POSTED: 01:30 a.m. HST, Apr 18, 2011 While hiking with friends
at Kaena Point last week, I heard, in the cliffs above, goats
fighting. Or donkeys in distress. Or mongooses mating. Or cats
in heat. I knew it was none of those, though, because I've had
similar racket blasted directly into my ears from just inches
away. The creatures making those god-awful sounds are among the
world's most elegant marine animals: tropicbirds. Tropicbirds
are aptly named because they breed and fish almost exclusively
in the tropics and subtropics. Two species nest in Hawaii, the
white-tailed and red-tailed. The third, the red-billed tropic
bird, nests on islands in the Sea of Cortez (Gulf of California)
and in the Galapagos Islands, and is a rare visitor to Hawaii.
White-tailed tropicbirds nest in holes on cliff faces, and it is
this species we hear calling above Kaena Point (and other
places). The birds call constantly when flying near their nest
sites, perhaps saying, "Honey, I'm home!" to their chick or egg-
brooding mate. When