Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Protea
The slopes of leeward Haleakala between 2,000 and 4,000 feet are heaven to protea, as
the growing conditions could not be more perfect. The days are warm, the nights are cool,
and the well-drained volcanic soil has the exact combination of minerals on which pro-
tea thrive. Protea make excellent gifts that can be shipped anywhere, and although they
are beautiful as fresh-cut flowers, they have the extra benefit of drying superbly. Just hang
them in a dark, dry, well-ventilated area and they do the rest. You can see protea, along
with other botanical specialties, at the gardens, flower farms, and gift shops in Kula.
Birds
One of the great tragedies of natural history is the continuing demise of Hawaiian bird life.
Perhaps only 15 original species of birds remain of the more than 70 native families that
thrived before the coming of humans, and since the arrival of Captain Cook in 1778, 23
species have become extinct, with 31 more in danger. Hawai'i's endangered birds account
for 40 percent of the birds officially listed as endangered or threatened by the U.S. Fish
and Wildlife Service. In the last 200 years, more than four times as many birds have be-
come extinct in Hawai'i as in all of North America.
Despite the threats, however, a few cling to life in the remote reaches of the East Maui
rainforest, with the
'
akohekohe, 'i'iwi,
and
'
amakihi
some of the notable varieties. While
visitors aren't likely to encounter many of the island's forest birds, those who are inter-
ested in these fragile species should contact the
Maui Forest Bird Recovery Project
(
www.mauiforestbird.org
)
for more information and ways in which you can volunteer.
Other than forest birds, two water birds found on Maui are the
Hawaiian stilt
(ae'o)
and the
Hawaiian coot
('alae ke'oke'o).
The stilt is about 16 inches tall and lives on Maui
at Kanaha and Kealia Ponds, with a black body, white belly, and distinctively pink legs.
At Haleakala Crater, the dark-rumped petrel is found around the visitor's center at about
one hour after dusk May-October, and the
nene
goose
—the Hawaiian state bird—is a close
cousin of the Canada goose and can be found in large numbers in the grass around Paliku
Cabin.
Mammals
Hawai'i's only two indigenous land mammals are the Hawaiian monk seal and the hoary
bat. All other mammals have been introduced. While
monk seals
are sometimes sighted
along island shorelines and reefs, the most famous mammals are the whales and dolphins
