List of birds of Hawaii
These birds are adapted to an aquatic existence with webbed feet, bills which are flattened to a greater or lesser extent, and feathers that are excellent at shedding water due to special oils.
Order: Pterocliformes Family: Pteroclidae Sandgrouse have small, pigeon-like heads and necks, but sturdy compact bodies.
Order: Caprimulgiformes Family: Apodidae The swifts are small birds which spend the majority of their lives flying.
The most typical family members occupy dense vegetation in damp environments near lakes, swamps, or rivers.
They are small to medium-sized birds with compact bodies, short thick necks, and long, usually pointed, wings.
Different lengths of legs and bills enable multiple species to feed in the same habitat, particularly on the coast, without direct competition for food.
Order: Charadriiformes Family: Stercorariidae Skuas and jaegers are in general medium to large birds, typically with gray or brown plumage, often with white markings on the wings.
Terns are a group of generally medium to large seabirds typically with grey or white plumage, often with black markings on the head.
Order: Phaethontiformes Family: Phaethontidae Tropicbirds are slender white birds of tropical oceans with exceptionally long central tail feathers.
Order: Gaviiformes Family: Gaviidae Loons are aquatic birds, the size of a large duck, to which they are unrelated.
Order: Procellariiformes Family: Oceanitidae The storm-petrels are the smallest seabirds, relatives of the petrels, feeding on planktonic crustaceans and small fish picked from the surface, typically while hovering.
Order: Procellariiformes Family: Procellariidae The procellariids are the main group of medium-sized "true petrels", characterized by united nostrils with medium septum and a long outer functional primary.
Order: Suliformes Family: Phalacrocoracidae Cormorants are medium-to-large aquatic birds, usually with mainly dark plumage and areas of colored skin on the face.
Members of Ardeidae fly with their necks retracted, unlike other long-necked birds such as storks, ibises, and spoonbills.
Order: Strigiformes Family: Strigidae Typical owls are small to large solitary nocturnal birds of prey.
Order: Coraciiformes Family: Cerylidae Kingfishers are medium-sized birds with large heads, long pointed bills, short legs, and stubby tails.
Old World parrots are found from Africa east across south and southeast Asia and Oceania to Australia and New Zealand.
Many of the approximately 140 species making up the family were previously assigned to other groups, largely on the basis of general morphology or behavior.
With the new insights generated by the DNA-DNA hybridisation studies of Sibley and his co-workers toward the end of the 20th century, however, it became clear that these apparently unrelated birds were all descended from a common ancestor.
Order: Passeriformes Family: Alaudidae Larks are small terrestrial birds with often extravagant songs and display flights.
They have a slender streamlined body, long pointed wings, and a short bill with a wide gape.
Order: Passeriformes Family: Zosteropidae The white-eyes are small passerine birds native to tropical and sub-tropical Africa, southern Asia and Australasia.
The birds of this group are mostly of undistinguished appearance, their plumage above being generally some dull color like greenish-olive, but some species have a white or bright yellow throat, breast or lower parts, and several have buff flanks.
But as indicated by their scientific name, derived from the Ancient Greek for girdle-eye, there is a conspicuous ring around the eyes of many species.
They have a highly developed brush-tipped tongue, which is frayed and fringed with bristles which soak up liquids readily.
The tongue is flicked rapidly and repeatedly into a flower, the upper mandible then compressing any liquid out when the bill is closed.
Order: Passeriformes Family: Sturnidae Starlings are small to medium-sized Old World passerine birds with strong feet.
Order: Passeriformes Family: Turdidae The thrushes are a group of passerine birds that occur mainly but not exclusively in the Old World.
Order: Passeriformes Family: Icteridae The icterids are a group of small- to medium-sized, often colorful passerine birds.
Order: Passeriformes Family: Thraupidae The tanagers are a large group of small to medium-sized passerine birds restricted to the New World, mainly in the tropics.
