#aukuu
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hawaiipacificparks.bsky.social
This bird was photographed on Maui, but you can also look for the ʻaukuʻu around the edges of the fishponds protected inside our partner Kaloko-Honokōhau NHP on Hawaiʻi Island. Visiting Kailua-Kona? The park is less than two miles north of town!
#HawaiiBirds #aukuu #BCNH
hawaiianimages.bsky.social James Petruzzi @hawaiianimages.bsky.social · Aug 31
For today's #BirdOfTheDay theme #BirdsUpClose , here we are getting personal (via long lens!) with an 'auku'u (Black-crowned night heron) #birds 📷🌿🦉
Close-up head shot of a black-crowned night heron, with a long, thick bill that's yellow on the lower edge (this is a young heron) a red eye, grey-black cap and white-grey body
September 1, 2026 at 10:47 PM
denisedbmm.bsky.social
@alan678.bsky.social’s Alt #BirdoftheDay theme is: #peekaboo

Poipu, Kauai: A Night Heron (ʻaukuʻu) was trying to swallow a whole fish & its flipping tail was hanging out of his mouth. When he noticed me watching him, he scurried behind a rock, peeking over the top, still trying to swallow the fish.
July 4, 2026 at 6:18 PM
najaengels.bsky.social
aukuu ada di x, kalau mau boleh mampir ke sini 🥰@/najaengels
June 16, 2024 at 5:43 PM
hawaiipacificparks.bsky.social
Find these impressive hunters around the fishponds of our partner Kaloko-Honokōhau National Historical Park on Hawaiʻi Island!

#Aukuu #BCNH #WetlandBirds
hawaiianimages.bsky.social James Petruzzi @hawaiianimages.bsky.social · Mar 28
For the #BirdOfTheDay alternate theme, #Stripes , here's an 'auku'u (Black-crowned night heron) juvenile, they are STRIPEY when they're young.
A very young black-crowned night heron standing with one foot in the water and one mud-covered foot up on a snag, the bird is dark brown and white with a streaky belly and neck and red eyes. Green plants and an embankment in the background
March 30, 2026 at 9:54 PM
hawaiipacificparks.bsky.social
Find these enigmatic herons around the wetlands at our partner Kaloko-Honokōhau National Historic Park on the Kona side of Hawaiʻi Island, too!
Squawk!
#aukuu #BCNH #HawaiiBirds #HawaiiParks
hawaiianimages.bsky.social James Petruzzi @hawaiianimages.bsky.social · Jan 27
For the #BirdOfTheDay theme #BrownIsBeautiful, here's a juvenile 'Auku'u (Black crowned night heron) landing in the sunrise light. 🌿🦉📷 #birds
A young black-crowned night heron still in the juvenile cryptic coloration (brown) backlit by the rising sun while landing, wings spread.
January 27, 2026 at 10:30 PM
hawaiipacificparks.bsky.social
Quick action on the parts of both James and the heron!

If you are on Hawaiʻi Island, you can look for these birds in and around the fishponds and wetlands of Kaloko-Honokōhau National Historical Park.

#Aukuu #BCNH #HawaiiBirds #HawaiiParks
hawaiianimages.bsky.social James Petruzzi @hawaiianimages.bsky.social · Jan 20
So it's #FeedingTime for the #BirdOfTheDay theme: through timing, luck and a very fast shutter got this 'auku'u (Black-crowned night heron) in mid-strike. :) 📷🦉🌿 #birds
A black crowned night heron lunging forward for a fish. One back foot can be seen rapidly moving forward trailing across the surface, the other is planted behind. The neck is just starting to dart forward, the beak is open and the lower bill just penetrated the water....without a single ripple. There is a thorny snag in front and above, and the water looks white in the pre-dawn with gentle ripples
January 20, 2026 at 9:44 PM
hawaiipacificparks.bsky.social
HPPA's Amanda at our Pu‘uhonua o Hōnaunau NHP park store is generous with her art. This photo of a black-crowned night heron on park grounds is called:

“ʻAukuʻu reflecting at the fishponds in the Royal Grounds at Puʻuhonua o Hōnaunau National Historical Park.” 🐦🌴💧

#ThisIsWhereWeWork #HPPA #PUHO
November 19, 2025 at 1:58 AM
hawaiipacificparks.bsky.social
One excellent place to look for these big birds (and hear their cacophonous roosting sounds in the evening) is our partner Kaloko-Honokōhau National Historical Park on the west coast of Hawaiʻi Island (The Big Island).
#BlackCrownedNightHeron #aukuu
hawaiianimages.bsky.social James Petruzzi @hawaiianimages.bsky.social · May 21
Per @saugepsarahb.bsky.social and @crawlieswithcri.bsky.social it's now Black-crowned night heron day! One of my fave birds, here's one of my better portraits (from the same photo set as my last two posts). 🦉📷🌿
A high-key shot of a black-crowned night heron standing in calm water that appears white, you can see the reflection slightly disturbed by a few ripples in the water and a stick in the foreground. The bird has a blue-grey back and top of head, light grey chest and white belly with red eyes.
May 22, 2025 at 2:02 AM
hawaiipacificparks.bsky.social
Happy Monday!
HPPA's Amanda, on the park store frontline at our partner Pu‘uhonua o Hōnaunau National Historical Park, asks: Can you spot the ʻaukuʻu at the Puʻuhonua fish ponds? 🤓🧐🤩
🌴🌴🌴
#PUHO #Aukuu #MondayMorningMood #HawaiiParks #HawaiiBirds🪶
April 7, 2025 at 8:14 PM
hawaiianimages.bsky.social
They're actually considered native here, more or less. They got here on their own! Hawaiian name is ʻaukuʻu
June 29, 2026 at 6:20 AM
dallasnagata.bsky.social
Took the kids to the Honolulu Zoo today, also took my camera and actually took some photos! The ʻaukuʻu is my favorite.
The black-crowned night heron, also known as the ʻaukuʻu, standing on a log sounding by shallow water. The water is reflecting blue sky and green plants. A Malayan Sun Bear, sitting in front of a log covered with a palm branch. There is a tire on the ground to the left, and a stack of short logs and plastic toys in the foreground. To the right of the bear is a bunch of long green grass. A fennec fox sleeping up on a rock shelf in a zoo enclosure. There is sand, a waterbowl, and a blue tube, along with another rock wall, visible in the out of focus background. A male peacock standing inside a stand of bushes and bamboo, with a blown-out sidewalk in bright sunlight visible behind it.
December 2, 2024 at 1:54 AM
keoraborealis.bsky.social
This older lady at Ala Moana has all these aukuu and egrets following her around like puppies and I have never in my life seen anything like that
April 16, 2025 at 7:14 PM
punalady.bsky.social
We have herons in Hawaii too.
ʻaukuʻu. Black crowned night heron.💙
April 11, 2026 at 6:32 AM
dptbirder.bsky.social
That was 11! Mostly non-natives. But the shearwater spot from my hotel room was super exciting!

Couple of native black-crowned night herons (ʻAukuʻu) natives as well
December 12, 2025 at 6:35 PM
crispyteriyaki.bsky.social
Wait . . . but in his Ahosagi crouch mode, he looks more like an ʻaukuʻu (Hawaiian for black-crowned night heron). Speaking of which . . . one of those was glide-flying over me one morning, and the shadow it cast was like that of a pterodactyl. I almost crashed my car.
February 20, 2025 at 1:40 AM