This is bird note.

Known locally as Ake Ake, the bandrump storm petrol is one of the smallest and rarest sea birds that nest in the Hawaiian Islands.

Spending most of their lives at sea, Ake Ake come to island mountains for the breeding season.

To protect the nests of these rare birds, scientists have to find them.

But it's not easy finding a nest burrow tucked into the mountainside.

Wildlife biologist Michelle Reynolds has firsthand experience.

For the bandrump storm petrol, there's no sign.

You might hear them in the night. It's like a dream.

Because the next day you'll search and you don't find droppings.

I've never seen a feather.

Incredibly rare to find a visual cue.

After acoustic monitoring devices picked up Ake Ake calls on the slopes of Mount Aloa, Hawaii's second tallest mountain,

biologists began work to find these endangered birds.

They got help from detector dogs trained to key in on Ake Ake sent.

With no need for visual cues, the dogs can follow the scent and point the humans to potential nest sites.

Slater here is the primary Ake Ake dog.

He has a great final response where he just freezes when he's in the odor.

When that happens, researchers can then find the active nest and keep the bird safe.

Ecological detector dogs, like Slater, are helping us protect Hawaii's endangered sea birds.

For bird note, I'm Jesse Eden.