NENE?
If it had not been for my liking crossword puzzles, I might never have come to know what a “nene” is. Oh, there's and outside chance I might have gone to Hawaii for a few weeks, but that has not happened in the past four-score-and-six years, or I could have chanced upon it while reading travel folders.
The nene is the state bird of Hawaii.
It looks like a Canadian Goose many seem to think except when they start listing ways in which they differ the analogy gets lost. The Nene is smaller than the Canadian cousin, measuring from 21-to-26 inches in length compared to the Canuck version checking in up to 46-inches long. The people who give birds Latin-looking, letterery names tell us they may have been the same at one time long ago, but evolution has made some very real modifications. Oddly enough, there is absolute equality in male and female nene since they both sport about the same feathery covering, largely black and with white stripes across the wings. They have feet which are only partly webbed and with more toe and claw allowed for firm gripping on rocky lava floe surfaces in the areas in which they thrive.
The species was almost extinct in 1940 largely because of imported dogs, cats and mongoose predators which feed on nene eggs and young.. Some estimates have said that there was about 25,000 of the birds in Hawaii when Captain James Cook visited in Hawaii several times during the 1761-76 era. But, in 1940 , biologists had trouble finding forty of them to be placed under special, nurturing care on the island of Kaua'i.
Mother Nature showed science a better way when the area was a hit by a hurricane in 1982. The storm destroyed the nene cages and set the growing flock free. They took to the wilds and have prospered ever since on their own. Escaping to feed of the lush flatland grasses in mongoose-free territory these birds did so well biologists soon exported some of them to other areas and that, too, has been successful. Today, in addition to he wild flocks, There are now about a thousand nene in zoos around the world.
One of the largest groups is in Slimbridge, England and a few birds from that closed operation escaped and took up residence in the waters of old London's St. James Park, next to Buckingham Place. They, too, have done very well. Ordinarily, genetic problems and disease do not permit much distribution of the nene in foreign climes. They have remained, by and large, natives of Hawaii.
The voice of the nene is heard throughout the islands, but it is usually soft and restrained. It resembles the sounds made by geese usually interpreted as a “honk”which is resonant, yet less strident. Some seem to say ”ha-wah” a well, and many chatter in conversational sounds when communicating with each other. They fly and swim very little.
The breeding season of the nene runs November through March, and they build a round, bowl-like nest lined with soft down feathers. The nest is usually placed in the most concealed spot to be found. Typically, two to five eggs are found in each nene nest. Estimates place wild nene flocks at around eight hundred and growing steadily with each breeding season.
It may well be that Hawaiians will, in time, find themselves knee deep in nene.
A.L.M. November 15, 2002. [c578wds]
