S p e c i e s   o f   t h e   M o n t h

 

EXTINCT

Oahu Palila Psittirostra bailleui

In an effort to recreate the true picture of the incredible diversity of native forest bird species that once thrived on Oahu it is necessary to describe extinct Oahu species that we know only from the sub fossil record. Some of these species ,including the Palila, are still present on other islands.

The Palila is a finch-billed honeycreeper with a golden-yellow head, gray back, and gray/white belly. The female and immature birds are more subdued in color. Their finch-like bill is dark on adults and orange on fledglings. One of the larger honeycreepers, the Palila usually measures 6 inches (15 centimeters).

The Palila has a short call as well as a long melodious song. Its favorite food consists of fully developed, unhardened mamane seeds in green pods or in mature pods that are just beginning to brown. This active bird also likes to eat insects, mamane flowers, buds, leaves and naio berries. The Palila breeds from March to September and usually lays two eggs.

Historically, the Palila is known only from the island of Hawai`i, occurring in the native mamane-naio forest on the upper slopes of Mauna Kea, the northwest slopes of Mauna Loa, and the eastern slopes of Hualalei. Scientists as early as 1944 believed the bird was near extinction. In 1975, there were an estimated 1,614 Palila. Annual surveys from 1880-1995 have documented an estimated 3,000 individuals remaining, 92% of which occur on the south slope of Mauna Kea.

The Palila is threatened by invasive alien plants that compete with native species; feral animals such as cats, rats, and mongooses; livestock grazing that destroys vegetation; and fire.

Oahu Population Data
In prehistoric times, Palila also occurred at low elevation sites on O`ahu. Fossils of P. Bailleui were found in the deposits at Barbers Point , Oahu, revealing that the species was once more widely distributed in the archipelago. As the Barbers Point deposits are only a few hundred meters from the present shoreline , near sea level, it is evident that the Palila is not naturally restricted to high elevations. Its principal food, Sophora, has been collected on both slopes of the Waianae volcano on Oahu.



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

Aloha,
Michael Walther