That’s not a dog – it’s an endangered seabird!
The yapping sounds heard in the night may be reminiscent of a dog’s bark, but there’s no need to go off in search of a misplaced litter of puppies. The yapping is just one sound made by the `Ua`u (aka Hawaiian Petrel). The `ua`u are seabirds that nest in colonies on Maui, Lana`i, Kauai, Hawaii Island, and possibly Moloka`i. The largest known nesting colony can be found on the top of Mt. Haleakala with an estimated 450-650 breeding pairs.
`Ua`u feed mainly on squid and spend the winter months at sea. During the rest of the year, the birds search for food over deep waters of the ocean during the day and return to the nesting colony at night. Nesting colonies are found on steep, rocky slopes and cliffs. The colonies consist of burrows 3 to 30 feet long. Pairs mate for life and produce one egg per year. Young birds leave their burrows for the first time in the cover of night, possibly using the stars to navigate, and spend the next 3-6 years at sea.
Early Hawaiians considered the young `Ua`u a delicacy. They were tabooed and reserved for consumption only by ali`i (Hawaiian royalty). Fossil remains suggest that both adult and young`Ua`u were harvested on a large scale. Though once numerous throughout the Hawaiian Islands and found at all elevations, habit loss, predation, and groundings have left the `Ua`u population much declined. They were designated as an endangered species in 1967.
At Haleakala National Park, rangers strive to protect the `Ua`u by maintaining fences that keep out large mammals like goats, pigs, and dogs and trapping mongooses and cats. The public in Maui County can help by keeping an eye out for grounded birds and reporting any findings to 1-877-428-6911. More information on grounded seabirds can be found here.