Kona Pelagic Birding Adventure

The Hawaii Bird Tours Kona Pelagic Birding Adventure is one of the only dedicated offshore pelagic birding trips in the Hawaiian Islands, departing from Honokōhau Harbor on the sheltered leeward (Kona) coast of the Big Island into some of the most oceanographically unusual and biologically rich seabird waters in the central Pacific Ocean. The trip is led by Mandy Talpas, who has spent years pioneering pelagic birding in Hawaiian waters and who works alongside a licensed local captain with an intimate knowledge of the offshore environment west of the Big Island. Talpas is a recognised authority on Hawaiian seabirds, leading tours for major birding companies including WINGS and Rockjumper in addition to running these dedicated offshore excursions under the Hawaii Bird Tours banner.

The Kona coast offers a remarkable natural advantage that sets it apart from any other pelagic birding venue in the main Hawaiian Islands. Between Keāhole Point in the north and Kailua-Kona town in the south, the continental shelf narrows dramatically — the seabed plunges from the beach to several hundred metres depth within one to two miles of shore, reaching abyssal oceanic depths by three to four miles. This means that genuinely deep-water, open-ocean seabirds are accessible almost immediately after leaving the harbour, without the long transit that limits pelagic birding elsewhere. The Big Island's volcanic mass also creates a pronounced wind shadow on its western flank: while the Puna and Hilo coasts face rough trade-wind swells from the northeast, the Kona coast sits in the lee and enjoys consistently calm conditions that allow the boat to push 25 miles or more offshore into the deep blue water where the most sought-after Pterodroma petrels feed and disperse. These trips are rarely cancelled for weather, an unusual characteristic among pelagic birding operations.

The offshore waters west of the Big Island host an extraordinary diversity of tubenoses — the order of seabirds encompassing petrels, shearwaters, storm-petrels, and albatrosses — with over twenty species recorded at the eBird hotspot associated with these trips. The undisputed headliner is the Hawaiian Petrel (ʻUaʻu), a large, black-and-white Pterodroma that breeds in high-elevation burrow colonies on Haleakalā and the volcanoes of the Big Island and forages offshore during the breeding season from March to October. The species is listed as Vulnerable under the IUCN Red List, having been severely depleted by introduced predators, and these offshore trips provide one of the most consistent opportunities anywhere to watch Hawaiian Petrels in their natural oceanic habitat, tracking effortlessly over the swells on long, angled wings. Other Pterodroma petrels occurring on these trips include the Juan Fernández Petrel — a slender, striking black-and-white species breeding on Alejandro Selkirk Island in the South Pacific that disperses into the central Pacific in large numbers during the austral winter — along with Black-winged Petrel, White-necked Petrel, Mottled Petrel, and Cook's Petrel, all of which breed in the New Zealand region and undertake transequatorial migrations into the North Pacific.

Bulwer's Petrel is a small, all-dark tubenose that breeds in the Hawaiian Islands and on islands throughout the tropical Pacific and Atlantic; it appears regularly on Kona pelagics, its long tail and buoyant flight distinguishing it immediately from the larger shearwaters and storm-petrels it accompanies. The Band-rumped Storm-Petrel — whose Hawaiian breeding population was formerly treated as a distinct species, "Hawaiian Storm-Petrel," and remains a taxonomic focus of ongoing research — is one of the primary storm-petrel targets. The Wedge-tailed Shearwater is the most abundant and familiar large shearwater in Hawaiian waters, breeding colonially on offshore islets and headlands throughout the main islands; its pale morph is characteristic of tropical Pacific waters and immediately signals the exotic character of these offshore Hawaiian birds compared with the dark Atlantic shearwaters of European pelagics. Christmas Shearwater, a small all-dark shearwater breeding in the northwestern and central Pacific islands, occurs regularly and is most reliably found on these Kona offshore trips. Sooty Shearwater migrates through in large numbers during the boreal autumn.

The two Hawaiian tropicbirds — the White-tailed and Red-tailed — are regularly seen on Kona pelagics, often close to the boat as they inspect the vessel or ride updrafts above the swells. Both Laysan and Black-footed Albatrosses occur, most commonly in winter and early spring when they are dispersing between breeding colonies in the northwestern Hawaiian Islands and offshore feeding areas. The Great Frigatebird — an unmistakeable aerial pirate with a wingspan over two metres — is a regular sighting. All three booby species commonly encountered in Hawaiian waters appear: the Red-footed Booby in both white and brown morphs, the Brown Booby, and the Masked Booby. The noddy species — Brown Noddy and the smaller, elegantly marked Black Noddy — are characteristic tropical Pacific seabirds recorded on virtually every trip. Sooty Tern, breeding in enormous colonies on offshore islets, is abundant over offshore waters throughout the summer.

The skua and jaeger contingent rounds out the trip list with South Polar Skua — the powerful, dark predatory skua breeding in Antarctica and dispersing into the North Pacific — along with Pomarine and Parasitic Jaegers, which pass through Hawaiian waters on migration. The concentration of feeding seabirds also brings cetacean encounters: Spinner Dolphins, Humpback Whales (winter and spring), and Sperm Whales are frequently reported alongside the boat.

Participants meet at the Harbor House restaurant parking lot at the Honokōhau Small Boat Harbor, between Kona International Airport and Kailua-Kona town. The boat ventures up to 25 miles offshore under normal Kona conditions. Snacks, water, and seasickness prevention provisions are included; the leeward conditions make this one of the more accessible pelagic birding experiences for those concerned about rough seas.