Hawaiʻi Island Festival of Birds 2025 - Hawaiʻi Island Festival of Birds

HIFB 2025 is on October 4 from 9am to 5:30pm at the Grand Naniloa Hotel Hilo. The full festival information and schedule is below.

The goal of the festival is to come together as a community to celebrate native bird species in Hawai‘i and fight against hopelessness in the face of tough conservation challenges. Through the sharing of manaʻo and enthusiasm, the festival aims to uplift and motivate. The theme of the 2025 festival is Celebrating Successes.

Media: Press release coming soon
Promotion: Download the Updated Festival Flyer
Volunteer: Click here to sign up as a volunteer for the event. Volunteers receive free festival admission that they may enjoy before and after their shift.

Tickets

Purchase Presale Tickets Here

Presale via Eventbrite: $15 adult (ages 18+), $10 student (ages 13-17), keiki 12 and under free. Paid presale tickets come with full festival access, a $5 Birdie Bucks coupon to use for a discount at a vendor table or donate to a conservation exhibitor at the Bird Fair, a free festival keychain, and first priority to the keepsake festival wristband. Please note that presale tickets will also incur an $2.85 and $2.51 Eventbrite fee for adult and student tickets, respectively.
At the door: $25 adult (ages 18+), $20 student (ages 13-17), keiki 12 and under free. Tickets purchased at the door come with full festival access and a $5 Birdie Bucks coupon to use for a discount at a vendor table or donate to a conservation exhibitor at the Bird Fair. Tickets purchased at the door do not come with a free festival keychain, but keychains will be available for purchase.

Presale tickets are discounted from the at-the-door price and come with a free HIFB 2025 festival keychain. Free keychain must be picked up at check-in, shipping is not available. Presale ticket holders get first priority to the souvenir festival wristbands as well. We highly recommend purchasing your ticket presale through Eventbrite for the discount and included swag! Presale ends on October 3 at 5PM HST.

The Learning Lounge on the Lobby Lānai will be free all day. The Bird Fair will also have a free public hour from 4:30 – 5:30PM.

Festival Gear

Get Your Festival Merch Here

Like patchwork or embroidery, conservation successes take form from each stitch of individual action, care, and learning from the community. This year we want to appreciate the outcomes of our collective efforts as well as use the opportunity to recharge and motivate to move forward with the challenges ahead as we must protect these critical successes from fading. The Nēnē embroidery illustration was done by lead festival organizer and Hawaiʻi Wildlife Center Development Director Rae Okawa, reference photos were of Hawaiʻi Wildlife Center patients. Palaka print was illustrated by Hawaiʻi Wildlife Center Community Coordinator Angela Emeliano.

Official festival merchandise is available for purchase through the print on demand service Threadless. Get your shirts and gear early to wear to the event. Please note festival apparel is only available online. There will be no festival apparel for sale at the event. If you want to purchase gear to wear at the event, please do so early as production and delivery can take a up to a few weeks, especially for Hawaiʻi addresses.

Test your bird smarts!

Bird Trivia in the Crown Room
We will be asking trivia questions in the morning (to get the brain warmed up!) and after lunch, with additional questions spread out throughout the day. Answer a question correctly to win a prize.

FULL FESTIVAL SCHEDULE

More information coming. Schedule may change without notice. Any changes to the festival schedule will be updated on this page as well.

Bird Fair 9:00AM – 5:30PM:

Please note that Bird Fair rooms will close temporarily from 10-10:30AM to allow our vendors and exhibitors the opportunity to attend the opening presentation in the Crown Room. Bird Fair rooms will reopen at 10:30AM.

Learning Lounge Booths on Lobby Lānai (free to the public, no wristband required)
| Hawaiʻi DLNR Division of Forestry and Wildlife | Maui Forest Bird Recovery Project | ʻĀina Hoʻōla Initiative | ʻImiloa Astronomy Center | Keauhou Bird Conservation Center | Hawaiʻi County Office of Sustainability, Climate, Equity, and Resilience | Kōlea Sparkling Hop Water will also be sharing samples on the Lānai near the registration table.

Optics Demos on Lawn (free to the public, no wristband required)
Binocular and spotting scope demos, courtesy of Kowa Sporting Optics. Have any questions about the best optics for birding? Here’s a good chance to get those questions answered!

