Complete field guide to every bird species recorded in Hawaii. Browse by name, filter by taxonomic family or order, and tap any species for photos, range maps, songs, and identification tips.
All sighting data is sourced from eBird, the world's largest citizen science database for birds. Use this guide to discover what birds live in Hawaii, learn their calls, and plan birding trips to the best hotspots in the region.
Hawaiʻi is the most bittersweet birding destination in the United States. The honeycreepers radiated here into dozens of forms — curved bills, parrot bills, warbler bills — and most of them are already gone. The survivors have been pushed uphill into cold, mosquito-free forest above roughly 4,000 feet, which means the marquee birds are hard to reach on purpose: high elevation, rough roads, permits, or a guide.
What is easy here is superb in its own right. Kauaʻi and Oʻahu have accessible albatross colonies, tropicbirds and boobies nest on roadside cliffs, and the endemic waterbirds — Nēnē, Aeʻo, ʻAlae keʻokeʻo — sit on refuges you can drive to. Below about 2,000 feet the birding is essentially an introduced-species tour: countable, colorful, and worth an afternoon, but not the reason you flew.
What birds are common in Hawaii?
The birds you are most likely to run into in Hawaii right now are Red-footed Booby, Wedge-tailed Shearwater, and Great Frigatebird. Birders reported 98 species across Hawaii on eBird during August 22–28, 2026 — the 18below are the ones that turned up on the most of those days, which is as close to “common” as sightings data gets.
The best remaining native forest on the Big Island, and the realistic place to see ʻAkiapōlāʻau, Hawaiʻi ʻĀkepa, ʻAlawī, and abundant ʻIʻiwi. The refuge is closed to self-guided visits because of Rapid ʻŌhiʻa Death — access is only through permitted guides, so book well ahead of your trip.
Hawaiʻi Volcanoes National Park
The easiest native forest birding in the state. Kīpukapuaulu and the Mauna Loa Road hold ʻApapane, Hawaiʻi ʻAmakihi, ʻŌmaʻo, and ʻIʻiwi higher up, with Nēnē grazing the roadsides and Kalij Pheasants crossing the trails.
Puʻu Laʻau, Mauna Kea
Dry māmane woodland on the western slope is the only home of the Palila, one of the most endangered birds in the country. It takes a high-clearance vehicle and a patient morning, and misses are common — go with realistic expectations.
Kōkeʻe State Park & the Alakaʻi
Kauaʻi's high plateau: the Pihea and Alakaʻi Swamp trails reliably produce Kauaʻi ʻAmakihi, ʻAnianiau, Kauaʻi ʻElepaio, and ʻApapane. Be honest about the rest — ʻAkekeʻe and Puaiohi cling on in country visitors cannot reach, and the ʻAkikiki no longer survives in the wild.
Kīlauea Point National Wildlife Refuge
World-class seabirding from a paved overlook on Kauaʻi's north shore: nesting Laysan Albatrosses from November into July, a Red-footed Booby colony, Red-tailed and White-tailed Tropicbirds, Wedge-tailed Shearwaters, and Nēnē on the lawn.
Hosmer Grove, Haleakalā National Park
Maui's accessible forest birding, right at the campground: Maui ʻAlauahio, ʻIʻiwi, ʻApapane, and Hawaiʻi ʻAmakihi in the ʻōhiʻa at dawn. The Kiwikiu survives in closed watershed forest and is not a bird visitors can go look for.
Kealia Pond National Wildlife Refuge
A boardwalk over Maui's south-shore wetland with Aeʻo (Hawaiian Stilt), ʻAlae keʻokeʻo (Hawaiian Coot), wintering Kōlea, and a steady trickle of North American shorebird strays.
All 359 bird species recorded in Hawaii
Every species on this list has been recorded in Hawaii on eBird. Tap any bird for photos, range maps, songs, and identification tips.
Birdr turns this list into a field companion: live eBird sightings around you, a life list you can log from the trail, songs and photos offline, and a nudge when something unusual is reported nearby.
How this is measured: eBird publishes, for each day, every species reported anywhere in Hawaii. We count how many of the 7 days sampled (August 22–28, 2026) each species appears on and rank by that count — nothing here is estimated or modelled. Species tied on days are ordered by the total number of individuals in those records. Rarities work the other way round: rare bird alerts tell you when a bird that is not common shows up near you.
Kaʻena Point Natural Area Reserve
A flat two-and-a-half-mile walk to Oʻahu's predator-fenced seabird colony, where Laysan Albatrosses court and raise chicks from December into June alongside burrow-nesting Wedge-tailed Shearwaters.
James Campbell National Wildlife Refuge
Oʻahu's north-shore wetlands, open by guided tour during the posted season, with Koloa maoli, ʻAlae ʻula (Hawaiian Gallinule), stilts, and coots at close range.
The Oʻahu exotics circuit
Honolulu's parks and valley trails deliver Java Sparrow, White-rumped Shama, Red-vented and Red-whiskered Bulbuls, Rose-ringed Parakeet, and a scatter of waxbills and munias — an established, countable list you can knock out in a morning.
Hawaiʻi birding by season
Spring (March–May) — Albatross chicks and ʻōhiʻa bloom
Laysan Albatross chicks are large and obvious at Kīlauea Point and Kaʻena through May, ʻōhiʻa flowering pulls honeycreepers into view at Hakalau and Hosmer Grove, and the last wintering Kōlea molt into breeding plumage before leaving.
Summer (June–August) — Seabird season
Wedge-tailed Shearwaters, tropicbirds, noddies, and terns are all on eggs or chicks, and evening shearwater flights off the north shores are spectacular. Forest birds are quieter but still findable at elevation, where the weather is at its most dependable.
Fall (September–November) — Kōlea return, strays arrive
Pacific Golden-Plovers are back on lawns and pastures statewide by late August, migrant shorebirds and the occasional North American vagrant pile into Kealia and Kanahā Ponds, and the first Laysan Albatrosses come ashore on Kauaʻi in November.
Winter (December–February) — Best all-round time for the accessible birds
Albatross courtship is in full swing on Kauaʻi and Oʻahu, waterbirds concentrate on the refuges, and humpbacks fill the channels. Uplands can be wet and socked in, so keep the forest days flexible.