Birds Guide

Hawaiian Goose Conservation status: Vulnerable
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia   Phylum: Chordata   Class: Aves   Order: Anseriformes   Family: Anatidae   Genus: Branta   Species: B. sandvicensis
Binomial name
Branta sandvicensis (Vigors, 1833)

The Hawaiian Goose or Nēnē, Branta sandvicensis, is a species of goose endemic to the Hawaiian Islands. It shares a recent common ancestor with Branta canadensis, the Canada Goose. The official bird of the State of Hawaiʻi, the Nēnē is exclusively found in the wild of the islands of Mauʻi, Kauaʻi and Hawaiʻi. A larger, extinct and possibly flightless species, the Nēnē-nui (Branta hylobadistes) was present in prehistoric times on Maui; related, but hitherto undescribed forms also occurred on Kauaʻi and Oʻahu, and there was a gigantic, flightless relative on the island of Hawaiʻi.

The Nēnē gets its Hawaiian name from its soft call.

The species has a black head, buff cheeks and heavily furrowed neck. Bill, legs and feet are black. The young birds are as the male but duller brown and with less demarcation between the colours of the head and neck, and striping and barring effects are much reduced. Bill, legs and feet as for the adult.

The female Hawaiian Goose is similar to the male in colouring but slightly smaller.

Its strong toes have much reduced webbing, an adaptation to the lava flows on which it breeds. It mates on land unlike most other wildfowl.

This is the world's rarest goose. Once common, hunting and introduced predators such as mongooses, pigs, and cats reduced the population to 30 birds by 1952. However, this species breeds well in captivity, and has been successfully re-introduced so in 2004 it was estimated that there were 500 birds in the wild (and good numbers in wildfowl collections).

The distinctive neck pattern

A group of Nēnē; the bird on the right shows the characteristic foot

A sign in Hawaiʻi warning of crossing Nēnē.

Two Nēnē at the Kīlauea Point National Wildlife Refuge.

References

• BirdLife International (2004). Branta sandvicensis. 2006 IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. IUCN 2006. Retrieved on 11 May 2006. Database entry includes justification for why this species is vulnerable