The Friends of Kauaʻi Wildlife Refuges always post wonderful videos of their beautiful Refuges and the amazing wildlife found there. So, we are spotlighting their Refuges this month.
Friends of Kauaʻi Wildlife Refuges supports the environmental and wildlife conservation, historic preservation and community education programs of the Kauaʻi National Wildlife Refuge Complex and includes Kīlauea Point NWR, Hanalei NWR and Hulēʻia NWR.
The Friends help to fill in the gaps in the programs administered by the Refuge team by providing funding and Friends group staffing to support a variety of refuge priorities. Friends of Kauaʻi Wildlife Refuges also manages the Friends Nature Store and Visitor Center at Kīlauea Point NWR, supports environmental education programs, administers an annual scholarship, conducts community outreach and much more!
Hanalei National Wildlife Refuge is the oldest and largest of the three Refuges located on Kauaʻi. It was established in 1972 to recover threatened and endangered species, including the koloa (Hawaiian duck), ʻalae keʻokeʻo (Hawaiian coot), ʻalae ʻula (Hawaiian Gallinule), aeʻo (Hawaiian Stilt) and nēnē (Hawaiian Goose). The Refuge is comprises 917 acres and is located near the town of Hanalei.
The Refuge consists of managed wetlands that mimic the unique natural Hawaiian wetland systems, which provide all the necessary life history requirements for native Hawaiian and migratory waterbird species. In addition to the five threatened and endangered waterbirds for which the refuge is primarily managed to protect, 49 other species of birds also use the Refuge.
Hulē‘ia National Wildlife Refuge was established in 1973 to recover threatened and endangered species, including the koloa (Hawaiian duck), ʻalae keʻokeʻo (Hawaiian coot), ʻalae ʻula (Hawaiian Gallinule), aeʻo (Hawaiian Stilt) and nēnē (Hawaiian Goose). The Refuge is comprises 241 acres and is located near the city of Līhu‘e.
Kīlauea Point National Wildlife Refuge was established in 1985 to protect and enhance migratory seabirds and threatened and endangered species including the nēnē (Hawaiian Goose) and ʻaʻo (Newell’s Shearwater) populations and their habitats.
The Refuge is located on the northernmost point of Kaua‘i and the Main Hawaiian Islands and includes a spectacular 568-foot ocean bluff. Kīlauea Point NWR is home to thousands of migratory and resident seabirds including ʻā (Red-footed Booby), mōlī (Laysan Albatross), ʻiwa (Great Frigatebird), koaʻe kea (White-tailed Tropicbird), koaʻe ʻula (Red-tailed Tropicbird), ʻuaʻu kani (Wedge-tailed Shearwater), and ʻaʻo (Newell’s Shearwater). The Refuge is comprised 199 acres and is located near the town of Kīlauea.
The Refuge team is also charged with the preservation and maintenance of the Daniel K. Inouye Kīlauea Point Lighthouse and lighthouse keepers’ homes, which are listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
Out of public view is a comprehensive multi-partner wildlife conservation project entitled the Nihokū Ecosystem Restoration Project. The project was developed in 2012 to provide a predator-free nesting area for ʻaʻo (Newell’s Shearwaters) and ʻuaʻu (Hawaiian Petrels), Hawaiʻi’s only two endemic seabirds, and enhance existing breeding colonies of mōlī (Laysan Albatross) and nēnē (Hawaiian Goose
We thank USFWS for the photos.