Red-vented bulbul can alter ecosystems bulbuls caused an estimated Kia‘i Moku $300,000 worth of damage By Lissa Fox to Oahu’s orchid industry. A red-vented bulbul is just rankie’s over 8 inches long with a black Fn u r s e r y crest on its head, resembling in Waimana- the common introduced cardi- lo, Oahu, nal both in size and shape. Both sells exotic male and female are similar in fruit trees plumage, black on their backs from all over down to their white-tipped tail. the world: Their undersides are slightly Abiu from lighter in color, and they the Amazon, which tastes have a tell-tale patch of red like caramel and honeydew; feathers just under their tail, acerola from the Yucatan that hence the name red-vented. is touted as the fruit with the Like humans, red-vented Above: A red-vented bulbul, shown on Oahu, has been described as “one of the world’s worst invasive species.” The bird destroys and alters habitats. In highest amount of vitamin C; bulbuls have an appetite for even black sapote, a relative of the Hawaiian Islands, the bird is currently found only on Oahu. Photo by Kim tropical fruits-a fact any Oahu Bridges the persimmon from Mexico, resident with papayas, bananas, which tastes like chocolate. Un- in areas where bulbuls and in Makawao, near the Hana lychee, or mangos in their mynah birds are established. airport, on Lanai and Molokai. fortunately, Frankie’s suffers yard can attest to. They crave from a frequent and unpaying Native to an area from Paki- Next time you visit Oahu, the fruit of invasive plants as stan, south to Sri Lanka, and take a minute to familiar- patron: The red-vented bulbul, well, dispersing seeds as they or Pycnonotus cafer. Lynn into southwestern China, red- ize yourself with what the feed. Throughout the Pacific vented bulbuls were commonly red-vented bulbul looks and Tsuruda knows the exotic bird the spread of the red-vented too well. “It (the red-vented kept as pets and as fighting sounds like. You won’t have bulbul parallels exploding birds during the 19thcentury. any problem finding them. bulbul) shows up in big groups, populations of invasive plants. covers all the fruit, eating it just Most naturalized populations When you return home, keep On Fiji, bulbuls spread seeds result from the movement and your eyes and ears open for as it’s beginning to mature,” of lantana (Lantana camera), explains Tsuruda. “You can’t subsequent release of caged this bully of a bird. As Lynn prickly solanum (Solanum birds, but red-vented bulbuls Tsuruda of Frankie’s nursery do much to stop them.” The torvum) and cape gooseberry red-vented bulbul is one of the have been known to nest in warns, “You don’t want to get (Physalis angulata). Bulbuls curious places: The motor of a it!” Early detection is essential world’s worst invasive species; also snack on high priority it’s well-known on Oahu but ceiling fan and the end of a cur- as even small populations pres- pests targeted by the invasive tain rod, for example. So it’s not ent challenges; a flock of 50 has not become established on species committees: in Tahiti, any other Hawaiian island - yet. surprising that the red-vented birds released in New Zealand bulbuls spread miconia (Mico- bulbul is suspected to have ar- took five years to remove. Illegally released from nia calvescens), and on Oahu, captivity in the mid-1950s, the rived in the Marshall Islands as Report any sightings of red- ivy gourd (Coccinia grandis). a stowaway in a shipping con- vented bulbuls immediately population of red-vented bul- Alien bulbul populations buls has exploded, becoming tainer. Now, red-vented bulbuls to the Maui Invasive Species impact insects and native birds. are found in Samoa, Tahiti, Committee at 573-6472 one of the most common birds The increase in red-vented on Oahu. They nest throughout Fiji, Tonga, New Caledonia, or the Department of For- bubuls on Oahu coincides with Washington State and Oahu, estry and Wildlife at 873-3502. the year, producing up to three a color morph in the population broods of two to four eggs per but nowhere else in Hawaii. of monarch butterflies, from The red-vented bulbul could ■ Lissa Fox is the public year. As aggressive as they are orange to white, as bulbuls relations and education gregarious, they travel in large wreak havoc on Maui, spread- feed more prevalently on the ing miconia and ivy gourd specialist for the Maui Invasive flocks, bullying other birds that Species Committee. “Kia‘i orange butterflies. In Tahiti, seeds and plaguing commercial compete for the fruit, insects, bulbuls threaten to derail ef- Moku,”(Guarding the Island) is and the occasional gecko that and backyard fruit growers, prepared by the Maui Invasive forts to rebuild the population and there is a chance they are Species Committee to provide make up their diet. The vora- of the Tahitian flycatcher, an cious flocks of red-vented bul- here. A young bulbul smuggled information on protecting the endangered bird, as fewer into Maui was captured in island from invasive plants buls plague orchid growers as fledglings survive to adulthood and animals that can threaten well. In 1989, orchid-munching Kahului, and there have been reports of red-vented bulbuls the island’s environment, As published in the Maui News. January 9 th, 2011. Page C6 economy and quality of life.