Hawaiian honeycreeper
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| Hawaiian Honeycreeper | ||||||||||
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 Laysan Finch, Telespiza cantans | ||||||||||
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Telespiza |
General
Hawaiian honeycreepers are small passerine birds endemic to Hawaii. Some authorities categorize this group as the subfamily Drepanididae 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 (Hawaiian finches), seedeaters with thick finch-like bills and songs like those of cardueline finches.
- Hemignathini (Hawaiian creepers and allies, including nukupu'us). These are generally green-plumaged birds with thin bills which feed on nectar and insects
- Drepanidini (Mamos, 'I'iwi 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 Hawaiian 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 ('ohi'a 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 Hawaiian 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
- Genus: Telespiza - finch-like, granivores, opportunistic scavengers
- Nihoa Finch, Telespiza ultima Conservation status: Critical
- Laysan Finch, Telespiza cantans Conservation status: Vulnerable
- Kaua'i Finch, Telespiza persecutrix Template:StatusPrehistoric
- Maui Nui Finch, Telespiza ypsilon Template:StatusPrehistoric
- Genus: Psittirostra - slightly hooked bill, 'Ie'ie fruit specialist
- 'O'u, Psittirostra psittacea Conservation status: Critical, probably extinct late 1990s
- Genus: Dysmorodrepanis - pincer-like bill, possibly snail specialist
- Lana'i Hookbill, Dysmorodrepanis munroi Conservation status: Extinct (1918)
- Genus: Loxioides - finch-like, Mamane seed specialist
- Palila, Loxioides bailleui Conservation status: Endangered
- Genus: Rhodacanthis - finch-like, Koa seed specialists
- Lesser Koa-finch, Rhodacanthis flaviceps Conservation status: Extinct (1891)
- Greater Koa-finch, Rhodacanthis palmeri Conservation status: Extinct (1896)
- Genus: Chloridops - thick-billed, Naio and other hard seed specialist
- Kona "Grosbeak", Chloridops kona Conservation status: Extinct (1894)
- O'ahu "Grosbeak", Chloridops wahi Template:StatusPrehistoric
- Giant ("King Kong") "Grosbeak", Chloridops regiskongi Template:StatusPrehistoric
- Genus: Orthiospiza - large weak bill, possibly soft seed or fruit specialist?
- Highland Finch, Orthiospiza howarthi Template:StatusPrehistoric
- Genus: Xestospiza - cone-shaped bills, possibly insectivores
- Cone-billed Finch, Xestospiza conica Template:StatusPrehistoric
- Ridge-billed Finch, Xestospiza fastigialis Template:StatusPrehistoric
- Genus: Peseudonestor - parrot-like bill, probes rotting wood for insect larvae
- Maui Parrotbill, Pseudonestor xanthophrys Conservation status: Critical
- Genus: Hemignathus - pointed or long and decurved bills, insectivores or nectarivores
- Hawai'i 'Amakihi, Hemignathus virens Conservation status: Lower risk
- O'ahu 'Amakihi, Hemignathus flavus Conservation status: Vulnerable
- Kaua'i 'Amakihi, Hemignathus kauaiensis Conservation status: Vulnerable
- Nukupu'u, Hemignathus lucidus Conservation status: Critical
- Anianiau, Hemignathus parvus or Magumma parva Conservation status: Vulnerable
- Greater 'Amakihi, Hemignathus sagittirostris Conservation status: Extinct (1901)
- Giant 'Amakihi, Hemignathus vorpalis Template:StatusPrehistoric
- Hawai'i 'Akialoa, Hemignathus obscurus or Akialoa obscura Conservation status: Extinct (1940)
- Maui Nui 'Akialoa, Hemignathus lanaiensis or Akialoa lanaiensis Conservation status: Extinct (1892)
- O'ahu 'Akialoa, Hemignathus ellisianus or Akialoa ellisiana Conservation status: Extinct (1940)
- Kaua'i 'Akialoa, Hemignathus stejnegeri or Akialoa stejnegeri Conservation status: Extinct (1969)
- Hoopoe-billed 'Akialoa, Hemignathus upupirostris or Akialoa upupirostris Template:StatusPrehistoric
- Akiapolaau, Hemignathus munroi or Heterorhynchus wilsoni Conservation status: Endangered
- Genus: Oreomystis - short pointed bills, browsers
- 'Akikiki, Oreomystis bairdi Conservation status: Critical
- Hawai'i "Creeper", Oreomystis mana Conservation status: Endangered
- Genus: Paroreomyza - similar to Oreomystis
- Maui 'Alauahio, Paroreomyza montana Conservation status: Endangered
- Kakawahie, Paroreomyza flammea Conservation status: Extinct (1963)
- O'ahu 'Alauahio, Paroreomyza maculata Conservation status: Critical
- Genus: Vangulifer - flat rounded bills, possibly caught flying insects
- Strange-billed Finch, Vangulifer mirandus Template:StatusPrehistoric
- Thin-billed Finch, Vangulifer neophasis Template:StatusPrehistoric
- Genus: Aidemedia - straight thin bills, insectivores
- O'ahu Icterid-like Gaper, Aidemedia chascax Template:StatusPrehistoric
- Sickle-billed Gaper, Aidemedia zanclops Template:StatusPrehistoric
- Maui Nui Icterid-like Gaper, Aidemedia lutetiae Template:StatusPrehistoric
- Genus: Loxops - small pointed bills with the tips offset a little horizontally, insectivores
- 'Akeke'e, Loxops caeruleirostris Conservation status: Endangered
- Akepa, Loxops coccineus Conservation status: Endangered
- Genus: Ciridops - finch-like, fed on Loulu fruits etc
- Ula-'ai-Hawane, Ciridops anna Conservation status: Extinct (1892 or 1937)
- Stout-legged Finch, Ciridops tenax Template:StatusPrehistoric
- Genus: Vestiaria - decurved bill, nectarivore
- 'I'iwi, Vestiaria coccinea Conservation status: Lower risk (nt)
- Genus: Drepanis - decurved bills, nectarivores
- Hawai'i Mamo, Drepanis pacifica Conservation status: Extinct (1898)
- Black Mamo, Drepanis funerea Conservation status: Extinct (1907)
- Genus: Palmeria - thin bill, nectarivore, especially 'Ohi'a
- Akohekohe, Palmeria dolei Conservation status: Critical
- Genus: Himatione - thin bill, nectarivore
- Apapane, Himatione sanguinea Conservation status: Lower risk
- Genus: Melamprosops - short pointed bill, browser and snail specialist
- Po'o-uli, Melamprosops phaeosoma Conservation status: Critical, probably extinct November 28th, 2004
- Genus: Telespiza - finch-like, granivores, opportunistic scavengers
Several other known species are undescribed, as they are known only from very fragmentary fossil remains.da:Seglfugle fr:Drepanididae