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Manu Minute
Wednesdays
Hosted by Patrick Hart

Need a break in your day? Whether you're in your car or still in bed, Manu Minute brings you rich sounds from Hawai'i's native forests and shorelines. Each week, we feature a different Hawaiʻi bird and its unique song, and talk about its environment and conservation.

Trying to identify a bird? Call us on The Conversation's talkback line at 808-792-8217 with your name, your location and your email.

Manu Minute is a collaboration between HPR and the LOHE Bioacoustics Lab at the University of Hawaiʻi at Hilo. The series is hosted by Patrick Hart, the lab's principal investigator, and produced by HPR's Savannah Harriman-Pote and UH Hilo's Ann Tanimoto-Johnson.

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  • Image 1: A male Indian peafowl, also known as a peacock.
    Manu Minute: How did the peacock get its tail?
    In spite of their lavish appearance, Indian peafowl are actually quite common. Native to India and Sri Lanka, these birds have been introduced throughout the world. We have their song for you, thanks to the Macaulay Library at the Cornell Laboratory of Ornithology.
  • ΄Ua΄u kani, also known as wedge-tailed shearwaters, are mainly dark brown-grey with light-colored white underparts. As their name describes, they have wedge-shaped tails. Their bills are long, slender, and slightly hooked. Their wingspan is over 3 feet.
    Manu Minute: The moaning wedge-tailed shearwater
    The moaning wedge-tailed shearwater is the star of Manu Minute today, thanks to recordings from the Macaulay Library at Cornell Laboratory of Ornithology.
  • Red-billed leiothrix are brightly colored birds with olive-green plumage on their heads, napes, and backs. Their throats are bright yellow-orange, and their wings are olive-brown with red, orange, and yellow striped patches. They have bright red bills with pinkish-yellow legs and feet, and forked tails.
    Manu Minute: The tricky red-billed leiothrix
    At just over 5 inches beak to tail, the red-billed leiothrix is small enough to sit comfortably in the palm of your hand. But don't underestimate them — their song packs a punch.
  • Hunakai, also known as Sanderlings, are small-medium sized shorebirds, between 7-8 inches long with wingspans of almost 14 inches. Due to their small size, they’re often referred to as one of the “peep” sized sandpipers.
    Manu Minute: Sanderlings in the sea foam
    There are a few more weeks to spot the visiting sanderlings, which come to Hawaiʻi every winter. We've got their song for you, thanks to the Macaulay Library at the Cornell Laboratory of Ornithology.
  • Palila are large for native honeycreepers, just a bit smaller than the regular red Northern cardinals you may see in your backyard. They have yellow heads with black lores, yellow breasts, and white-cream colored bellies. Males are more brightly colored yellow than females.
    Manu Minute: The pleasant palila
    The palila is the last finch-billed native honeycreeper. These rare birds have all but vanished from the Hawaiian Islands, with the exception of a few small patches of high elevation forest on the west side of Maunakea on Hawai'i Island.
  • California quails are about the size of a football with grey-blue plumage on their chests and backs and scaled bellies. Their most distinctive feature is their curled black head knots, made up of six plume feathers that droop forward.
    Manu Minute: The Cali valley quail
    This week, we've got a transplant from the Golden State. University of Hawai'i at Hilo professor Patrick Hart introduces us to the California quail.
  • Northern cardinals are approximately 9 inches long; males are a vivid red color, and have a red crest with black masks and chins, with sizeable red bills for eating seeds.
    Manu Minute: Manu ʻula ʻula, the red bird
    The Northern cardinal is the ruby in the crown of any backyard birder. We've got their song, thanks to the Macaulay Library at the Cornell Laboratory of Ornithology.
  • When in flight, ΄iwa, or great frigatebirds, have immediately recognizable silhouettes with long, pointed wings, hooked bills, and a forked tail. ΄Iwa have the largest wings for their body weight of any bird in the world, and recent studies using satellite transmitters have shown they can fly over two months without landing.
    Manu Minute: ΄Iwa, the man-of-war bird
    On this Manu Minute, we are dishing up a bird that is often seen but not heard. The ‘iwa, or great frigatebird, flies high above our heads, performing acrobatic feats midair. We’ve got the song of this storied seabird today, thanks to Macaulay Library at the Cornell Laboratory of Ornithology.
  • Common mynas are about nine inches long, chocolate brown with black heads yellow bills and legs, and bright yellow bare skin behind their eyes. They have little patches of white under their tails and on their wings.
    Manu Minute: The common myna
    Here’s a bird everyone will likely be familiar with — it’s the myna! Myna birds are everywhere. (Really, we wish we were kidding.) They’ve been declared one of the world’s worst invasive species. We’ve got their songs for you today, thanks to the Macaulay Library at the Cornell Laboratory of Ornithology.
  • Nēnē are the state birds of Hawaiʻi. The literal translation of the word Nēnē in ʻŌlelo Hawaii means “to chirp, as a cricket; to croak, or whimpering as a sleeping infant.”
    Manu Minute: The murmuring Nēnē
    Few native species in Hawaiʻi are as recognizable as the Nēnē. It's the rarest goose in the world — and a rare conservation success story.