Related Research Articles
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.
The genus Pritchardia consists of between 24 and 40 species of fan palms found on tropical Pacific Ocean islands in Fiji, Samoa, Tonga, Tuamotus, and most diversely in Hawaii. The generic name honors William Thomas Pritchard (1829-1907), a British consul at Fiji.
Maui Nui is a modern geologists' name given to a prehistoric Hawaiian island and the corresponding modern biogeographic region. Maui Nui is composed of four modern islands: Maui, Molokaʻi, Lānaʻi, and Kahoʻolawe. Administratively, the four modern islands comprise Maui County. Long after the breakup of Maui Nui, the four modern islands retained plant and animal life similar to each other. Thus, Maui Nui is not only a prehistoric island but also a modern biogeographic region.
The Alakaʻi Wilderness Preserve, popularly known as Alakaʻi Swamp, is a montane wet forest on the Hawaiian island of Kauaʻi. Although the preserve is home to alpine bogs, it is not a true swamp. It is located on a plateau near Mount Waiʻaleʻale, one of the wettest spots on Earth. Due to its unique combination of high elevation and climate, the Alakaʻi Swamp harbors a large number of endangered endemic species that are only found in this area and whose population has been dramatically declining over the last decades. It is designated as a IUCN protected area.
The cardueline finches are a subfamily, Carduelinae, one of three subfamilies of the finch family Fringillidae, the others being the Fringillinae and the Euphoniinae. The Hawaiian honeycreepers are now included in this subfamily. Except for the Hawaiian honeycreepers which underwent adaptive radiation in Hawaii and have evolved a broad range of diets, cardueline finches are specialised seed eaters, and unlike most passerine birds, they feed their young mostly on seeds, which are regurgitated. Besides this, they differ from the other finches in some minor details of their skull. They are adept at opening seeds and clinging to stems, unlike other granivorous birds, such as sparrows and buntings, which feed mostly on fallen seeds. Some members of this subfamily are further specialised to feed on a particular type of seed, such as cones in the case of crossbills. Carduelines forage in flocks throughout the year, rather than keeping territories, and males defend their females rather than a territory or nest.
Akialoa is an extinct genus of Hawaiian honeycreeper in the subfamily Carduelinae of the family Fringillidae. The ʻakialoa species are all extinct, but they formerly occurred throughout Hawaii.
The Maui ʻalauahio, also known as the Maui Nui ʻalauahio or Maui creeper, is a species of Hawaiian honeycreeper. It is endemic to Maui Nui, Hawaii. The name Maui ʻalauahio is somewhat misleading because the species seems to have occurred on most, if not all, parts of the ancient Maui Nui, which includes the present day islands of Maui, Molokaʻi, Lānaʻi, and Kahoʻolawe. There are two subspecies: the Lānaʻi ʻalauahio, P. montana montana, which occurred on Lānaʻi (extinct); and P. montana newtoni which occurs on Maui. The common name refers to both groups.
The Kauaʻi nukupuʻu was a species of nukupuʻu once found throughout parts of the Hawaiian island of Kauaʻi. It was an insect eater that picked out its tiny prey from tree bark. The males were yellowish with brown wings, while the females were grayish brown with a yellow throat streak.
The Oʻahu nukupuʻu is an extinct species of nukupuʻu, a type of Hawaiian honeycreeper native to Oahu, which was similar to its cousins from the Islands of Kauaʻi and Maui. It is yellowish greyish with a long hooked beak to find insects. This bird is now extinct due to human activity.
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.
Harold Douglas Pratt Jr., often credited in the short form H. Douglas Pratt or as Doug Pratt, is an American ornithologist, bio acoustican, wildlife photographer, bird illustrator, and musician. His main research field are the endemic avifaunas of Hawaii and other islands in the Pacific where he was one of the pioneers of the voice recordings of birds. Pratt is a Fellow of the American Ornithologists' Union.
The Hawaiʻi ʻelepaio, also Hawaiian ʻelepaio, is a monarch flycatcher found on the Big Island of Hawaii. Until 2010, all three ʻelepaio species, the Kauaʻi ʻelepaio, the Oʻahu ʻelepaio and this species were considered conspecific.
The Hawaiʻi ʻakepa is an endangered ʻakepa native to Hawaiʻi in the Hawaiian Islands. All three of the ʻakepa were considered monotypic before being split by the NACC of the AOU in 2015. The Hawaii ʻakepa was first collected by western science during Captain James Cook's third voyage around the world. Several specimens were collected, as well as feather leis constructed by Hawaiian artisans. The specimens were classified when brought back to England several years later. The Latin name of the bird, Loxops coccineus, means "crossed" (Loxops) and "red" (coccineus).
References
- (2005). Hawaii's Birds. Hawaii Audubon Society. Sixth ed.