SKYLARK Alauda arvensis
SKYLARK
DESCRIPTION: 7″. A nondescript buffy, streaked bird with white outer tail feathers found only in open country. The head may appear crested.
PARK DISTRIBUTION: Introduced early to most of the islands. Kilauea—Fairly common in open grassy places, for example on the floor of Kilauea Crater or along the Mauna Loa Strip. Haleakala—Fairly common both inside and out of the crater.
VOICE: Look to the sky when you hear an exceedingly long, high-pitched rolling song. The skylark sings while on the wing and its beautiful music may last for a minute or longer.
Certainly the most remarkable thing about this bird is its song—which it delivers while hovering sometimes hundreds of feet in the air. Just when you think that the lofty music must end, a skylark will change to a new series of phrases and keep this up for another minute or so. Skylarks feed and nest on the ground. Nests attributed to skylarks made entirely of “Pele’s hair” have been found in the Kilauea area. “Pele’s hair” is spun volcanic glass formed during an eruption—a strange material indeed for the construction of a bird’s nest.
CHINESE THRUSH Trochalopterum canorum
(also spectacled thrush)
DESCRIPTION: 9″. In the dense wet forests a large, reddish-brown bird with broad white “eye spectacles” can only be this species. The white band around each eye extends backward to the ear. You will probably hear this bird before seeing it.
PARK DISTRIBUTION: Introduced at the turn of the century. Now on all major islands. Kilauea—Occasional in the wet ohia forest such as around Park Headquarters. Haleakala—Absent from the park.