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'Hawaiian honeycreepers' are small passerine birds endemic to Hawaiʻi. Some authorities categorize this group as a family 'Drepanididae', but more recently they are usually gplaced as a subfamily 'Drepanidinae' of the finch family Fringillidae.
The group is divided into three tribes:

★ Psittirostrini (Hawaiian finches), seedeaters with thick finch-like bills and songs like those of cardueline finches.

★ Hemignathini (Hawaiian creepers and allies, including nukupuʻus). These are generally green-plumaged birds with thin bills which feed on nectar and insects

★ Drepanidini (Mamos, ʻIʻiwi and allies). These are birds often with red plumage. They are nectar-feeders and their songs contain nasal squeaks and whistles.
Some unusual forms never seen alive by scientists, such as ''Xestospiza'' or ''Vangulifer'', cannot easily be placed into any group.
The male Hawaiian honeycreepers are more brightly coloured than the females in the Psittirostrini, but in the Hemignathini, they often look very similar. The flowers of the native plant ''Metrosideros polymorpha'' (''ʻōhiʻa lehua'') are favoured by a number of nectar-eating honeycreepers.
The wide range of bills in this group, from thick finch-like bills to slender downcurved bills for probing flowers have arisen through adaptive radiation, where an ancestral finch has evolved to fill a large number of ecological niches. Some 15 forms of Hawaiian honeycreeper have become extinct in the recent past, many more since the arrival of the Polynesians who introduced the first rats and in some cases started destroying habitat for agriculture (James & Olson 1991, Olson & James 1991). The recent extinctions are due to the introduction of other rodent species and the mongoose, habitat destruction and avian malaria and fowlpox. However, conservation efforts are attempting to neutralize these threats.

Contents

Genera and species

References

External links

Genera and species

The term "prehistoric" indicates species that went extinct between the initial human settlement of Hawai‘i (i.e., from the late 1st millennium AD on) and European contact in 1778.
'FAMILY DREPANIDIDAE '

★ 'Genus ''Telespiza''' - finch-like, granivores, opportunistic scavengers

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★ Nihoa Finch, ''Telespiza ultima''

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★ Laysan Finch, ''Telespiza cantans''

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★ Kauaʻi Finch, ''Telespiza persecutrix'' - prehistoric

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★ Maui Nui Finch, ''Telespiza ypsilon'' - prehistoric

★ 'Genus ''Psittirostra''' - slightly hooked bill, ''ʻieʻie'' fruit specialist

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★ ʻOʻu, ''Psittirostra psittacea'' - probably extinct (late 1990s?)

★ 'Genus ''Dysmorodrepanis''' - pincer-like bill, possibly snail specialist

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★ Lanaʻi Hookbill, ''Dysmorodrepanis munroi'' - extinct (1918)

★ 'Genus ''Loxioides''' - finch-like, Fabales seed specialists

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★ Palila, ''Loxioides bailleui''

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★ Pila's Palila, ''Loxioides kikuichi'' - prehistoric; possibly survived to the early 18th century

★ 'Genus ''Rhodacanthis''' - finch-like, ''koa'' seed specialists

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★ Lesser Koa-finch, ''Rhodacanthis flaviceps'' - extinct (1891)

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★ Greater Koa-finch, ''Rhodacanthis palmeri'' - extinct (1896)

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★ Scissor-billed Koa-finch, ''Rhodacanthis forfex'' - prehistoric

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★ Primitive Koa-finch, ''Rhodacanthis litotes'' - prehistoric

★ 'Genus ''Chloridops''' - thick-billed, ''naio'' and other hard seed specialist

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★ Kona Grosbeak, ''Chloridops kona'' - extinct (1894)

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★ Oʻahu Grosbeak, ''Chloridops wahi'' - prehistoric

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★ Giant ("King Kong") Grosbeak, ''Chloridops regiskongi'' - prehistoric

★ 'Genus ''Orthiospiza''' - large weak bill, possibly soft seed or fruit specialist?

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★ Highland Finch, ''Orthiospiza howarthi'' - prehistoric

★ 'Genus ''Xestospiza''' - cone-shaped bills, possibly insectivores

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★ Cone-billed Finch, ''Xestospiza conica'' - prehistoric

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★ Ridge-billed Finch, ''Xestospiza fastigialis'' - prehistoric

★ 'Genus ''Pseudonestor''' - parrot-like bill, probes rotting wood for insect larvae

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★ Maui Parrotbill, ''Pseudonestor xanthophrys''

★ 'Genus ''Hemignathus''' - pointed or long and downcurved bills, insectivores or nectarivores

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★ Common ʻAmakihi or Hawaiʻi ʻAmakihi, ''Hemignathus virens''

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★ Oʻahu ʻAmakihi, ''Hemignathus flavus''

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★ Kauaʻi ʻAmakihi, ''Hemignathus kauaiensis''

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★ Nukupuʻu, ''Hemignathus lucidus'' - possibly extinct (c.2000?)

