Protecting Endangered Birds from Maui’s Wildfires

BirdNote®
Protecting Endangered Birds from Maui’s Wildfires
Written by Mark Bramhill
 
Mark Bramhill: This is BirdNote.

The Maui Bird Conservation Center helps care for Hawai‘i’s critically endangered bird species, some that have gone extinct in the wild. The center is in a remote spot on Maui, 3,700 feet up the slopes of Haleakala. Jennifer Pribble is the center's Wildlife Care Supervisor.  

Jennifer Pribble: We have four species that we focus on: the ‘alala, which is the Hawaiian crow;

[‘Alala (Hawaiian Crow) call]

the akikiki

[Akikiki call]

the kiwikiu

[Kiwikiu song]

and the palila.

[Palila call]

Each of those are small honeycreepers.  

Mark Bramhill: There are around 90 birds at the center, housed in many enclosures. The ‘alala, like many corvids, are smart and inventive:

Jennifer Pribble: We have a number of ‘alala that they'll be down on the ground and they'll have a stick or something and they'll roll around and play with it, they're very playful, they'll poke sticks at each other and play like tug of war through the wire, so, yeah, they're, they're very inquisitive, very playful.


Mark Bramhill: Jennifer lives on site at the center, in a secluded area locals refer to as ‘upcountry’, to make sure that the birds are always cared for.  


Jennifer Pribble: It's 365 days a year, rain or shine. It doesn't matter what's going on — someone has to be here taking care of these birds.  

    [Driving, slightly tense music begins]

Mark Bramhill: A year ago, several wildfires broke out on Maui island in Hawai‘i, killing over a hundred people. Invasive plants all across Hawai‘i are more prone to burning than native vegetation, and it had been a drier summer, in part thanks to climate change. Then, a passing distant hurricane was causing high winds and especially dry air across the islands. Late on a Monday night, gusts over 60 miles per hour were blowing across Maui.  


Jennifer Pribble: Trees were falling that evening and the power went out at about 11 o’clock. We have a generator that operates the facility, so I heard the generator kick in. Didn't think anything of it, I just went back to sleep.  

Mark Bramhill: Security footage from the bird center captured the moment this power outage began. A bright flash from a power line, probably caused by a tree or branch falling on it, sent out a shower of sparks and likely started the first of the Maui fires. Around 3 AM, a large branch fell on the roof and woke up Jennifer.  


    [Fire SFX]

Jennifer Pribble: So I went outside and the sky was orange. I didn't really know what was going on because you don't wake up anticipating the forest to be on fire.  

I got up, got dressed, and went out to investigate. I passed by all the bird buildings and they were all in good shape.  

So I just kept going and I got out to the front of the building and yeah, the whole forest in front of our facility was on fire. When the fire is like right there and there's no notice… it's terrifying, yeah.  

Mark Bramhill: Jennifer called 911 and learned that this was a large wildfire. There was some distance between it and the bird center, and with all the firefighters already trying to contain the blaze, Jennifer had to monitor the fire and wait. Around 6:30 AM, the wind changed and the fire started rapidly burning up the dry, grassy road towards the facilities. Jennifer updated the dispatcher, and firefighters were sent to help — but they wouldn't arrive for forty minutes.  

Jennifer Pribble: And there were some embers that came across the road into the grass on our property. There wasn't time to be scared. It was just... like, this is happening, I have to take care of it. So I grab our fire extinguishers and our garden hoses and just go out and do what I could until the fire crews could get up to us.

We do have evacuation plans. Every scenario is different. Like, to catch every single bird by myself, that would take many hours. So in the case of this fire, I would probably just go and like open all the doors and hope for the best and then get myself in a safe environment just because the fire is right here affecting me as well.
 
Mark Bramhill: Security footage from the center showed how Jennifer and a neighbor rushed to keep the fire from getting any closer to the birds. The firefighters arrived and were around for several weeks, helping ensure the fire was fully contained. And as for the birds? The ‘alala were back to playing with sticks in no time.
 
Jennifer Pribble: Overall we didn't really see a lot of stress behaviors from these birds. The wind was blowing away from the facility, the air was relatively clean for how close the fire was. No birds were injured. All the birds are doing great.

    [‘Alala (Hawaiian Crow) calls]

Mark Bramhill: Protecting these critically endangered birds is always hard. But in this instance, Jennifer's work was truly heroic.

For BirdNote, I'm Mark Bramhill.

###

Producer: Mark Bramhill
Managing Editor: Jazzi Johnson
Managing Producer: Conor Gearin
Content Director: Jonese Franklin
Bird sounds provided by The Macaulay Library of Natural Sounds at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Ithaca, New York. ‘Alala (Hawaiian Crow) ML234871 recorded by Tim Burr, Akikiki  ML484033291 recorded by Robb Brumfield, Kiwikiu (Maui Parrotbill) ML6077 recorded by Tim Burr, and Palila ML129185 recorded by Gregory Budney.
Fire sounds from NPS/Jennifer Jerrett.
BirdNote’s theme was composed and played by Nancy Rumbel and John Kessler.
© 2024 BirdNote August 2024
Narrator: Mark Bramhill

ID# MauiBirdCenter-01-2024-08-08    MauiBirdCenter-01