Sick endangered pueo found on Kauai’s North Shore dies, reporting urged

A sick, grounded pueo found on Kauaʻi’s North Shore died, underscoring how quickly an endangered native bird can be lost if it is not reported and picked up right away. Kauaʻi County says anyone who spots a downed seabird should immediately contact Save Our Shearwaters for pickup at (808) 635-5117.

The pueo is Hawaiʻi’s Hawaiian short-eared owl, an endemic subspecies found in the Hawaiian Islands and active during the day. It is a native raptor with an important ecological role because it helps control introduced rodents and other prey species. On Kauaʻi, state wildlife officials say pueo mortality has been linked to sick owl syndrome, a condition that may be related to pesticide poisoning or food shortages.

The species is also vulnerable on the ground. Pueo nest on the ground, which leaves eggs and young exposed to predators such as rats, cats and mongooses. That makes fast reporting critical when a bird is seen grounded, weak or acting abnormally. The sooner Save Our Shearwaters can get to it, the better the chance it has of reaching care instead of dying in place.

A Hawaiʻi Department of Land and Natural Resources fact sheet points to several major threats seen in earlier monitoring. From 1992 to 1994, a program on Kauaʻi and Hawaiʻi Island found that vehicular collisions caused 50% of the owl deaths examined, followed by infectious disease at 28% and starvation at 22%. The same fact sheet said no evidence was found that pesticides contributed to those deaths in that study.

Save Our Shearwaters, which was initiated by the Hawaiʻi Department of Land and Natural Resources and the Division of Forestry and Wildlife in 1979, handles injured, sick and orphaned native birds on Kauaʻi. The rehabilitation facility operates seven days a week, 365 days a year, and county guidance says that is the number to call immediately when a downed bird is discovered. On an island where a grounded owl can go from rescue to death in hours, that quick call can make the difference.