Hawaiian honeycreeper

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Hawaiian honeycreepers are small passerine birds endemic to Hawaiʻi. Some authorities categorize this group as the subfamily Drepanidinae of the finch family Fringillidae, to which they are closely related, but they are usually given full family status as the Drepanididae.

The family is divided into three tribes

Psittirostrini (Hawaiʻian finches), seedeaters with thick finch-like bills and songs like those of cardueline finches.
Hemignathini (Hawaiʻian creepers and allies, including nukupuʻus). These are generally green-plumaged birds with thin bills which feed on nectar and insects
Drepanidini (Mamos, ʻIʻiwi and allies). These are birds often with red plumage. They are nectar-feeders and their songs contain nasal squeaks and whistles.

Some unusual forms extinct in earlier times, like Xestospiza or Vangulifer, cannot easily be placed into these tribes.

The male Hawaiʻian Honeycreepers are often more brightly coloured than the females, but in the Hemignathini, they often look very similar. The flowers of the native plant Metrosideros polymorpha (ʻohiʻa lehua) are favoured by a number of nectar-eating honeycreepers.

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 15 forms of Hawaiʻian Honeycreeper have become extinct in the recent past, many more since the arrival of the Polynesians who introduced the first rats. The recent extinctions are due to the introduction of other rodent species and the mongoose, habitat destruction and avian malaria and fowlpox.

