UH Hilo Center for Maunakea Stewardship - Research Library

Status of Akiapolaau at Kapapala, Hawaii

Author:
Pratt, Thane K., Tweed, Erik, Fretz, J. Scott.
Title:
Status of Akiapolaau at Kapapala, Hawaii
Periodical:
Elepaio
Year:
2009
Volume:
69
Pages:
p.1-4
Subject:
Akiapolaau Birds populations Birds monitoring
Summary:
The Akiapolaau (Hemignathus wilsoni) is the rarest and uniquely specialized, insectivorous Hawaiian honeycreeper that is endemic to the Island of Hawaii and is listed as an endangered species by the federal and state government agencies. This is possibly due to its dependence on high-elevation koa forest habitat and its specialized foraging ecology. This bird has a long, hook-shaped upper mandible and a straight, much shorter lower mandible and uses its bill to locate and extract prey such as caterpillars, spiders, and beetle larvae beneath bark or epiphytes. Only two populations exist today (two more are possibly extinct in subalpine Mauna Kea and mid-elevation Kona), with no, or very limited, gene flow between them due to habitat deforestation. As a result, the purpose of this study was to conduct surveys for the Akiapolaau in the Kapapala Forest Reserve in order to characterize the population of this endangered species adjacent to the Kapapala Koa Management Unit.
Label:
Birds - Akiapolaau
Date:
February 2009
Collection:
Periodicals