#maui parrotbills

[bjekkergauken]

Hawai’ian monk selkie

[lizardsaredinosaurs]

Don't get me started on how my view has been ruined since all these resorts came along. I try to leave some "presents" on Bezos' yacht whenever I can.

Maui Parrotbill (Pseudonestor xanthophrys) AKA kiwikiu

Maui, Hawai'i

Status: Critically Endangered

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I love his grumpy face.

[lowcountry-gothic]

‘Apapane (Himatione sanguinea)

The bright crimson ‘Apapane is part of a group of native Hawaiian birds, reminiscent of – but even more diverse than – the famed Galápagos finches. Known as the Hawaiian honeycreepers, these birds evolved into a varied group of dozens of species that originated from a few wayward ancestors. ‘Apapane feathers, along with those of other native birds, were prized by Native Hawaiians, who used them to adorn the capes, helmets, and feather leis of Hawaiian nobility. The bird's scientific name refers to a “blood-colored cloak.”

There were once more than 50 honeycreeper species found only in the Hawaiian Islands, but today just 17 remain, including the ‘I‘iwi and Kiwikiu, or Maui Parrotbill. The ‘Apapane is the most plentiful.

[zsl-edge-of-existence]

The Maui parrotbill is one of the most unique of all the Hawaiian honeycreepers.  Named for its large, dramatically-hooked beak, the parrotbill uses this beak to peel bark, shred wood, and tear open fruits in search of grubs and insects.  It is also critically endangered, with perhaps only 500 birds remaining in the wild.

[theraptorcage]

Kiwikiu (Maui Parrotbill)

This honeycreeper has a uniquely shaped beak that allows it to remove bark and break open fruits to access insects living in the vegetation.

[nullarysources]

Colleen Uechi for The Maui News:

The "remarkable" discovery of a rare Maui bird thought to have died 605 days ago has injected new life into the efforts to keep the species from extinction and validated years of forest restoration work.

A lone male kiwikiu, one of 14 released into the Nakula Natural Area Reserve in October 2019, was heard Wednesday by keen-eared conservationists who'd traveled up the leeward slopes of Haleakala to plant 700 native trees.

…

Two years ago, conservationists released a group of captive and wild kiwikiu, or Maui parrotbill, to reforested state land above the 5,000-foot-elevation level of leeward Haleakala in hopes that they would breed and expand across their new home. Nearly all of them fell victim to avian malaria, and the ones who couldn't be found were assumed to be dead.

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[Hanna] Mounce said the best population estimate for the kiwikiu was 157 in 2019, and assuming they've declined since then, there's likely fewer than 150 left in the wild.

"sup" -- that bird

[yourplushieislgbt]

pacific parks maui parrotbill is a stellarian pride flag!

[ainawgsd]

Hawaiian Honeycreeper

Hawaiian honeycreepers are small, passerine birds endemic to Hawaiʻi. They are closely related to the rosefinches in the genus Carpodacus. The group is divided into three tribes, but only very provisionally so. The wide range of bills in this group, from thick, finch-like bills to slender, downcurved bills for probing flowers have arisen through adaptive radiation, where an ancestral finch has evolved to fill a large number of ecological niches. Some 20 species of Hawaiian honeycreeper have become extinct in the recent past, and many more in earlier times, between the arrival of the Polynesians who introduced the first rats, chickens, pigs, and dogs, and hunted and converted habitat for agriculture.

Members of Psittirostrini, known as "Hawaiian finches", are granivorous with thick finch-like bills, and songs like those of cardueline finches. The group once covered the islands. Finch-billed drepanids include the Laysan finch, the Nihoa finch, the Maui parrotbill and the palila, which may be the last remaining species left alive in this group.

Hemignathini includes the Hawaiʻi creeper and its allies, such as the nukupuʻu. These are generally green-plumaged birds with thin bills, and feed on nectar and insects. Members of this group usually have green, yellow, orange, red, and gray feathers.