Sunday Birding Trips signups in the Palm Room – TBD
A limited number of free group birding walks and trips taking place the day after the festival will be available for signup on a first come first serve basis, while space is available. We are still working on finalizing the details on these trips. More soon!

The last hour of the festival (4:30pm – 5:30pm), all Bird Fair areas will be free to the public and not require wristbands.

Presentations in Crown Room 10AM – 4:00PM (HIFB wristband required)

Most presentations are 15 minutes long, including Q&A, and explores different areas of conservation and connection to the birds of Hawaiʻi. We will have two 45-minute presentations, including a panel presentation on Hakalau Forest National Wildlife Refuge and an interactive, ʻohana-tailored “Manu 101” session.

10AM – 10:30AM Opening Presentation

Warmup bird trivia

Opening ʻoli O Ka Lele a Nei ʻĀuna led by ʻĀhuimanu. The perfect way to set the intention for the day. Come prepared to join your fellow festival attendees with native bird calls

Opening soundscape
Immerse yourselves in this soundbath, created and composed by UH Hilo LOHE Bioacoustic Lab’s Ann Tanimoto-Johnson, narrated by Dr. Patrick Hart. As you listen, we hope you will be able to imagine a Hawai‘i so naturally abundant in native birdsong and life.

10:30AM – 12:00PM Morning Presentations

Hālau Hula Nāwehiokaipoaloha
Led by Kumu Hula Ipolei Lindsey-Asing.

Holy Mōlī: Navigating Private-Public Protection for an Iconic Bird – Hob Osterlund
Hob Osterlund founded the Kauaʻi Albatross Network (KAN) in 2010 in response to the needs of the mōlī (Laysan albatross) nesting in a variety of settings with a mixture of private-public landowners. KAN has two primary goals: 1) protecting the mōlī and 2) growing the mōlī fan club. As a bird guide, a former comedian, the author of Holy Mōlī: Albatross and Other Ancestors, and a producer for the Telly Award-winning documentary “Kalamaʻs Journey,” Hob has discovered some useful and sharable strategies for success.

Father Goose: the Nēnē conservation work of Ah Fat Lee – Angela Emeliano, Hawaiʻi Wildlife Center
Presentation overview TBD

Presentation information coming soon – Rob Pacheco, Hawaiʻi Forest and Trail and Co-founder of the Hawaiʻi Island Festival of Birds
Conservation successes seen through the years and how HFT incorporates conservation into pono business practices

E Laka Ka Lehua O Ka Nahelehele and Haʻena Nawahine – Hālau Hula Manaʻolana
Led by Kumu Hula Hope Keawe, Hālau Hula Manaʻolana presents two kahiko. E Laka Ka Lehua O Ka Nahelele, written by Kumu Keala Ching, is to honor the beautiful Laka, the woman of the forest. Found in the kinolau of Laka high in the forest. There are several interpretations of the hula relationship between Laka and hula. Traditional hula, as it is presented in modern times, continues to use chant, traditional instruments, and dance to invoke connection with the culture that evolves among the Polynesian people living in the Hawaiian Islands. Whether Laka was a historical person or mythical being used to explain an important aspect of Hawaiian culture, the idea of Laka as the embodiment of the spirit of hula helps modern students to understand and become part of the hula tradition.

Hawai’i Island Koa’e ula – Alex Wang, DLNR Div. of Forestry and Wildlife.
In 2020, during the height of covid, DOFAW staff were only permitted to work solo. Alex Wang, Wildlife Biologist used this time to follow up on some leads about people spotting Koaʻe flying around Manukā Natural Area Reserve. While hiking around through the lavas one covidless day, he spotted a red tail feather sticking out above the rocks. From this first koa’e ula nest, DOFAW through the NARS program has conducted predator control, which has greatly helped out these ground nesting manu. Similar to the colony on the Ka iwi coast of Oahu, a little predator control goes a long way and we now have nesting koa’e ula and koa’e keas in Manuka. A Masked Booby was even seen one day, so with luck this safe spot for seabirds will snowball and bring in even more to Hawai’i Island. But we can’t take our foot off the gas, even one mongoose or feral dog has the potential to wipe these birds out again.

12:00 – 1:00PM Lunch Break

1:00 – 2:00PM ‘Ohana Time

Warm up with some Bird Trivia!

1:15 – 2:00PM – Manu 101, featuring a student panel, storytelling, and games. All ages are welcomed and youth attendees especially are encouraged to attend.

