A new crowdfunding and outreach campaign has been launched to generate support for protecting the native birds of Kauai by controlling rats with humane, self-resetting traps, the Kauai Forest Bird Recovery Project announced recently.
The “Birds, not Rats!” campaign, which runs through Jan. 31, 2015, strives to increase awareness of the threats that rats pose to birds and native ecosystems and raise at least $10,000 for rat control. The Kauai Forest Bird Recover Project is a collaborative effort of the Department of Land and Natural Resources’ Division of Forestry and Wildlife, the University of Hawaii Pacific Cooperative Studies Unit, and Garden Island Research and Development Inc.
Hawaii is at the epicenter of the current global extinction crisis. Of the original 130-plus native Hawaiian bird species, many have been lost forever, and only 11 are not yet endangered, according to the DLNR.
Today, Kauai is home to eight native forest bird species, three of which are federally listed as endangered: the Puaiohi or Small Kauai Thrush, the Akekee or Kauai Akepa, and the Akikiki or Kauai Creeper. Populations of these birds have plummeted as much as 90 percent in the past five years; the Akikiki and the Puaiohi now number fewer than 500 birds, and the Akekee numbers fewer than 1,000 individuals, according to the state. The Kaua‘i Forest Bird Recovery Project’s goal is to reverse these declines.
DOFAW has identified rats as a major threat to these birds in their native habitats.
“We have found rats in the most remote parts of the forest, where they feast on bird eggs and attack nesting female birds,” said Thomas Kaiakapu, DOFAW Kauai wildlife program manager. Rats also destroy the native vegetation by feeding on the bark, fruits, and flowers of native Hawaiian trees and shrubs. Thus, they also compete with native birds for food.
A simple and effective way to control the rat population in the forest is to set humane Goodnature traps, according to the DLNR.
“KFBRP successfully tested these traps at our study site last spring,” said KFBRP Project Coordinator Lisa Crampton. “With 37 traps donated by the American Bird Conservancy, we eradicated over 100 rats in three months with minimal human effort, but we need many more to make a real impact on the birds. Unfortunately, given cuts in federal support for endangered species conservation, we are lacking the funds to purchase more traps.”
The goal, through crowdfunding, is to amplify KFBRP’s ability to protect native birds by controlling the rat population in the Alakai Plateau on Kauai with the purchase and installation of an additional 25 Goodnature rat traps.
“With support from many individual donors, we can realize our objective of protecting our forest birds, and help reverse their declines,” said Crampton.
To access the campain, click here.