If you’ve ever caught sight of a pueo, the Hawaiian short-eared owl, perched and looking at you with its wide, intense stare, or seen one flying in the air with its elongated wings, swooping over a large, grassy field, you know immediately that you’ve just witnessed something special.
“I can’t think of any other animal that has that kind of impact on you when you see them,” says photographer Jack Wolford, who took these remarkable images.
Pueo are endemic to the Hawaiian Islands, and were once prevalent throughout. But now, they’re an endangered species on Oahu and mainly seen in upcountry Maui or along Saddle Road on Hawaii Island. “They’re intelligent birds,” he says. And, though pueo are active in the daytime, they’re very difficult to capture in photos.
Wolford says he remembers how his Hawaiian grandmother’s house was full of statues and illustrations of pueo. She would tell stories about their family’s long affinity for the birds. Wolford also recalls many instances during which the birds have appeared around him. When Wolford’s grandmother passed away, the family spread her ashes around a tree at her home in Kula, Maui. In the afternoon, a pueo landed on the same tree. “It was one of those chicken-skin moments,” says Wolford. “When that happened, I was just like, oh my god, it’s a validation of this belief.”
