We were on the mainland during the week of April 22-28, which is the period when most of Hawaii’s Kolea, or Pacific Golden Plover, make their spring migration back to their summer nesting grounds in Alaska. When we left, the birds were very much in evidence, all sporting fine spring plumage. When we returned and went out for our early morning walk on Monday, April 29, we saw only a couple of stragglers that were still here.

I spotted this handsome fellow on Tuesday, April 30. He apparently missed taking off with the rest of the plover in the area. But this sighting was the last we saw of him.

It got me interested in reading more about these amazing birds.

Scientists have been studying the plovers’ migration patterns for at least a decade using miniaturized tracking devices.

A study published in 2011 reported on the successful tracking of plover making the annual round trip between Hawaii and Alaska. Interesting stuff. The group of scientists included three from Brigham Young University in Hawaii. Here’s the abstract of the article:

This study is the first in which light level geolocators (data loggers) were deployed on Pacific Golden-Plovers Pluvialis fulva. In spring 2009 and 2010, we logger-equipped a total of 24 plovers at wintering grounds on Oahu, Hawaii; 22 returned in the subsequent fall migrations, and of these 20 were recaptured. Almost all of the recovered geolocators had archived the full roundtrip to Alaska including nesting locations. Transpacific flights were nonstop along direct north–south pathways. On average, the northward passage required approximately 3 days and covered about 4,800 km; the southward around 4 days and 4,900 km. Ground speeds fluctuated widely during flights (almost certainly because of variable winds); mean ground speeds were estimated at 63 kph in spring, 58 kph in fall. The capacity of this plover for nonstop flight remains unknown; however our results indicate that it exceeds 5 days. All 20 birds nested in southerly parts of the Alaska breeding range, from the Yukon–Kuskokwim Delta to nearly the tip of the Alaska Peninsula, indicating major migratory connectivity between Hawaii and those regions. Geolocator archives during the time birds were on breeding grounds showed periods of successive days with erratic light level patterns (“noise”). Such noise seemed a clear indicator of nesting activities, and also of hatching success or failure.

This year, the Pukorokoro Miranda Shorebird Centre near Auckland, New Zealand, succeeded in placing tiny satellite tracking devices on three plover, and they are now tracking the migration of the three birds, dubbed Amanda, Jojo and Jim.

Here’s their latest report:

All three of the Kuriri – or Pacific Golden Plovers – we fitted with satellite tags have been successfully tracked across the Pacific and are now well on their way to their breeding grounds in the Arctic.

Amanda and JoJo are both now resting and refuelling in Japan after their record-breaking flights of almost 10,000km from P?korokoro Miranda to Japan’s main island of Honshu. Jim, who left a couple of weeks later, has just landed on the island of Guam, in Micronesia, after flying some 7,500km.

Amanda touched down not far from Tokyo on 16 April after an eight-day non-stop flight. JoJo, reached Japan on the 20th after flying at least 9,990km, which is the longest recorded flight for a PGP. Jim finally left on 23 April and seems to have reached Guam on 2 May. It is likely that Amanda and JoJo will stay in Japan for around three weeks, resting and refuelling, before heading for their nesting grounds which are probably be in Alaska. Jim, however, looks to be from Siberia so he will probably continue to follow a different timetable.

You can follow them on Facebook, and can also track them live via Google Earth, which is very cool.

You can watch with us as we follow the Pacific Golden Plovers on their journey up to the arctic to breed and back to us in summer. Download Google Earth and use the interactive maps to see exactly where the Kuriri are.

Keep up with the latest at “Where’s Goldie?”