Extinct in the wild since 2002, several \u02bbalal\u0101 have survived their first year since being released on the Valley Isle.<\/p>\n
A mixture of anxiety and excitement coursed through Keanini Aarona in the weeks before five Hawaiian crows, or \u02bbalal\u0101, were released into the K\u012bpahulu Forest Reserve in East Maui in November 2024.<\/p>\n
Aarona, an avian recovery specialist at Maui Bird Conservation Center in Olinda, had spent the previous year helping to raise some of the young \u02bbalal\u0101 \u2014 extinct in the wild for more than two decades \u2014 so that they might be able to survive on their own.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI feel almost like a parent to them, and sending them out is kind of nerve-wracking,\u201d Aarona said. \u201cBut it\u2019s also so exciting, because these birds are so young, and one day there will be a point when they will have spent more of their life out in the forest than they did in captivity.\u201d<\/p>\n
While the sleek, black birds are endemic to Hawai\u02bbi island, efforts to reintroduce \u02bbalal\u0101 in their native range were unsuccessful. Experts were hopeful that if these five birds \u2014 among only about 110 of their kind left in the world \u2014 could learn to thrive on the leeward slopes of Haleakal\u0101, then maybe the species could eventually soar through the skies above their home island once again.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
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The \u02bbalal\u0101, or Hawaiian crow, was deemed extinct in the wild in 2002, but there are about 110 birds in captivity on Maui and the Big Island and several have been released on Maui. Kanileo is a male \u02bbalal\u0101 at the Maui Bird Conservation Center in Olinda. (Erin Nolan\/Civil Beat\/2025)<\/p>\n
More than a year after a group of nonprofit, state and federal partners released three male and two female \u02bbalal\u0101 into the forests of East Maui, all five crows are still alive and experts are optimistic that this reintroduction attempt \u2014 the first outside of the Big Island \u2014 may yield better results than those in the past.<\/p>\n
Scientists are still closely monitoring the crows as they learn to forage, expand their flight range and continue to acclimate to their new environment, and they are preparing to release two more \u02bbalal\u0101 \u2014 one male and one female \u2014 into the same area, according to Tess Hebebrand, an aviculture specialist with the Maui Forest Bird Recovery Project.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cThe birds are exhibiting a lot of natural behaviors,\u201d Hebebrand said last week from the nonprofit\u2019s office in Upcountry Maui. \u201cThey\u2019ve had some mild things where it looks like they got a little bit sick, but then they got better.\u201d<\/p>\n
Releasing two more birds in the same area will help researchers learn more about how the species adapts to life in the wild, she said.<\/p>\n
Difficult Decisions<\/p>\n
Similar to other crow species, \u02bbalal\u0101 are known to be highly social, intelligent and charismatic, but they have unique bristly feathers around their prominent bills, are particularly adept tool users<\/a> and are larger than their distant cousins on the mainland. They play a vital role in the local ecosystem by pruning the trees and dispersing native plant seeds so that the forest can continue to grow, according to Martin Frye, a research field supervisor for the Maui Forest Bird Recovery Project.<\/p>\n Native Hawaiians have long regarded the \u02bbalal\u0101 as \u02bbaum\u0101kua, or family guardians, Frye said.\u00a0<\/p>\n The \u02bbalal\u0101 had been declining for decades due to habitat loss, introduced diseases, increased contact with humans and other factors before it was officially declared extinct in the wild in 2002<\/a>.<\/p>\n The last notable effort to reintroduce \u02bbalal\u0101 into the wild occurred between 2016 and 2020, when scientists released 30 \u2018alal\u0101 from sites inside the Pu\u2018u Maka\u2018ala Natural Area Reserve<\/a> on Hawai\u2018i island. Some of the birds survived for years in the wild, but others struggled when faced with disease and weaned off food provided by caretakers, Frye said.<\/p>\n When the Hawaiian hawk, or \u02bbio, identified the \u02bbalal\u0101 as a potential food source and began hunting the crows, scientists decided it was time to pause their efforts, he said.\u00a0Scientists suspect 25 crows died<\/a>; they recovered 18 of the bodies, according to a recent study by researchers with the San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance.<\/p>\n \u201cOnce they were getting nailed by this hawk species, the managers made the difficult decision to just pull all the birds that they could get out of the forest, because it wouldn\u2019t serve any purpose to let them be hunted down,\u201d Frye said. \u201cAt that point, they\u2019re too valuable to lose to a foregone conclusion like that.\u201d<\/p>\n Predicting that the crows might be more likely to thrive in an area where they were free from the threat of predators like the \u02bbio, researchers began to study the feasibility of releasing them on another island.<\/p>\n![\"T18-0069-052\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/T18_0069_052-1024x683.jpg\")
The \u02bbalal\u0101 are known to be highly social and intelligent, and they have unique bristly feathers around their bills. (Courtesy: San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance)<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/alala-in-ohia-1024x683.jpeg\")
The reintroduction initiative has been the product of more than two years of planning and research organized and carried out by nonprofits and state and federal agencies. (Courtesy: Maui Forest Bird Recovery Project)<\/p>\n
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\u02bbAlal\u0101 are one of the few species that are known tool users, and they have been observed using sticks to retrieve insects to eat. (Courtesy: San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance)<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/alala-in-koa-with-a-view-1024x683.jpeg\")
Five young \u02bbalal\u0101 were released in a remote area of K\u012bpahulu Forest Reserve, where they continue to be monitored by field researchers. (Courtesy: Maui Forest Bird Recovery Project)<\/p>\n![\"Civil](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/1753322412_339_logo10.png\"){kind=logo}
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