the second "forest bird" i work with is the puaiohi (which we call pu's). it is a thrush from the infamous alkalai swamp of kauai. i call it infamous because it is considered the last refuge for native birds on kauai. the native bird populations have been devistated by many invasive species people have brought to the islands including mongoose, rats, feral pigs, and most interstingly mosquitoes. mosquitoes were once never found on any of the isles and now in some areas they can be found in droves passing on devastating diseases to the birds including avian malaria. mosquitoes have been a key cause in several hawaiian bird extinctions and at our facility we have to put mosquito netting on all cages except for the nene because one bite from a mosquito can spell certain death for these poor birds. so it is strange that a swamp is the last refuge for native avians on kauai, but it is at a high elevation that mosquitoes have not quite reached.... yet. pu's are inquisitive birds that are found primarily on the ground kicking up the soil hunting for insects and spiders. as juveniles they have very cute little spots that disappear after their first molt. i'm not sure what the spot advantage is because very little is known about puaiohis. they were thought to be extinct until the late 1980's when they were re-discovered. unfortunately, due to their status of having only around 300 individuals known, it was decided that they be put into captive breeding programs before anyone has had a chance to study them. this makes it rather difficult to know what to offer these birds in terms of diet and nesting material as well as difficult to know what behaviors these birds exhibit and what they mean. So far our breeding program is going well and we have 11 juveniles that were raised last year and will be released in late january 2007. unfortunately all of these juvies came from just one of our four pairs of adults. hopefully we have learned more from watching them last year and can make this next breeding season even more of a success!!