Hawai‘i Wisdom — November 2017

A photo of an ālala, or Hawaiian crow, by ©David Liittschwager and Susan Middleton, in exhibit at National Tropical Botanical Garden

Ho‘ola‘i na manu i ke aheahe.

“The bird poise quietly in the gentle breeze.”

Said of those who are at peace with the world.

Source: ‘Ōlelo Noʻeau, by Mary Kawena Pukui

Photographer Susan Middleton published this picture of an ālala, or Hawaiian crow, in 2001. Back then, there were only three of those birds left in the wild, and another 27 in a captive breeding program. Since then the ālala has disappeared in the wild. But the breeding program has bred more than 120 ālala, and as of last month, has released 11 of them in the wild on the Big Island.