When the Hawaii Island Festival of Birds launched in September 2016, the American Birding Association did not recognize the Aloha State in its territory -- the Islands were literally off the map for the region's largest birding organization.
Just a few months after the inaugural bird festival, the ABA overwhelmingly voted to bring Hawaii under its umbrella, adding the Islands' roster of both endemic and introduced birds to the birder checklist.
"Hawaii was this weird outlier, a misfit not included in any of the lists for the Americas or Oceania or anywhere else," said Rob Pacheco, co-founder of the festival. "So when the ABA recognized Hawaii in its territory, for the people who are serious birders and keep track of the lists of what they've seen, it put us on the map."
There are now more than 50 birds on the ABA list that can only be checked off by visiting Hawaii, and a handful that are much easier to find on the Islands than elsewhere, Pacheco said.
A Hawaii highlight for avid birders is the honeycreeper group found only on the Islands, each with its own adaptations. One is the Akiapolaau, with a distinctive "Swiss army knife" of beaks: a straight lower part used for pecking holes in bark, and a long, curved upper bill that probes for and extracts insects.
Now entering its fourth year, the festival is a fast-growing five-day event dedicated to avian appreciators and protecting Hawaii's natural resources. The 2019 festival theme is "Wanderers and Migrants: Hawaii's Unique Avian Visitors," and the events include an opening night film festival, Friday evening craft beer and wine tasting event, several curated hikes and excursions, a Saturday fair with bird-inspired arts and crafts, a closing barbecue celebration on Sunday, kids' activities and special presentations.
One special guest this year is Jason Ward, host of the YouTube video series "Birds of North America." The episodes range from a how-to on using binoculars to a visit with a feminist bird club and a birding outing with author Jonathan Frantzen.
"We're excited to have Jason; he's got a popular show and is a young guy from the Bronx. He's not your typical birder and he changes the perception of who bird-watchers are," Pacheco said.
One advantage of Hawaii Island is that the water off the western coast gets deep relatively fast when traveling away from shore, and the festival has incorporated open-sea (pelagic) boat tours to observe the birds that frequent those areas.
"We moved the festival back on the calendar this year to take advantage of both the forest birding and pelagic ocean birding overlap in seasons," Pacheco said.
The festival runs Oct. 24 to 28, with most of the activities concentrated Friday through Sunday. Full festival passes ($600), partial passes ($300) and individual event tickets are all available.
"It's a great place to learn more if you're curious about birds, or didn't think of yourself as a bird-watcher," Pacheco said. "There's a lot going on other than bird-watching on its own, and bird-watching is great for your emotional, mental and spiritual health. Birding is a gateway for people to get outside, be active and be social."
The festival helps support the Hawaii Island Coast to Coast Birding Trail and the Hawaii Wildlife Center, and Pacheco hopes the event can expand its influence moving forward.
"In the future I'd love to see this become a multi-week thing where we move across the state and visit Kauai, Oahu and Maui," Pacheco said. "I'd love to see the day where we have a birding event with an auction and we raise as much money to protect birds as the Humane Society does for cats. Some of our most endangered birds on the planet live here."