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★ Greater ʻAmakihi, ''Hemignathus sagittirostris'' - extinct (1901)

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★ Giant ʻAmakihi, ''Hemignathus vorpalis'' - prehistoric

★ (Sub)Genus ''Magumma''

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★ ʻAnianiau, ''Hemignathus parvus'' or ''Magumma parva''

★ (Sub)Genus ''Akialoa''

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★ Hawaiʻi ʻAkialoa, ''Hemignathus obscurus'' or ''Akialoa obscura'' - extinct (1940)

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★ Maui Nui ʻAkialoa, ''Hemignathus lanaiensis'' or ''Akialoa lanaiensis'' - extinct (1892)

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★ Oʻahu ʻAkialoa, ''Hemignathus ellisianus'' or ''Akialoa ellisiana'' - extinct (1940)

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★ Kauaʻi ʻAkialoa, ''Hemignathus stejnegeri'' or ''Akialoa stejnegeri'' - extinct (1969)

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★ Hoopoe-billed ʻAkialoa, ''Hemignathus upupirostris'' or ''Akialoa upupirostris'' - prehistoric

★ (Sub)Genus ''Heterorhynchus''

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★ ʻAkiapolaʻau, ''Hemignathus munroi'' or ''Heterorhynchus wilsoni''

★ 'Genus ''Oreomystis''' - short pointed bills, browsers

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★ ʻAkikiki, ''Oreomystis bairdi''

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★ Hawaiʻi Creeper, ''Oreomystis mana''

★ 'Genus ''Paroreomyza''' - similar to Oreomystis

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★ Maui Nui ʻAlauahio or Maui ʻAlauahio, ''Paroreomyza montana''

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★ Lanaʻi ʻAlauahio, ''Paroreomyza montana montana'' - extinct (1937)

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★ Kakawahie, ''Paroreomyza flammea'' - extinct (1963)

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★ Oʻahu ʻAlauahio, ''Paroreomyza maculata'' - possibly extinct (early 1990s?)

★ 'Genus ''Vangulifer''' - flat rounded bills, possibly caught flying insects

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★ Strange-billed Finch, ''Vangulifer mirandus'' - prehistoric

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★ Thin-billed Finch, ''Vangulifer neophasis'' - prehistoric

★ 'Genus ''Aidemedia''' - straight thin bills, insectivores

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★ Oʻahu Icterid-like Gaper, ''Aidemedia chascax'' - prehistoric

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★ Sickle-billed Gaper, ''Aidemedia zanclops'' - prehistoric

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★ Maui Nui Icterid-like Gaper, ''Aidemedia lutetiae'' - prehistoric

★ 'Genus ''Loxops''' - small pointed bills with the tips offset a little horizontally, insectivores

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★ ʻAkekeʻe, ''Loxops caeruleirostris''

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★ Akepa, ''Loxops coccineus''

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★ Maui Akepa, ''Loxops coccineus ochraceus'' - extinct (1988)

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★ Oʻahu Akepa, ''Loxops coccineus wolstenholmei'' - extinct (1990s)

★ 'Genus ''Ciridops''' - finch-like, fed on ''loulu'' fruits etc.

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★ ʻUla-ʻai-Hawane, ''Ciridops anna'' - extinct (1892 or 1937)

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★ Stout-legged Finch, ''Ciridops tenax'' - prehistoric

★ 'Genus ''Vestiaria''' - downcurved bill, nectarivore

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★ ʻIʻiwi, ''Vestiaria coccinea''

★ 'Genus ''Drepanis''' - downcurved bills, nectarivores

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★ Hawaiʻi Mamo, ''Drepanis pacifica'' - extinct (1898)

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★ Black Mamo, ''Drepanis funerea'' - extinct (1907)

★ 'Genus ''Palmeria''' - thin bill, nectarivore, especially ʻohiʻa

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★ ʻAkohekohe, ''Palmeria dolei''

★ 'Genus ''Himatione''' - thin bill, nectarivore

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★ ʻApapane, ''Himatione sanguinea''

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★ Laysan ʻApapane, ''Himatione (sanguinea) freethi'' - extinct (1923)

★ 'Genus ''Melamprosops''' - short pointed bill, browser and snail specialist

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★ Poʻo-uli, ''Melamprosops phaeosoma'' - probably extinct (November 28, 2004?)
Several other prehistoric forms are undescribed, as they are known only from very fragmentary fossil remains insufficient to deterine taxonomic affiliation. These include one taxon from O‘ahu, at least 3 from Maui, and possibly 2 enigmatic passerines from Kauaʻi which may or may not be drepanidids.

References

★ 'Groth', J. G. 1998. Molecular phylogeny of the cardueline finches and Hawaiian honeycreepers. Ostrich, 69: 401.

★ 'James', Helen F. & Olson,Storrs L. (1991): Descriptions of Thirty-Two New Species of Birds from the Hawaiian Islands: Part II. Passeriformes. ''Ornithological Monographs'' '46': 1-92. PDF fulltext

★ 'Olson', Storrs L. & James, Helen F. (1991): Descriptions of Thirty-Two New Species of Birds from the Hawaiian Islands: Part I. Non-Passeriformes. ''Ornithological Monographs'' '46': 1-91. PDF fulltext

External links

★ Hawaiian Honeycreeper videos on the Internet Bird Collection