The red-vented bulbul first appeared on O'ahu in the mid-1950's as an unauthorized cage release (Hawai'i Audubon Society, 1993). At least 6 birds were seen on the O'ahu Plantation at Waipahu in 1966 (Berger, 1981).
The Hawai'i Audobon Society conducted a follow-up on the initial sighting, " ..as we pulled in to the O'ahu Plantation manager's home in Waipahu. Here were seen at least 6 red-vented bulbuls, Pycnonotus cafer, new escapees that had been reported by the manager's wife, Mrs. John Humme, two months ago" (Hawai'i Audubon Society, 1966).
Andrew Berger reported on this observation, "the first report of this [the red-vented bulbul] species is...in a report on birds observed on an Audobon Society field trip of Waipahu, where at least six red-vented bulbuls were seen; these are new escapees that had been reported by the manager's wife, Mrs. John Humme, two months ago..One bird was seen at Kailua on March 7. 1967, and another at Bellows Field Air Force Station on June 3, 1967.
These sightings at such widely separated areas surely mean that birds escaped or were intentionally released in these different regions" (Berger, 1975).