Birds
and Plants of Kauai:
Koa’e kea
by Linda Pascatore on 19 March 2006
I first saw the Koa’e kea or White-tailed Tropicbird from
the Kalalau lookout on Kauai. It was a breathtakingly beautiful
sight to see this beautiful, graceful bird soaring the air currents
near the cliff faces.
The Koa’e kea is a seabird related to boobies and frigatebirds.
It plunge dives 50 to 65 feet into the ocean to catch it’s
prey of fish and squid. This indigenous bird is 27 inches long,
with a wingspan of 37 inches. It is white with black eye patch,
black streak on upper wings, and black wing bars on the upperside.
Its long, thin tail is characteristic of both the Red-tailed (Koa’e
‘ula) and White-tailed (koa’e kea) Tropicbirds. 
soaring pair of Koa'e kea manuever on updraft
The birds can be found on all the main Hawaiian Islands, as well
as in the west North Atlantic, the Caribbean, the South Atlantic,
the Indian Ocean, and the tropical Pacific. In the Hawaiian islands,
the birds are present all year round. However, in all the other
locations, the birds are found on land only during the breeding
season, and otherwise are ocean birds rarely seen in sight of land.
Pairs of Tropicbirds engage in aerial acrobatics during breeding
season, and remain together for years. Breeding season is March
through October, and one egg is lain in a nest. The nest is built
by scraping out a depression in a cavity, ledge or cave on a steep
cliff face. Both parents take turns sitting on the egg and feeding
the baby bird. Nests are threatened by cats and rats, predators
which were introduced to the Hawaiian islands.
Tropic Bird chicks in an aerie in the Seychellis
Islands
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