Avifaunal changes in the Hawaiian Islands, 1893-1993

Author:

Pratt, H. Douglas

Title:

Avifaunal changes in the Hawaiian Islands, 1893-1993

Periodical:

A Century of Avifaunal Change in Western North America

Year:

1994

Volume:

15

Pages:

103-118

Subject:

Avian malaria Avifauna Introduced birds Mongooses Feral ungulates Birds extinction

Summary:

Two-thirds of the 68 species present in the main Hawaiian islands in 1893 are now extinct or endangered. The century began with rapid disappearances and declines of forest birds, which resulted mostly from alien bird diseases including avian pox and avian malaria. Habitat alteration by man and feral pigs and predation by introduced mongooses have also contributed to the decline. As a result of human disturbance, nesting seabirds had nearly disappeared from the main islands by 1893. With the decline of egg-gathering and legal protection of offshore islets, many colonies have been re-established. Those that attempt to nest on the main islands, including the endangered Hawaiian Petrel and threatened Newell’s Shearwater, still suffer from predation by mongooses and feral pets.The Hawaiian Islands now harbor more alien bird species than any other place on earth, most of them introduced since 1893. With the exception of freshwater birds, the lowland Hawaiian avifauna is now entirely artificial.

URL:

https://sora.unm.edu/sites/default/files/journals/sab/sab_015.pdf

Date:

1994

Collection:

Monographs