Friends… and chickens
Posted on Apr 11th, 2010 by Allison (Travel, Whatever)

Brazilian CardinalIn my previous Hawaii post, I mentioned our “friends” – the sweet little Brazilian cardinals that graced our lanai – always in pairs. They simply delight us every visit to Kauai.

You’d think it would get old, but no – every time we see them we light up and call out “hello friends” and feed them crumbs of bread, even though we know it’s probably not a good idea.

We had a pair that visited us daily the whole 10 days were in there. On the 8th day, we were sitting on the couch and all of a sudden heard loud commotion coming from the deck. Our friends had brought more friends, and instead of one pair – there were 8 pairs! Yes, that is 16 cardinals (and a lone mourning dove) chattering on the railing, the table, the deck, the chairs. One pair was continually arguing like an old married couple. It was such fun.

Kristin left the sliding door open as we watched and continued to feed them, and one brave soul actually hopped up and ventured into the condo to partake of the crumbs you see on the carpet.

A cardinal commotion

And with as many cardinals as we saw on this trip, we saw even more chickens. We don’t call them friends…. no, instead, every time we see one we call out – in a loud and alarmed voice, CHICKEN!!!! It has become the natural response anytime one appears. I did it without thinking when there was a woman near us at the Hanalei Valley lookout. She laughed.

Chickens run amok in Kauai

Chickens, freed from their coops during the 1992 Hurricane Iniki, literally run amok on Kauai. They are at the beach, on the golf course, in parking lots, fields, along side the road. Unless you’ve been there it is difficult to imagine the magnitude of the chicken population, So Kristin and I decided to try and count them.

In a 2 mile stretch, we counted 99 chickens along the side of the road. And those were just the ones we could see – you know there are more lurking in the shrubbery. Why someone doesn’t round these guys up is beyond me. Any ideas how they should do it?

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Comments

Ashley Rae on April 11th, 2010 at 8:55 pm

CHICKENS!! lol… yes, there is an abundance of them running amok on the island. I made the mistake of feeding them when I went with you last year… remember? We couldn’t get them to leave after that. Haha!

And what cute little cardinals 🙂 It is adorable that they travel in pairs.

No ideas as to how to gather them up. At all. But they multiply way too fast.


Robert on April 11th, 2010 at 9:50 pm

Introduce chicken hawks to the islands…


craig on April 12th, 2010 at 6:58 am

Hod Sanders?…


Chris on April 12th, 2010 at 9:18 am

That chicken infestation sounds like it could be an issue….I’m surprised there aren’t more KFC-style eateries on the island? Maybe there are?

Those Cardinals are lovers, though…I want to hold one. Or two.


Jennifer Pearce on April 12th, 2010 at 9:32 am

Very cute little birds.

I think they should have chicken catching contests, and then donate the captives to a country who needs extra chickens. 🙂


irene on April 12th, 2010 at 10:11 am

good idea Jennifer :o) Oh I really like the little cardinals . They are so cute, I wish they lived around here. I would keep them well fed.


Robert on April 12th, 2010 at 10:45 am

Just out of curiousity, I did a google search of Chickens of Kauai, and a number of links came up. Only bothered to look at one, but this is an interesting discussion about the origins of the chicken problem. Apparently there were people who visited back in the 60s and they were a problem then too…

http://www.govisithawaii.com/2008/07/07/why-does-kauai-have-so-many-wild-chickens/


Michelle on April 12th, 2010 at 5:58 pm

Those cardinals are so beautiful, I took many pics of them last time Tim and I were driving around Oahu.

Chickens are just ridiculous birds, how can you take them seriously.


Allison on April 13th, 2010 at 12:04 am

Chickens ARE ridiculous birds.


Kristin on April 14th, 2010 at 9:11 pm

Oh, how I love the friends. They always make us smile. I want some to visit me at my house.

The chickens are indeed ridiculous. I did have a favorite chicken moment, however. It was with Ashley & J’Neil at the Spouting Horn last year. There was a chicken just sitting there on the ground in our path and it wouldn’t move even though we were getting closer and closer. It was in the way and we planned to just walk around it, but as we finally reached it, up it stood and about 12 little chicks popped up from underneath and ran around. Very funny.


Brandon Pearce on April 15th, 2010 at 9:27 pm

Beautiful birds, those cardinals. And I guess the chickens, too, in a way. I’m surprised people don’t just catch them and eat them. Or catch them and use their eggs. I mean, it’s like free food all over the place! (no offense to any vegetarians).

I know that in some countries, chicken stealing is a real problem, It seems Iike it would be welcome on Kawai.


Uncle John on May 2nd, 2010 at 2:17 pm

The chickens are being cultivated for use in the new Healthcare Plan Proposed by Nevada’s Sue Lowden – http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-503544_162-20003163-503544.html 🙂


Robert on May 5th, 2010 at 5:35 am

Ha Ha Ha….

And she stands by that to boot…


Donna on November 7th, 2011 at 9:44 pm

I live on oahu ,and have a small back yard with a few trees at night I have at least 50 chickens in the trees ,no lie omg roosters @2am .Window has to be left open and I have to breath their dander all the time ,bad cause i am on oxygen for having Doves in my home and breathing the dander from them.


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