Laura Erickson’s For the Birds

The state bird of Hawaii, also called the Nene, is found only on the islands of Oahu, Maui, Kauaʻi and Hawaiʻi. It’s both the world’s rarest goose and the rarest state bird in the United States. It’s believed that soon after the Hawaiian Islands originally formed, Canada Geese found their way there, and isolation led them to evolve into this species. Mitochondrial DNA suggests the Hawaiian Goose is most closely related to the giant Canada Goose and the dusky Canada Goose. Although Nene are specially adapted to walking on volcanic rock, most of them are also capable of flight.