Rising Tide Images
Kioea
With a distinctive profile from a long decurved bill, this bristle-thighed curlew is hard to miss. Its name sake bristle feathers around the thighs are the field mark that differentiates it from the similar looking whimbrel. Considered indigenous in Hawaii and known as kioea, this migrant winters in Hawaii and much further south in French Polynesia where it prefers undisturbed short grass fields and sandy shorelines. Nesting in western Alaska and eastern Siberia, some of the French Polynesian cohort selects Hawaii as a mid-migration rest stop.
Kioea
With a distinctive profile from a long decurved bill, this bristle-thighed curlew is hard to miss. Its name sake bristle feathers around the thighs are the field mark that differentiates it from the similar looking whimbrel. Considered indigenous in Hawaii and known as kioea, this migrant winters in Hawaii and much further south in French Polynesia where it prefers undisturbed short grass fields and sandy shorelines. Nesting in western Alaska and eastern Siberia, some of the French Polynesian cohort selects Hawaii as a mid-migration rest stop.