Species

Family: Drepanididae (or: Drepaniidae)
* Genus: Telespiza - finch-like, granivores, opportunistic scavengers
** Nihoa Finch, Telespiza ultima
** Laysan Finch, Telespiza cantans
** Kauaʻi Finch, Telespiza persecutrix [Conservation statusConservation status:] Prehistoric
- ** Maui Nui Finch, Telespiza ypsilon [Conservation statusConservation status:] Prehistoric
  - * Genus: Psittirostra - slightly hooked bill, ʻIeʻie fruit specialist
  - ** ʻOʻu, Psittirostra psittacea [Conservation statusConservation status:] Critical, probably extinct late 1990s
  - * Genus: Dysmorodrepanis - pincer-like bill, possibly snail specialist
  - ** Lanaʻi Hookbill, Dysmorodrepanis munroi
  - * Genus: Loxioides - finch-like, Mamane seed specialist
  - ** Palila, Loxioides bailleui
  - * Genus: Rhodacanthis - finch-like, Koa seed specialists
  - ** Lesser Koa Finch, Rhodacanthis flaviceps
  - ** Greater Koa Finch, Rhodacanthis palmeri
  - ** Scissor-billed Koa Finch, Rhodacanthis forfex [Conservation statusConservation status:] Prehistoric
    - ** Primitive Koa Finch, Rhodacanthis litotes [Conservation statusConservation status:] Prehistoric
      - * Genus: Chloridops - thick-billed, Naio and other hard seed specialist
      - ** Kona Grosbeak Finch, Chloridops kona
      - ** Oʻahu Grosbeak Finch, Chloridops wahi [Conservation statusConservation status:] Prehistoric
        ** Giant ("King Kong") Grosbeak Finch, Chloridops regiskongi [Conservation statusConservation status:] Prehistoric
        * Genus: Orthiospiza - large weak bill, possibly soft seed or fruit specialist?
        ** Highland Finch, Orthiospiza howarthi [Conservation statusConservation status:] Prehistoric
        * Genus: Xestospiza - cone-shaped bills, possibly insectivores
        ** Cone-billed Finch, Xestospiza conica [Conservation statusConservation status:] Prehistoric
        ** Ridge-billed Finch, Xestospiza fastigialis [Conservation statusConservation status:] Prehistoric
        * Genus: Peseudonestor - parrot-like bill, probes rotting wood for insect larvae
        ** Maui Parrotbill, Pseudonestor xanthophrys
        * Genus: Hemignathus - pointed or long and decurved bills, insectivores or nectarivores
        ** Hawaiʻi ʻAmakihi, Hemignathus virens
        ** Oʻahu ʻAmakihi, Hemignathus flavus
        ** Kauaʻi ʻAmakihi, Hemignathus kauaiensis
        ** Nukupuʻu, Hemignathus lucidus
        ** ʻAnianiau, Hemignathus parvus or Magumma parva
        ** Greater ʻAmakihi, Hemignathus sagittirostris
        ** Giant ʻAmakihi, Hemignathus vorpalis [Conservation statusConservation status:] Prehistoric
        ** Hawaiʻi ʻAkialoa, Hemignathus obscurus or Akialoa obscura
        ** Maui Nui ʻAkialoa, Hemignathus lanaiensis or Akialoa lanaiensis
        ** Oʻahu ʻAkialoa, Hemignathus ellisianus or Akialoa ellisiana
        ** Kauaʻi ʻAkialoa, Hemignathus stejnegeri or Akialoa stejnegeri
        ** Hoopoe-billed ʻAkialoa, Hemignathus upupirostris or Akialoa upupirostris [Conservation statusConservation status:] Prehistoric
        ** ʻAkiapolaʻau, Hemignathus munroi or Heterorhynchus wilsoni
        * Genus: Oreomystis - short pointed bills, browsers
        ** ʻAkikiki, Oreomystis bairdi
        ** Hawaiʻi "Creeper", Oreomystis mana
        * Genus: Paroreomyza - similar to Oreomystis
        ** Maui ʻAlauahio, Paroreomyza montana (more properly called Maui Nui ʻAlauahio, but today occurs on Maui only)
        ** Kakawahie, Paroreomyza flammea
        ** Oʻahu ʻAlauahio, Paroreomyza maculata
        * Genus: Vangulifer - flat rounded bills, possibly caught flying insects
        ** Strange-billed Finch, Vangulifer mirandus [Conservation statusConservation status:] Prehistoric
        ** Thin-billed Finch, Vangulifer neophasis [Conservation statusConservation status:] Prehistoric
        * Genus: Aidemedia - straight thin bills, insectivores
        ** Oʻahu Icterid-like Gaper, Aidemedia chascax [Conservation statusConservation status:] Prehistoric
        ** Sickle-billed Gaper, Aidemedia zanclops [Conservation statusConservation status:] Prehistoric
        ** Maui Nui Icterid-like Gaper, Aidemedia lutetiae [Conservation statusConservation status:] Prehistoric
        * Genus: Loxops - small pointed bills with the tips offset a little horizontally, insectivores
        ** ʻAkekeʻe, Loxops caeruleirostris
        ** Akepa, Loxops coccineus
        * Genus: Ciridops - finch-like, fed on Loulu fruits etc
        ** ʻUla-ʻai-Hawane, Ciridops anna
        ** Stout-legged Finch, Ciridops tenax [Conservation statusConservation status:] Prehistoric
        * Genus: Vestiaria - decurved bill, nectarivore
        ** ʻIʻiwi, Vestiaria coccinea
        * Genus: Drepanis - decurved bills, nectarivores
        ** Hawaiʻi Mamo, Drepanis pacifica
        ** Black Mamo, Drepanis funerea
        * Genus: Palmeria - thin bill, nectarivore, especially ʻOhiʻa
        ** ʻAkohekohe, Palmeria dolei
        * Genus: Himatione - thin bill, nectarivore
        ** ʻApapane, Himatione sanguinea
        * Genus: Melamprosops - short pointed bill, browser and snail specialist
        ** Poʻo-uli, Melamprosops phaeosoma [Conservation statusConservation status:] Critical, probably extinct November 28, 2004
        Several other known species are undescribed, as they are known only from very fragmentary fossil remains insufficient to deterine taxonomic affiliation. The term "prehistoric" above indicates birds that went extinct between first human settlement of Hawai'i around 400 AD and European contact in 1778.
        
        External links
        
        [Hawaiian Honeycreeper videos] on the Internet Bird Collection
        
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Hawaiian honeycreeper

Species

External links