The second annual Hawai’i Island Festival of Birds will take place Sept. 15–16. On Saturday, the Sheraton Kona Resort & Spa at Keauhou Bay will be the setting for a day-long Bird Fair, with children’s programs; a Birding 101 class led by author, artist and conservationists Kenn and Kim Kaufman; an eBird workshop presented by Brian Sullivan, project leader for the Cornell Lab of Ornithology; and an art workshop with artist Catherine Hamilton. The weekend will also see the official opening of the Hawai’i Island Birding Trail website. On Friday and Saturday, festival goers can glide along the surface of the water to view seabirds on guided boat journeys leaving from Honokohau Harbor, and enjoy guided bird watching field expeditions along the new, 90-mile Hawai’i Island Birding Trail, which stretches through diverse landscapes from Hilo on the east coast to Kona on the west coast.

The fun also includes expert-led educational seminars. Among the guest speakers are Jeff Gordon, president, American Bird Association; Eric Vanderwerf, president, Pacific Rim Conservation; and Noah Gomes, who holds an MA in Hawaiian Language and Literature and will share findings from his research on ancient bird hunters in the Hawai’ian Islands. There will also be a panel discussion regarding the last known sightings of now-extinct Hawai’ian birds, and a film festival presented at the Sheraton on Friday afternoon including a presentation on conserving the island’s birds. The series of short films includes Endangered Hawaii from the American Bird Conservancy, The Endangered Forest Birds of Hawaii from DLNR, Struggle for Existence by Laurie Sumiye and Archives of Extinction by Alyse Takayesu.