Led by Ben Catcho Jr., a Native Hawaiian educator and Communications and Outreach Specialist with American Bird Conservancy, featuring haumāna from Kanu ʻO ʻĀina PCS, this session will share the “Making Moʻolelo” framework, a model developed to help communities, especially youth, explore conservation through story creation, ancestral knowledge, and ecological understanding. Participants will experience interactive storytelling prompts and example activities used successfully with Hawaiian charter schools, immersion classrooms, and community groups.

2:05 – 2:50PM Panel – Hakalau Forest National Wildlife Refuge

Join us celebrating some of Hakalau’s greatest successes as well as a huge milestone anniversary. Hear updates about the refuge, future plans, and where community support is needed.

Moderator: Information coming soon.

Panelists: Information coming soon.

2:50 – 4:00PM Afternoon Presentations

Laysan Duck Project Updates – Kure Atoll Field Team
Check in with the field team at Kure Atoll working with the critically endangered Koloa Pōhaka (Laysan Duck). We will share a pre-recorded a presentation from the Kure station and show the habitat around the building that the ducks utilize. A representative of the project will be present to answer audience questions live.

Maui Nui ʻAlalā Release – Tess Hebebrand, Maui Forest Bird Recovery Project
Learn more about the current Maui Nui ʻalalā release, including current plans and project updates.

Improved status of the Oʻahu ʻElepaio through effective long-term management and natural adaptation – Eric VanderWerf and Phil Taylor
The Oʻahu ʻelepaio, an endangered Hawaiian forest bird, is threatened by predation on nests by invasive black rats and by avian pox virus carried by mosquitoes. For 30 years, we have managed rats to reduce predation and collected data on pox prevalence. Rat control resulted in higher ʻelepaio reproduction and lower mortality of female ʻelepaio. ʻElepaio have evolved resistance to pox virus and are no longer seriously affected by this disease. Effective management and natural adaptation have allowed the status of Oʻahu ʻelepaio to improve, and someday it may break free from reliance on management.

Translocation of four Hawaiian seabirds to create new breeding colonies and increase climate resiliency – Eric A. VanderWerf, Robby Kohley, Erika Dittmar, and Lauren Pedersen
Seabirds colonies in the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands are threatened by sea level rise and increasing storm surge associated with global climate change. To create new breeding colonies and increase climate resiliency, we translocated four seabird species to James Campbell National Wildlife Refuge on Oʻahu: Black-footed Albatross, Laysan Albatross, Bonin Petrel, and Tristram’s Storm-petrel. We built a 16-acre predator-exclusion fence to protect the new colonies. All four species have returned to JCNWR and are breeding there, where they are safe.

IMUA! Onward! – Rae Okawa, Hawaiʻi Wildlife Center
Concluding remarks and mahalos by Rae Okawa, lead organizer of the Hawaiʻi Island Festival of Birds. One of the goals of the festival is to combat hopelessness in the face of tough conservation challenges. We are fortunate that some species, like Nēnē, are making a comeback. With these species now becoming a part of communities, how can we coexist and be good neighbors with these Manu? After all, in conservation, successes are still works in progress.

Final Soundscape, Mauka to Makai
The many voices of our native manu will be the conclusion of the Crown Room presentation program. We hope the liveliness and abundance of birdsong will motivate and inspire you to carry on supporting and engaging in conservation work so that native birds thrive and our islands can one day be full of native sounds.

Silent Auction closes at 4:30PM

Support the Hawaiʻi Island Festival of Birds and its two nonprofit hosts, the Hawaiʻi Wildlife Center and Conservation Council for Hawaiʻi, by bidding on items in the silent auction. Items were generously donated by Bird Fair vendors, HIFB presenters, and community members. Mahalo to all of our auction donors and those participating as bidders!

Bird Fair FREE Public Hour 4:30PM – 5:30PM:

During this time all Bird Fair rooms will be free and open to the public, no admission or wristbands required. Come and support all of our vendors and learn more about important conservation work being done by our nonprofit and agency exhibitors!

ACCOMMODATIONS

Click here for discounted accommodations at the Grand Naniloa Hotel Hilo.

Terms: The Grand Naniloa is generously offering 20% off the Best Available Rate with the $39 Resort Fee waived when reservations are made using the booking link above or by calling: 808-932-4567. The cutoff date to make reservations is September 4, 2025 and the rates will be offered for travel October 01 – 07, 2025. Cancellation for rooms is 72 hours prior to arrival.