Kaua‘i Forest Bird Recovery Project | Birds Not Rats

The Kaua‘i Forest Bird Recovery Project is an organization that promotes awareness and conservation of the native forest birds of Kaua‘i’, Hawaii. It is a collaboration between the State of Hawaii Division of Forestry & Wildlife and the University of Hawaii's Pacific Studies Cooperative Unit. 

The project began in 2003 and advocates for the conservation of the unique birds of Kaua‘i’. Only eight species of forest birds remain on Kaua‘i’ due to invasive species, plants, disease, and climate change.These include federally endangered birds such as the Akeke’e, Akikiki, and the Puaiohi as well as native birds like the Kaua’i ‘Amakihi, Apapane, Anianiau, Kaua’i Elepaio, and 'I'iwi.

Invasive species including rats, threaten the remaining burds by destroying nests and aggressively competing for food. The Kaua‘i Forest Bird Recovery Project is taking back the forest using Goodnature A24 traps to combat the growing rat populations. Currently, the project has over 425 traps dispatched across 525 acres. 

The team maintains the traps one by one inspecting each site every 3-4 months. This means hiking a 10km average a day through ridges, valleys, and rivers through the Kaua‘i interior.

We recently visited this dedicated team and brought a camera along for the day. As you can imagine, these dedicated individuals are passionate about conservation and doing it humanely and without the use of toxins.