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S p e c i e s o f t h e M o n t h
Chaetoptila aff. Angustipluma
Kioea
EXTINCT
This unique honeyeater was first collected in 1840 by Pickering and Peale of the U.S. Exploring Expedition and was described to science by Peale in 1848. This species was not well known by Hawaiians due to its rarity, although they did name it. The native name kioea means to stand tall and is in reference to the species' long legs.
Average length: 33 cm (13"). The Kioea was a large bird with a variety of patterns. The wings and tail were dark olive, while the head was brighter olive. There were stripes on the head, breast, and throat while the back had white spots. There was a large black patch surrounding the brown eye. The undertail coverts were bright chestnut. The Kioea also had unusual bristles below its long bill.
This species is extinct and has been since the 1860s. Only four specimens were ever collected: the first in 1840 and the rest in 1859 by Mills. The Kioea was presumably on the decline long before it was discovered by European science, but its extinction is largely a mystery. Native Hawaiians never prized the bird like they did the oos, and so the bird may have become extinct due to natural factors.
Fossils of 5 or 6 individuals of this or a very similar species were discovered by Sinoto in 1978. at Barbers Point on Oahu in a domed cavern that was filled with thirty feet of of fresh water . It was neccesary to use scuba equipment to recover the rare fossils. The following passage from Prodromus of the Fossil Avifauna of the Hawaiian Islands describes the discovery;
"Most of the bones were found as nearly complete, associated skeletons lying in a part of the cavern about 4.5-5 m deep, fairly near the present entrance."
Olson and James go on to write,
"Because of zoogeographical considerations ,it is probable that the Oahu population represents a distinct species,though we have not been able to determine this yet."
Please do what you can to save the native Hawaiian forest bird species that remain.
Aloha,
Michael Walther
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