The Mejiro, or Japanese White-Eye is a small yellow-green bird with white rings around its eyes (hence the name). It eats small insects and loves nectar. The Mejiro is frequently seen flitting around the branches of trees and bushes, hopping and jumping from branch to branch. More pictures and information on the Mejiro can be found from the Common Campus Birds website, the Honolulu Zoo, and Wikipedia.

The Nene, or Hawaiian Goose is the state bird of Hawaii, and through vigorous conservation efforts is now not quite extinct. It lives primarily on the slopes of the volcanoes (active and inactive) on the Hawaiian islands, but can also be found in other areas throughout the islands. They eat grasses and berries, and have a very interesting call (can be heard on the Honolulu Zoo site). For more pictures and information about the Nene, please see the Honolulu Zoo page, the National Zoo page, Wikipedia, and Bird Friends.

The Red Crested Cardinal originally comes from Brazil but is frequently seen all over the island of Oahu. Usually seen in pairs, these cheerfully colored birds have a nice song of four-five notes which they repeat over again. I also really like the way they scoot along when running on the ground - unlike other birds they neither hop nor bob/thrust when walking. More Red Crested Cardinal information and pictures can be found at the Common Campus Birds site, Common Birds of Honolulu site, and from Bird Friends.

The Shama, or White Rumped Shama is a wonderful and famous singer! Originally from China and Southeast Asia, local legend says they were kept as singers in Chinatown until fires in the area forced people to open the cages and release them into the wild. Now they are found mostly in the forests in the moutains, especially bamboo forests in the islands. They are beautiful to hear and see, but kind of rare - so keep your eyes and ears peeled! More pictures and information about the Shama can be found from the Honolulu Zoo, Common Campus Birds, Common Birds of Oahu, and Wikipedia.

The Java Sparrow is a colorful pipsqueak who lives in flocks and can often be seen pecking in the grass with his fellows. At night the flock comes together in one tree (of course there are many flocks and many trees) and they can be heard peeping and chirping from sunset until dark. Java Sparrow information and pictures can be found from Common Campus Birds, Common Birds of Oahu, Javafinch.co.uk, and Wikipedia.

Okay, so the Cuban Tody obviously doesn't live in Hawaii, but when I saw this picture of him on the internet (after seeing him on PBS's Nature one night) captioned "this particular bird has some dirt on its head" I thought it was too cute to miss! More information on the Cuban Tody can be found from the Guide to the Birds of the West Indies, Wikipedia, ArthurGrosset.com, and the Internet Bird Collection.