UH GK-12 Erin Baumgartner's Home Page

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I am a graduate student in the Department of Zoology and the Ecology, Evolution and Conservation Biology Program. My interests include avian ecology, behavior, and conservation. Hawaii is one of the world's great places to study birds. All of our native forest birds are unique in the world and many are unique to just one island! Unfortunately, many of Hawaii's native forest birds are also threatened by habitat loss and introduced diseases

Most visitors to the Hawaiian Islands and even most kamaaina or local residents never get a chance to see native forest birds. Lowland forests have been replaced with exotic vegetation and the introduced mosquito carries a disease that is deadly to most native birds. This means that surviving birds are found only in high elevation rainforests on the islands of Kauai, Maui and Hawaii.

Wendy Kuntz and Eldridge Naboa raising mist nets to capture forest birds at Hakalau Forest National Wildlife Refuge. Photo by UH Relations.

'I'iwi in an o'hi'a tree. Photo by Jack Jeffery.

My dissertation research focuses on the breeding biology, foraging ecology and movement patterns of ´I´iwi. Little is known about how often individuals will nest during a breeding season, or if all individuals are able to breed. ´I´iwi are nectarivorous, which means they use the nectar produced by flowers for food. Today the most common flower used by ´I´iwi is the blossom of the ´ohi´a tree. ´Ohi´a flowering varies throughout the year and so we don’t know how the patterns of flowering might affect ´I´iwi foraging and movement both during the breeding and non-breeding season. Previous researchers have reported that during the fall months large numbers of ´I´iwi can be seen flying overhead. One question I am interested in is if these moving ´I´iwi are in search of more nectar resources and if so, do all birds in the population move or only certain ages and sexes.