Species in the tribe Drepanidini are nectarivorous, and their songs contain nasal squeaks and whistles. Members of this group often have red black, yellow, white and orange plumage. It includes the ʻiʻiwi.  Many species of this subfamily have been noted to have a plumage odor that has been termed the "Drepanidine odor", and is suspected to have a role in making the bird distasteful to predators.

[wigmund]

From **American Bird Conservancy Bird of the Week;

July 28, 2017**:

Hawai‘i 'Amakihi

SCIENTIFIC NAME: Chlorodrepanis virens POPULATION: Approximately 800,000–900,000 TREND: Stable HABITAT: Forests and shrubland at a wide range of elevations

One of the most common and adaptable of Hawaiian honeycreepers, the Hawai‘i 'Amakihi is found in all types of habitat, from sea level to 9,500 feet. Its presence at lower elevations seems to indicate that this species is evolving a tolerance to avian malaria, a disease spread by non-native mosquitoes that has driven species such as the ‘I‘iwi, a spectacular red honeycreeper, to higher elevations.

Although Hawai‘i ‘Amakihi populations appear stable, the birds are susceptible to the same threats facing other Hawaiian birds, including habitat loss and predation by introduced mammals such as rats and free-roaming cats.

A Separate Species

The Hawai‘i ‘Amakihi is currently found on three Hawaiian Islands: the Big Island, Maui, and Molokaʻi. It formerly occurred on the island of Lanaʻi but has not been seen there since 1976.

Genetic studies continue to fine-tune the evolutionary history of Hawaiian forest birds. For example, the Hawai‘i, Kaua‘i, and O‘ahu ‘Amakihi were once considered subspecies under the larger classification of Common ‘Amakihi. Recent research led to the classification of the Kaua‘i, O‘ahu, and Hawai‘i ‘Amakihi as three separate species.

Flexible Feeders

Hawai‘i ‘Amakihis finds food in a variety of ways, successfully foraging even in altered or degraded habitats. They glean tree bark and foliage for spiders and insects with their decurved bills, drink tree sap, and sip nectar from native flowers, including ‘ohi‘a and mamane, with tubular tongues.

These flexible feeders also eat fruit pulp and juice, and readily drink the nectar of non-native flowers and trees.

Productive Parents

Females of this species build an open-cup nest of grasses, twigs, and leaves lined with softer material such as lichen, rootlets, and animal hair. Males participate in the chick-rearing process by bringing food to the nest for the female and chicks. Even after fledging, young ‘Amakihi remain dependent on their parents for several weeks.

Hawaiian 'Amakihi feeding. Photo by Robby Kohley

This productive species usually raises two broods in a season, with the male taking over feeding duties for the first brood as the female begins the second. Hawai'i ‘Amakihi pairs remain together for successive breeding seasons.

Help Keep 'Amakihi Afloat

Hawai‘i ‘Amakihi have benefited from conservation work for other birds, including rare species such as Palila and Maui Parrotbill. ABC has collaborated with in-country partners on this work, which includes fencing habitat to keep it free of predators; controlling invasive species; and restoring forests.

We recently joined with several partner groups to ask Congress to support that would provide increased funding for endangered endemic birds.

Together with our partners, we're undertaking many conservation projects in Hawai‘i—but much remains to be done. You can help by supporting our Hawaiian Birds campaign before August 8!

[mauitime]

Maui Forest Birds Critically Threatened

Maui Forest Birds Critically Threatened

The kiwikiu, or Maui parrotbill, is only found in East Maui. There are less than 312 remaining in the wild

A new interagency monitoring report on Hawaiian forest birds indicates that remaining populations of at least two native endemic species of Maui forest birds are in rapid decline.

The surveys conducted in the report were the largest and most comprehensive interagency effort to research East…

[isfeed]

Go read this story about why it’s time to scrap racist bird names 

An illustration of a Maui parrotbill perched on a branch. | Photo by Brown Bear/Windmill Books/Universal Images Group via Getty Images Some 150 birds named for people tied to slavery and white supremacy could eventually get new monikers as part of an ongoing reckoning with racism within the world of birding. That includes Jameson’s firefinch, named for a British naturalist who bought a young girl…