Hawaiian Electric is conducting studies of bird flight paths on Maui to reduce the impact of strikes on company-owned utilities lines. Newell’s shearwater is among the threatened species under study. Photo courtesy DLNR

The Hawaiian Electric Company says it will continue to take steps to collect seabird flight information to develop its Maui Island Habitat Conservation Plan, first announced in November 2022.

By taking additional measures through a habitat conservation plan, Hawaiian Electric Company aims to minimize and mitigate the potential impacts of strikes on company-owned utilities lines for endangered seabirds such as the Newell’s shearwater and the Hawaiian petrel. Hawaiian Electric also hopes to provide long-term benefits to the species and their habitats.

In April 2022, the company sent letters to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and state Department of Land and Natural Resources “proactively” committing to the development of a plan, according to Hawaiian Electric.

Hawaiian Electric said the plan should help reduce the potential impacts on bird species, including the endangered Newell’s shearwater, or a’o, and Hawaiian petrel, or ua’u.

According to the electric company, information about birds’ flight patterns will be collected at various sites across Maui through the end of 2025.

Company officials said a special truck-mounted radar will be placed in strategic locations to collect seabird path and elevation information.

The work is being conducted by Hamer Environmental, a Hawaiian Electric subcontractor.

Hawaiian Electric said the information will allow it to identify the specific areas where seabirds are traveling and to understand the potential for adverse impacts caused by company-owned utility lines.

The company said it has worked with government regulators, community organizations and wildlife agencies to implement measures to reduce potential impacts of its facilities on seabirds.

Those measures include shielding facility lighting and altering power lines on the five islands it serves.