The Hawaiian Stilt

Abstract

These photographs of the graceful Hawaiian Stilt, Himantopus himantopus knudseni, constitute a pictorial record of one of the world's vanishing birds. In 1944, Mr. George Munro of Honolulu (Birds of Hawaii, Tongg Publ. Co., Honolulu) estimated only 200 stilts were left in the Hawaiian Islands. We believe, that in spite of its dwindling habitat, the closed hunting season on the Islands during the recent war and its continuation for stilts permitted the population to increase to approximately 1,000 birds by 1946-1947 (Schwartz and Schwartz, The Game Birds in Hawaii, Bd. Agric. and For., Honolulu, 1949). The Hawaiian Stilt maintains its largest numbers on the island of Oahu where its best habitat exists. Smaller flocks occur on Niihau, Kauai, and Maui islands, and possibly some may use the island of Molokai. Our limited observations did not ascertain the permanency of the stilt population on each island, but reports by local inhabitants indicate possible movements between islands. We have observed considerable daily shifting of the flocks between different locales on each island. Stilts frequent the coastal mud flats and the fresh and brackish marshy areas and shallows of reservoirs, lakes, and ponds. The vegetative types most commonly associated with this habitat are great bulrush, Scirpus validus, american saltwort, Batis maritinia, and various grasses. In spite of the upward trend of the stilt population, the future of this species is not bright since the habitat it prefers is rapidly disappearing due to the reclamation of such areas for civic and military purposes. Illegal kill still constitutes a limiting factor. Two adult Hawaiian Stilts were confiscated on April 6, 1947, from a hunter. They measured as follows: