September 26th is Nēnē Awareness Day, a day to celebrate Hawaiʻi’s State Bird. Learn more about nēnē on our Nēnē species page, where youʻll find info, audio, videos, and photos about nēnē. Check out the video below about nēnē’s incredible story of recovery after nearly going extinct.

You can also meet our Forestry & Wildlife mascot, Pono the Nēnē. Our Be Pono Outdoors page shows people how to engage with nature in a pono way. We also have Pono the Nēnē stickers. If you email us at [email protected] and tell us your mailing address, weʻll send you one.

Our nēnē are unique to Hawaiʻi and found nowhere else. They nearly went extinct in the mid-1900s, but conservation efforts like translocation and predator fencing have brought these birds back from the brink. You can learn about this history in the video below, Nēnē: a Recovery Story.

One of the reasons our nēnē continue to be at risk is people feeding them. This includes intentional feeding by people who want to attract nēnē by sharing human food with them, and unintentional feeding by people who leave food waste or cat food outside, allowing nēnē to access food that can make them sick and habituate them to relying on humans for food. In addition to making them sick and changing their foraging behavior, habituating nēnē to being around humans results in people hitting them with their cars. You can learn more on our page Protect Hawaiian Species: Donʻt Feed Wild Animals.

Happy Nēnē Awareness Day!

Nēnē: A Recovery Story