New mural on UH Hilo campus honors endangered endemic bird
Decades of koa restoration efforts at Hakalau on Hawaiʻi Island have resulted in an increase in the number of endangered ʻakiapōlāʻau; koa is their favorite tree to forage in. It is a rare success story in Hawaiʻi conservation.
By Susan Enright.
A rare conservation success story about an endangered endemic bird is now told in a new mural on the Sciences and Technology Building at the University of Hawaiʻi at Hilo.
The artwork was created in five days during November’s Thanksgiving break by muralist Andrea Holmes, an artist based in Texas who has just started a long-term project to paint 100 bird murals across the world. Her work at UH Hilo shows an ʻakiapōlāʻau perched in a koa tree with red ōhiʻa lehua blossoms below. An oli (Hawaiian chant) in honor of the bird is written out under the image.
“I am so grateful and honored to be involved in this project and to pay tribute to this bird and its habitat,” says Holmes on her Instagram story. “Thank you to everyone who was involved to make it happen.”
A dedication ceremony for the mural is planned for January 25 in conjunction with the Friends of Hakalau Forest annual membership meeting. The nonprofit is devoted to conserving the unique flora and fauna of Hawai’i Island and was part of the planning of the mural. The group’s annual fundraising efforts focused on the ʻakiapōlāʻau which they note in their fall newsletter is one of the most iconic birds found at Hakalau Forest.
Patrick Hart, a UH Hilo professor of biology who specializes in endemic bird research on Hawaiʻi Island and is founder of the university’s Listening Observatory for Hawaiian Ecosystems (LOHE Lab), says the ʻakiapōlāʻau is a highly endangered Hawaiian honeycreeper found only on Hawaiʻi Island.
Professor Hart explains the bird has a “very unusual foraging adaptation that is similar to a woodpecker, uses its short lower mandible to drill a hole in a tree branch to expose large grubs, then uses its long curved upper mandible to hook the exposed grub and then swallow it whole.”
Males are bright yellow and females are yellow and green.
In their fall newsletter, the Friends of Hakalau Forest notes the fragility of the ʻakiapōlāʻau species. “This distinctive species, endemic to the Island of Hawaiʻi, is critically endangered with an estimated remaining population of fewer than 2,000 individuals. Based on survey data from 1987 through 2019, ʻAkiapōlāʻau populations vary from year to year but are most robust at Hakalau Forest [National Wildlife Refuge]. Hakalau Forest is home to an estimated 61% of all ʻAkiapōlāʻau.”
Hart says Hakalau Forest National Wildlife Refuge above Hilo is one of the best places left to see ʻakiapōlāʻau. “Decades of koa restoration efforts at Hakalau have resulted in an increase in these birds, as koa is their favorite tree to forage in,” he explains in an email. “A rare success story in Hawaiʻi conservation!”
The ʻakiapōlāʻau flies in droves everlasting
The mural includes a written excerpt from a recently created oli (chant) that pairs threatened native manu (birds) with fish kiaʻi (guardians) from the sea and plant kiaʻi from the land to help guide the birds back into abundance.
“The oli was created by Kekuhi Kealiʻikanakaʻoleohaililani and the bird biocultural group ʻAhuimanu,” says Hart. “I am a member of that group and worked with Kekuhi and others to create an oli for Hawaiian birds called ʻO ka Lele a nei ʻāuna to perpetuate the health of our native manu. The oli below the mural is taken from the larger O ka Lele oli.”
Here is the oli excerpt included in the mural:
ʻO wai ke kia o ka waʻa o Makaliʻi?
ʻO ka ʻakiapōlāʻau ke kia!
Kiaʻi ʻia e ka ʻina noho i kai.
Ola a mau loa i ke koa noho i uka.
ʻO ka ʻakiapōlāʻau, auna lele a paʻa, paʻahia!
Translated into English:
Who is the mast of the canoe of Makaliʻi?
The ʻakiapōlāʻau is the mast!
Accompanied by the ʻina which dwells at sea.
Healthy and ever enduring through the koa which dwells inland.
The ʻakiapōlāʻau flies in droves everlasting, they are secured!
A collaborative project
Holmes was contracted to do the painting by the board of the Friends of Hakalau Forest NWR, led by its president Debbie Anderson.
Professor Hart’s role was to work with Anderson and the artist on a number of early drafts of the mural.
Hart also worked with several UH Hilo administrators on mural placement, scheduling, and logistics: Pelehonuamea Harman who serves as director of Hawaiian engagement, Simon Kattenhorn who is dean of the College of Natural and Health Sciences, and Kalei Rapoza who serves as the Vice Chancellor for Administrative Affairs.
For more information about the mural’s dedication ceremony on January 25, contact Pele Harman.
Story by Susan Enright, a public information specialist for the Office of the Chancellor and editor of UH Hilo Stories. She received her bachelor of arts in English and certificate in women’s studies from UH Hilo.
