The breeding habits of an endangered Hawaiian bird has prompted most Hawai'i broadcasters to move up by one month the switch from over-the-air analog television signals to all-digital television transmission.

While federal law requires broadcasters to make the switch to digital telecasts by Feb. 17 next year, local TV stations have agreed to make the switch on Jan. 15. The move will affect viewers throughout the state, except those on Kaua'i, which is served by low-powered translators that will be making the switch at a later date.

The change means that the small percentage of televisions that receives analog signals through a roof-top antenna or "rabbit ears" will no longer work. Households with analog TVs that want to continue receiving signals via the airwaves will have to buy a device that converts the digital signal back to analog. The vast majority of households with televisions connected to cable, satellite or other pay services will not be affected.

Hawai'i's early transition to digital TV followed consultations with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, which was concerned that the demolition of analog facilities near the summit of Haleakala on Maui would disturb the Hawaiian petrel, or 'ua'u. The endangered bird breeds near the facility in mid-February.

"We've been in discussion for a number of years to move the power sites away from the summit at the request of the Department of Defense and the University of Hawai'i," said Chris Leonard, Hawaii Association of Broadcasters president.

"With further review with Fish and Wildlife, finding an opportune time to be able to move that so as not to disrupt the petrel population near that site basically pushed us to an earlier date."

Leonard said there are advantages to switching to an earlier start date because Hawai'i will be the first state to do so and will be able to receive assistance from federal agencies. With an estimated 20 million households nationwide still receiving analog signals and making the switch on Feb. 17, no one area in the country will be getting much attention, he said.

"The focus will be on the Hawai'i market, where on Feb. 17, the focus will be nationwide in dealing with the various issues that they'll have to address," Leonard said.

For about a year, television stations have been warning viewers of the change to digital. Households that want to make the transition without subscribing to cable or satellite service can purchase a converter box that retails for $40 to $70.

The federal government has been offering $40 coupons that can be used toward the purchase of a box, but so far the response in Hawai'i has been poor. About 5.5 percent of the state's 424,000 television households rely on analog signals.

"We're not doing very well as a market. People are just not reacting," said Mike Rosenberg, KITV general manager and Hawai'i's digital TV coordinator. "Of all the markets that are out there, based on the population that will need (the converter boxes), we're in the bottom five in the country."

With the earlier starting date, Rosenberg said, local broadcasters will be increasing their efforts to educate the public.

"We're going to be very proactive in trying to get the word out to everybody so nobody's disenfranchised, so at least we'll know that we gave it our best effort to make everybody aware," he said.