Beauty Gone Wrong

Photo by Craig

A little more than 70 years ago (1929), the Japanese White-eye (Zosterops japonicas), aka the mejiro , was introduced in Hawaii.

It’s a pretty little bird, about four inches from beak to tail tip, whose native range includes most of Asia, including Japan, China, Vietnam, Taiwan and the Philippines. It communicates with cute and piercing little twee chirps while it flits from tree to tree, looking for insects, flower nectar, or ripening fruits to peck on.

White-eyes have become the most common bird in Hawaii. Unfortunately, they carry parasites harmful to other birds, including the famous native Hawaiian honeycreepers. And, although they’re not very effective seed dispersers, they often feed on invasive plant species and spread their seeds when they defecate.

Personally, I think mejiro are beautiful. The wife, on the other hand, is constantly irritated that they peck away at half-ripe Pirie mangos still a few days away from harvest. Let me tell you, her fury knows no bounds when that happens.

As a consequence, she now hauls out the collapsible fruit picker and plucks the mangos in their unripened state. Normally I’d complain about that, but these are ultra-fragrant Pirie mangos that (to me anyway), smell like someone dumped a whole bottle of cheap perfume on them. I’m probably the only person who doesn’t like their aroma. Give me a ripe Hayden mango any day of the week, and twice on Sundays.

Anyway, back to the white-eyes. They came to Hawaii both as pets and pest control. But like the mongoose and the toad, they became pests themselves. But at least they’re prettier.

Someday, I’ll tell you the story of how our first-grade class became a temporary surrogate mother to a baby white-eye that fell out of its nest.