 | This article needs additional citations for verification .(July 2020) |
The accuracy of these dates for bird extinctions varies wildly between one entry and another.
| | This article needs additional citations for verification .(July 2020) |
The accuracy of these dates for bird extinctions varies wildly between one entry and another.
c. 1400
c. 1500
1650
1680
1681
1690
c. 1700
1722
1750
1760
1765
1770
1776
1777
1780
1793
c. 1800
1801
1825
1826
1827
1828
1830
1837
1840
1842
1844
c. 1850
1851
1853
1859
1860
1864
1868
1869
1870
1873
1874
1875
1879
1880
1881
1884
1887
1890
1891
1892
1894
1895
1896
1898
1899
c. 1900
1901
1904
1906
1907
1908
1910
1911
1914
1916
1918
1920
1923
1925
1927
1928
1929
1930
1931
1932
1934
1936
1937
1940
1941
1944
1945
1950
1952
1959
1963
1964
1965
1969
1970
1971
1974
1980
1985
1987
1988
1990
1995
1998
c. 2000
2004
2007
2011
2019 spix's macaw
Located about 2300 miles (3680 km) from the nearest continental shore, the Hawaiian Islands are the most isolated group of islands on the planet. The plant and animal life of the Hawaiian archipelago is the result of early, very infrequent colonizations of arriving species and the slow evolution of those species—in isolation from the rest of the world's flora and fauna—over a period of at least 5 million years. As a consequence, Hawai'i is home to a large number of endemic species. The radiation of species described by Charles Darwin in the Galapagos Islands which was critical to the formulation of his theory of evolution is far exceeded in the more isolated Hawaiian Islands.
This article is one of a series providing information about endemism among birds in the world's various zoogeographic zones. For an overview of this subject see Endemism in birds.
Hawaiian honeycreepers are a group of small birds endemic to Hawaiʻi. They are members of the finch family Fringillidae, closely related to the rosefinches (Carpodacus), but many species have evolved features unlike those present in any other finch. Their great morphological diversity is the result of adaptive radiation in an insular environment. Many have been driven to extinction since the first humans arrived in Hawaii, with extinctions increasing over the last 2 centuries following European discovery of the islands, with habitat destruction and especially invasive species being the main causes.