Hawaiian Goose

About the Hawaiian Goose

The nene (Branta sandvicensis), also known as the nēnē or the Hawaiian goose, is a species of bird endemic to the Hawaiian Islands. The nene is exclusively found in the wild on the islands of Maui, Kauaʻi, Molokaʻi, and Hawaiʻi. In 1957, it was designated as the official state bird of the state of Hawaiʻi.

The Hawaiian name nēnē comes from its soft call. The specific name sandvicensis refers to the Sandwich Islands, a former name for the Hawaiian Islands. The holotype specimen of Anser sandvicensis Vigors is held in the vertebrate zoology collection at World Museum, National Museums Liverpool, with accession number NML-VZ T12706. The specimen was collected from the Sandwich Islands (Hawaiian Islands) and came to the Liverpool national collection via the Museum of the Zoological Society of London collection, Thomas Campbell Eyton's collection, and Henry Baker Tristram's collection.

It is thought that the nene evolved from the Canada goose (Branta canadensis), which most likely arrived on the Hawaiian islands about 500,000 years ago, shortly after the island of Hawaiʻi was formed. The Canada goose is also the ancestor of the prehistoric giant Hawaiʻi goose (Branta rhuax... Wikipedia →