We are the only Federal and State permitted facility on Kaua‘i approved to rehabilitate native Hawaiian species. We accept all native Hawaiian birds and the Hawaiian hoary bat for rehabilitation.
Newell's Shearwater/'A'o
Initiated by the Hawai‘i Department of Land and Natural Resources/Division of Forestry and Wildlife in 1979 to respond to the annual grounding of hundreds of light-attracted fledgling shearwaters and petrels. Save Our Shearwaters has evolved into a multispecies rehabilitation effort. The Kaua‘i Island Utility Cooperative (KIUC) funds the program with the focus on shearwaters and petrels.
Since Save Our Shearwaters was created in 1979, volunteers and residents have collected more 35,000 seabirds— 90 percent of which recovered and were released back to the wild. The majority of the seabirds collected through the program are members of state and federally listed endangered species.
In the past, up to 2,000 Newell’s Shearwaters — mostly juveniles — have been picked up during the annual fledgling season through the SOS program.
We are open from 10 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. seven days a week. Please call ahead at (808) 635-5117 if you are planning on dropping off a bird.
If you have a bird emergency, a staff member can always be reached via the SOS hotline phone - (808) 635-5117.
