Calling Bird Watchers

Community Contributed

By Arleone Dibben-Young

Have you seen this one-legged kolea?

A juvenile female kolea (Pacific Golden-Plover, Pluvialis fulva) arrived in October on the beach at Kanoa Pond in Kawela. Within two months, the bird had lost its left leg due to an impact injury. The bird was captured, banded, and released to document the natural leg amputation and determine the extent of its winter territory so that observations can be made recording its return in the fall upon migrating from its breeding grounds in Alaska. This bird has been observed in the late afternoon three-quarters of a mile to the north at the top of Kawela Plantation Unit II, most likely near its rooting area on a rooftop. Have you seen this bird? It is banded with a green band over a metal band on the right leg. Please report sightings to Arleone at 553-5992 or researchbirds@yahoo.com.