David J. Flaspohler, an avian ecologist and conservation
biologist at Michigan Technological University, writes from
Hawaii, where he is studying the influence of human activities
on birds and the natural ecosystems that support them. Tuesday,
May 22 One of the great pleasures of learning bird songs comes
in the drowsy predawn twilight. Through the window comes the
voice of the first bold male offering up his species’ diagnostic
song. From my bed in a friend’s cabin 30 miles north of Hilo
this morning, the first sound to break the silence is the
emphatic, repeated “whit-cheer!” of the northern cardinal, a
bird I grew up hearing in southern Michigan. Next comes the soft
cooing of Asian spotted and zebra doves, followed by the
occasional harsh notes of the common myna, an import from India.
Finally, I hear the slurred warbles of the Japanese white-eye.
Later, with a cup of coffee, looking out over the pasture and
woodlots spreading down to the sea, I hear and see a rich and
complex ecosystem, almost none of whi