Unique Wildlife You Might Spot On The Haleakala Sunrise Volcano Tour

The Haleakala sunrise volcano tour has so many amazing things to offer its guest. The sunrise tour especially boasts spectacular views of the sun rising above the clouds at the peak of this dormant volcano. Then, there’s the Haleakala Crater and its unique landscape that will make you feel as if you’re on another world.

In the summit area as well as in the entire Haleakala National Park, there is also some incredible wildlife. The park is noted for having a number of unique endangered species. So to better prepare you for your bike tour, we’ve gathered some information from the National Park Service about the wildlife you’ll see on the way down Haleakala.

Hawaiian Goose – Nēnē

World’s rarest goose, the nēnē

You will only see the nēnē in Hawaii. As the world’s rarest goose, the wild nēnē nests on Haleakala and, as the NPS noted, may fly around neighborhoods on Maui and Moloka’i. The last survivor of several other endemic geese, the nēnē is an endangered species and is the State Bird of Hawaii.

The nēnē has strong feet, short wings, padded toes, and reduced webbing which helps them walk over the rough terrain of the Haleakala volcano. Nēnē often monogamous and at 14 weeks old, the young goslings can fly and join the rest of the flock.

Although park biologists protect “the island’s most noticeable large native animal,” they often travel through roadways and parking lots where they’re sometimes killed by cars. Thus, there are often warnings alerting motorists to watch out for the nēnē.

Of course, to protect the nēnē, the NPS urges visitors to “keep them wild” by not giving them any food or water, not getting too close to the nēnē, and keeping pets away.

Hawaiian Petrel – ‘Ua’u

The ‘ua’u are an endangered species of migratory seabirds. According to the NPS, their largest known nesting colony is at the top of Haleakala, so look out for these birds at the summit of Haleakala on your volcano tour!

NPS photo of ʻUaʻu at 9000 ft. elevation on Haleakalā

At 16 inches long, these seabirds have a three-foot wingspan and are dark grey on top and white underneath. The young ‘ua’u reportedly leave their nests for the first time in November and fly out to the ocean at night in search of food. But sometimes these seabirds can sadly become grounded.

“They fly over land at night and are believed to navigate by stars. These and other seabirds that fly at night sometimes become confused by lights. The seabirds fly around the lights, become tired and fall to the ground,” the NPS noted.

On the NPS website, there are instructions for what to do if you find a grounded seabird. These birds, the NPS said, also make a variety of calls, one sounding just like its name: oo-AH-oo. So if you hear this sound on your Haleakala sunrise volcano tour, it may be an ‘ua’u.

Haleakala Silversword

With the variety of climates and elevations on Haleakala comes a variety of unique plant life.

The beautifully unique Haleakala silversword

“Over 850 species of plants are found within the bounds of Haleakala National Park. Of these, over 400 species are native, or arrived without human intervention; over 300 species are endemic to Hawai’i, found only in the islands,” the NPS noted.

The silversword is one of the unique endemic species to Haleakala. Living among the desert cinder landscape of the Haleakala Crater and Summit area, silverswords are easily recognized by the silvery hairs on their sword-like succulent leaves and their low-growing rosette. They can live up to 90 years.

If you see a flowering silversword on your Haleakala sunrise volcano tour, this is a truly a unique experience as the silversword only flowers once and then dies soon after.

The silversword is one of the many rare and unique plants that you can see on your bike tour of Haleakala, many of which can only be seen in Hawaii.

The NPS has downloadable guides you can take along to help you identify these distinctive plants and bird species.



(First photo by Eric Chan)