Hawaii's Birds

by Hawaii Audubon Society

Featuring stunning photographs accompanied by detailed information on hundreds of birds ranging from the common mynah to the nearly extinct po'ouli, Hawaii's Birds will delight observers, birders, and ornithologists of all ages. Produced by the Hawaii Audubon Society, this sixth edition features a table of contents, two new bird species, updated maps, a comprehensive index and more.

Genres: Birds, Reference, Nonfiction, Field Guides, Nature, Travel, Science

112 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1967

Reviews

[Jude Rizzi · Rating 4 out of 5]

I found this guide very useful in gaining a general understanding of Hawaii’s birds (the point of a guide book) but feel the urge to visit Hawaii just to check on accuracy and nothing else.

[Karen Chan · Rating 5 out of 5]

So good!!! I love how they include information about their importance in Hawaiian culture and even tidbits about its history in the past 20 years.

[Shea · Rating 5 out of 5]

Easy to read and easy to find birds. A brief overview of the birds in Hawaii -- if you are in Hawaii and interested in what you are seeing, this is a good overview.

[Maddie · Rating 4 out of 5]

pretty birds!

[Jess R · Rating 4 out of 5]

I wish it was longer and had more pictures and descriptions of their habitats

[Stella · Rating 4 out of 5]

Note: I picked up the seventh edition, third printing from 2023 with a different cover. This is a very good, though small, beginner’s guide to the birds of Hawaii by the Hawaii Audubon Society. It is divided into helpful sections, and each section starts with endemic, then indigenous, then introduced species. The sections are: seabirds, shorebirds, waterbirds, open country birds, forest birds, and urban birds. While I was sad to read of the struggles of the native bird populations, I was pleased with the presentation and information, and was able to find all the birds I have seen on this trip. (The only natives I saw were the state bird, Nene goose, a heron catching a fish, and one migratory plover.)

[Sarah · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book is useful if you are totally unfamiliar with the birds that can be found in Hawaii, either introduced or endemic. I found it helpful in that regard, as none of my North American guidebooks covered the species we were seeing. The identifying characteristics are helpful, and some interesting facts accompany each entry. However, the book does not cover all of the species that you will see, and the range descriptions are very out of date (I think the last publication was 10 years ago). Several times I saw birds on Kaua'i that according to the book only existed on the Big Island, and had to go online to confirm what I was seeing.
I was not able to find any other useful guides available, so this was helpful, but I would hope for a more updated version before I visit the islands again!

[Lemurkat · Rating 3 out of 5]

Purchased in Hawaii to aid in bird identification, this guide was useful but did not show everything and had a little too much text and not enough pictures. Still, it proved to be very useful with identification of most of the common species and also provided photos to use as reference in my native bird art.

[kaity · Rating 4 out of 5]

I liked that this book was divided into sections for native or introduced birds and also had a chapter for urban & widespread birds. Just enough detail for a vacationer to quickly ID any bird seen.

[Krista · Rating 4 out of 5]

Glad I had this. Not a huge fan of the organization (by habitat) and prefer paintings to photos. But, most of the birds I saw were included and I liked that both the Hawaiian and English names were included.

[Trevor · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a exalent begeners book. I it had complete color photographs and also had nonnative species too. the only thing I regret is that it did not have pronouncement for the names.

[Lea · Rating 4 out of 5]

A clear and well organized inventory of the birds of Hawaii, useful for novices who want to identify birds they see there.