HAWAIIAN WORD OF THE DAY - Nene: Hawaiian Goose
HAWAIIAN PROVERB OF THE DAY - “Do not catch it, for it is a bird reserved.”
  Adopt a Nene with Friends  of Haleakala National Park
  FULL MOON - Wednesday September 26th, 9:46am

The Hawaiian Goose or Nene, Branta sandvicensis, is a species of goose endemic to the Hawaiian Islands. The Nene is the world’s rarest goose and gets its Hawaiian name from its soft call.

The official bird of the State of Hawaiii, the Nene is exclusively found in the wild of the islands of Maui, Kauai and Hawaii. A larger, extinct and possibly flightless species, the Nene-nui (Branta hylobadistes) was present in prehistoric times on Maui. Nene shares a recent common ancestor with Branta canadensis, the Canadian Goose.

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 colors 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 coloring 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.

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). However, there is some concern of inbreeding due to the small population of birds. The nature reserve WWT Slimbridge in England was instrumental in the successful breeding of Nene geese in captivity, under the direction of the leading conservationist Sir Peter Scott, during the 1950s, for later re-introduction into the wild in Hawaii. There are still Nene geese at Slimbridge today.

• The Nene is an endemic bird on the Federal and state of Hawaii Lists of Endangered Species. 
• There are less than 1800 Nene in the wild throughout Hawaii.
• Nene were once extinct from Maui
• Nene were re-introduced in to Maui in the 1960s.
• The total Nene population in the Park is estimated to be about 300, and West Maui supports perhaps 200 more.