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Ciridops sp., Oahu

EXTINCT

Ula-ai-hawane
Ciridops anna

Description of Ciridops anna: Average length: 11 cm (4¼"). The adult Ula-ai-hawane was crimson red overall with intricate patterns. The head, throat, and upper back were silvery gray. The crown, wings, breast, shoulder, and tail were black, while the tertials were white. The legs and bill were yellowish. Immature birds were brownish overall with a bluish-gray breast, black wings and tail, and a greenish-brown back.

The Ula-ai-hawane is extinct. Only five specimens were ever collected, the first in 1859. The last specimen, an immature, was taken in the Kohala Mountains on February 20, 1892 by natives, who reported that there were more of such birds there. Searches for more specimens resulted negatively, as natives had mistaken Akepas for Ula-ai-hawane. Henry Palmer offered rewards for more specimens, but none were ever obtained. The last report of this bird was in 1937 when George Munro thought he saw the bird in the Kohala Mountains; however, Munro himself stated that this was unlikely, and the sighting was never confirmed. This species possibly went extinct due to the scarcity of the hawane palm, but there were probably other factors involved.

The Oahu species was very similar to the Ula -ai-hawane. Storrs Olson and Helen James described Ciridops sp., Oahu based on bones recovered from Barbers Point , Oahu. The following is from Description of thirty-two new species of birds from the Hawaiian islands by Olson and James. "Fossils of Ciridops from Oahu resemble C. anna in having the long bones of the hind limb very stout, but differ in having the bill and the long bones slightly shorter. The Oahu bird is perhaps a distinct species,but for the present we have refrained from naming it."



Please do what you can to save the native Hawaiian forest bird species that remain.

Aloha,
Michael Walther