Hawaiian Black-necked Stilts are one of the birds I seek out whenever I’m lucky enough to visit Hawaii.

These elegant birds are a subspecies of the Black-necked Stilt found on the mainland. However they have more black coloring on their forehead and cheeks than mainland Stilts. They are also very different than the birds I normally photograph in the Pacific Northwest and I have really enjoyed photographing them on Mauai, Kauai and Hawaii’s Big Island.

These photos are from a trip to Kauai this past August. I found Hawaiian Black-necked Stilts at two locations on this trip–the Kawai’ele Waterbird Sanctuary on the South side of the island and the Hanalei National Wildlife Refuge on the North side.

I’m still trying to get a good flight shot of a Hawaiian Black-necked Stilt. So that’s something for me to shoot for if I’m lucky enough to go back to Hawaii!