Johnson is full of kolea lore. He said he has been trying to get the groundskeepers at Punchbowl cemetery to use less insecticide on the lawn to protect kolea. The groundskeepers got the message when they discovered that kolea can eat 90 percent of the insects all by themselves. They learn fast. Only the young ones get killed by airplanes.
Nobody knows how they navigate to Alaska.
This came out during a symposium for schoolteachers at the Hawai'i Maritime Center. They are different species that behave differently. American continental plover are found only in wild, wide-open spaces. Island plover have adapted to back yards and golf courses, where the living is good in confined spaces. That's why the plover population in Hawai'i may be on the increase.