all again for your thoughtful comments. <em>Alan Lieberman is the conservation program manager for the Hawaii Endangered Bird Conservation Program.</em> Thank you all for your thoughtful comments. There are several reasons we remove the eggs from the parents in order to artificially incubate and rear the chicks. The most important reason is to maximize production through the process of “double-clutching.” Nearly all species of birds re-lay after eggs have been removed. This natural ability to replace lost eggs is especially valuable in the wild. Nests often fail due to predation, weather, and infertility. Most bird species are capable of laying several clutches of eggs in a season. By taking advantage of this ability to lay several clutches, we are able to increase our production of chicks. By rearing several clutches of eggs from each breeding pair, we can reach our goal for recovery of the Hawaiian endangered species much more quickly.

The second reason for removing eggs is because we are actually more successful “parents” than the actual parents. In captivity, females (the female does most, if not all, of the incubation) don’t always incubate very well, and the parents don’t always feed their chicks very well. Our success rate at artificial rearing is much better than parent-rearing.

The concern over the chicks knowing how to be birds without being reared by a natural parent is a legitimate issue. We want the chicks to behave like the species they are so they will survive if released and breed with their own species (and be good parents!). One way we avoid imprinting on the human caretakers is by always rearing a chick with another chick of its own species. This allows them to imprint on each other. If we only have one chick of a species, we may raise two chicks of different species together. If we only have one chick, then we rear that one chick with a mirror so it can at least see “another” chick in the mirror. Through all of the rearing process we also play the correct bird songs on a tape so they can hear the music of their parents. In the case of the alala, we actually feed the chicks with an alala puppet so they can see their parents (even though our hand is in the puppet). All of these precautions seem to work well–the puaiohi that we have released over the past 9 years in the Alakai Swamp on Kauai have bred very well in the wild–with other captive-reared birds and with the wild birds as well. This tells us that we have raised puaiohi that know they are puaiohi and they know how to breed and survive in the wild.

By using artificial incubation and rearing techniques, we can maximize production as well as maximizing the behavioral repertoire required to be survivors and breeders in the wild. The best of all worlds.

Thank you all again for your thoughtful comments.

Alan Lieberman is the conservation program manager for the Hawaii Endangered Bird Conservation Program.

]]> by: Pamela G http://www.sandiegozoo.org/wordpress/default/hawaiian-birds-love-in-the-air/#comment-257063 Wed, 14 May 2008 17:29:12 +0000 http://www.sandiegozoo.org/wordpress/default/hawaiian-birds-love-in-the-air/#comment-257063 If I understood one of your previous blogs, you remove the eggs from the parents to encourage them to lay more eggs. Is that correct? And may all six of your 'Alala be very horny little buggers this year! If I understood one of your previous blogs, you remove the eggs from the parents to encourage them to lay more eggs. Is that correct?

And may all six of your ‘Alala be very horny little buggers this year!

]]> by: Chari Mercier http://www.sandiegozoo.org/wordpress/default/hawaiian-birds-love-in-the-air/#comment-256762 Wed, 14 May 2008 04:02:20 +0000 http://www.sandiegozoo.org/wordpress/default/hawaiian-birds-love-in-the-air/#comment-256762 Hi! I agree with Marie! Why can't the mom and dad puaiohis raise their own chicks after they hatch? The parents aren't even allowed to sit on their own eggs! You're doing a great job in getting these birds back up to better numbers, but these chicks need to know how to be puaiohis to be successful whether they are in a sanctuary or out in the wild. Can you give us an explanation about this process, please? Will appreciate it alot! Good luck on the rest of the eggs! Chari Mercier :) St. Pete, FL Hi! I agree with Marie! Why can’t the mom and dad puaiohis raise their own chicks after they hatch? The parents aren’t even allowed to sit on their own eggs! You’re doing a great job in getting these birds back up to better numbers, but these chicks need to know how to be puaiohis to be successful whether they are in a sanctuary or out in the wild. Can you give us an explanation about this process, please? Will appreciate it alot! Good luck on the rest of the eggs!
Chari Mercier :)
St. Pete, FL

]]> by: Marie http://www.sandiegozoo.org/wordpress/default/hawaiian-birds-love-in-the-air/#comment-255771 Mon, 12 May 2008 19:43:06 +0000 http://www.sandiegozoo.org/wordpress/default/hawaiian-birds-love-in-the-air/#comment-255771 Hi Do you incubate and hatch all of the eggs or do you allow the birds to have a couple to incubate themselves? I would think that they need to know what to do and how to care for their young so that they can pass this knowledge down the generations. Thankfully, with your help, there will be many more generations. Hi

Do you incubate and hatch all of the eggs or do you allow the birds to have a couple to incubate themselves? I would think that they need to know what to do and how to care for their young so that they can pass this knowledge down the generations.
Thankfully, with your help, there will be many more generations.

]]> by: Mae in NJ http://www.sandiegozoo.org/wordpress/default/hawaiian-birds-love-in-the-air/#comment-253264 Fri, 09 May 2008 01:53:14 +0000 http://www.sandiegozoo.org/wordpress/default/hawaiian-birds-love-in-the-air/#comment-253264 Good luck to you in this important endeavor. Hope you see lots of courting and evidence of success in the form of many eggs. Enjoyed the humor in the blog. As a former Hawaiian, I appreciate all you do in saving these endangered birds. Good luck to you in this important endeavor. Hope you see lots of courting and evidence of success in the form of many eggs. Enjoyed the humor in the blog. As a former Hawaiian, I appreciate all you do in saving these endangered birds.

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