Kapi'olani Community College undergraduate researchers awarded at Hawai'i Conservation Conference8/11/2026
 (From left: Dr. Wendy Kuntz, James Lee, Charlotte Bender, Xander Nakamura, Keala Ka'aloa and Chancellor Misaki Takabayashi. Congratulations to the students of the Kapi'olani Community College Manu o Kū Undergraduate Research Project, who took home the award for Outstanding Undergraduate Student Poster Presentation at the annual Hawai'i Conservation Conference in July! Their poster, "Building Kuleana Through Environmental Research: A Decade of Manu o Kū Monitoring at Kapi'olani Community College", was the culmination of data collected since 2015 by over 30 students who have participated in the project, led by Biology professor Dr. Wendy Kuntz. Read more at the link below!
Students from the Kapi'olani Community College Manu o Kū Undergraduate Research Project recently set up a Chick Cam on one of the newest nesting spots on campus. Stream it live on Twitch!
When Fareeha Khawaja recently shared a video of two Manu o Kū visiting her lanai, we noticed one of the pair appeared to be limping. To find out why, she graciously allowed us to stakeout the tree. Photos revealed that the tern has a badly injured or deformed right leg.  Photo by Kelly Furuya We don't know whether this is a relatively recent injury or something this bird has lived with for a long time. What we do know is that this Manu o Kū is not simply surviving— it’s raising a chick! Although walking and maintaining its grip on a branch clearly takes some extra effort, it continues all the work of being a parent, delivering fish, preening and caring for its chick.  Photo by Kelly Furuya This isn't the first Manu o Kū we've known that has surprised us with its ability to adapt. An adult tern with a nesting tree at the Waikīkī Aquarium has lived successfully in the wild with only one foot. We've also encountered Manu o Kū with significant beak deformities that nevertheless continue to survive on their own. These birds remind us how much of their lives we never see. An injury or physical difference that looks devastating to us does not necessarily tell us what a wild bird can or cannot do! And we might never have known about this incredible tern had the video not been shared—the true power of community-based science. Mahalo, Fareeha!  Photo by Kelly Furuya |