State Bird of Hawaii

The Nene (pronounced "nay-nay") is a land bird and a variety of Hawaiian Goose. It has adapted itself to life in the harsh lava country by transforming its webbed feet into a claw-like shape and modifying its wing structure for shorter flights. Hunting and wild animals all but destroyed the species until they were protected by law and a restoration project was established in 1949.

Birds of America

By John James Audubon,
F. R. SS. L. & E.

Nene (Hawaiian Goose)

The Hawaiian state bird, the Nene, was a bird not known to Audubon in his time, and was therefore not included in the 1840 edition of Birds of America.

However, in keeping with Audubon's central theme of "wild birds native to North America", CMC has decided to include with this file a photograph.

The Editor

Portions copyright © Richard R. Buonanno, 1995
WWW version of John James Audubon's work. "The Birds of America"

Portions copyright © Creative Multimedia Corp., 1990-91, 1992

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