| Millerbird | |
|---|---|
 | |
| At Laysan, Northwestern Hawaiian Islands, USA | |
Scientific classification  | |
| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Aves |
| Order: | Passeriformes |
| Family: | Acrocephalidae |
| Genus: | Acrocephalus |
| Species: | A. familiaris |
| Binomial name | |
| Acrocephalus familiaris (Rothschild, 1892) | |
| Subspecies | |
 | |
The millerbird (Acrocephalus familiaris) is a species of Old World warbler in the family Acrocephalidae endemic to the Hawaiian Islands.
It has two subspecies, A. f. kingi and A f. familiaris. The nominate subspecies, the Laysan millerbird, became extinct sometime between 1916 and 1923. The other, the critically endangered Nihoa millerbird, is the only race left, inhabiting the small island of Nihoa in Hawaiʻi, though it has since been reintroduced to Laysan. It is the only Old World warbler to have colonised Hawaiʻi, and there is no fossil evidence that the species ever had a distribution beyond these two islands.
Millerbirds form long-term pair bonds and defend territories over a number of years. Territories can be as large as 0.95 hectares (2.3 acres), although 0.19–0.40 hectares (0.47–0.99 acres) is more typical. Breeding occurs variably from January to September depending on food availability.
A small warbler that occurs only on Nihoa and Laysan in the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands. It is unlikely to be confused with any other species; the only other passerines on those islands are finches. It does not occur on the main Hawaiian Islands and prefers dense, low vegetation. It is usually secretive and hard to see well, but males sometimes sing from an exposed perch. The song and calls are harsh chirps and churring.
The Acrocephalus warblers are small, insectivorous passerine birds belonging to the genus Acrocephalus. Formerly in the paraphyletic Old World warbler assemblage, they are now separated as the namesake of the marsh and tree warbler family Acrocephalidae. They are sometimes called marsh warblers or reed warblers, but this invites confusion with marsh warbler and reed warbler.
Located about 2,300 miles (3,680 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.
Nihoa, also known as Bird Island or Moku Manu, is the tallest of ten islands and atolls in the uninhabited Northwestern Hawaiian Islands (NWHI). The island is located at the southern end of the NWHI chain, 296 km (160 nmi) southeast of Necker Island. Nihoa is the closest NWHI in proximity to the eight main windward Hawaiian Islands at approximately 240 km (130 nmi) northwest of the island of Kauaʻi. The island has two peaks, 272 m (892 ft) Miller's Peak in the west, and 259 m (850 ft) Tanager Peak in the east. Nihoa's area is about 171 acres (0.69 km2) and is surrounded by a 142,000-acre (57,000 ha) coral reef. Its jagged outline gives the island its name, Nīhoa, which is Hawaiian for "toothed, serrated".
The Northwestern Hawaiian Islands also known as the Leeward Hawaiian Islands, are a series of islands and atolls located northwest of Kauai and Niʻihau in the Hawaiian island chain. Politically, these islands are part of Honolulu County in the U.S. state of Hawaii, with the exception of Midway Atoll. Midway Atoll is a territory distinct from the State of Hawaii, and is classified as one of the United States Minor Outlying Islands. The United States Census Bureau designates this area, excluding Midway Atoll, as Census Tract 114.98 of Honolulu County. The total land area of these islands is 3.1075 square miles. With the exception of Nihoa, all these islands lie north of the Tropic of Cancer, making them the only islands in Hawaii situated outside the tropics.
Laysan is one of the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands, located 808 nautical miles northwest of Honolulu. It has one land mass of 1,016 acres (4.11 km2), about 1 by 1+1⁄2 miles in size. It is an atoll of sorts, although the land completely surrounds Laysen Lake some 2.4 m (7.9 ft) above sea level that has a salinity approximately three times greater than the ocean. Laysan's Hawaiian name, Kauō, means 'egg'.
The Laysan finch is a species of Hawaiian honeycreeper, that is endemic to the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands. It is one of four remaining finch-billed Hawaiian honeycreepers and is closely related to the smaller Nihoa finch. The Laysan finch is named for Laysan, the island to which it was endemic on its discovery. It was subsequently introduced to a few other atolls, and its historical range included some of the main islands.
The Nihoa millerbird is a subspecies of the millerbird. It gets its name from its preferred food, the Miller moth. The 5-inch (13 cm) long millerbird has dark, sepia-colored feathers, white belly, and dark beak. Its natural geographic range is limited to the tiny island of Nihoa in the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands, and it is hoped that birds translocated to Laysan will help to ensure the survival of the species. The Nihoa millerbird is one of the two endemic birds remaining on Nihoa, the other being the Nihoa finch.
Pritchardia remota, the Nihoa pritchardia, Nihoa fan palm, or Loulu, is a species of palm endemic on the island of Nihoa, Hawaiʻi, and later transplanted to the island of Laysan. It is a smaller tree than most other species of Pritchardia, typically reaching only 4–5 metres (13–16 ft) tall and with a trunk diameter of 15 centimetres (5.9 in). It is the only type of tree on the island and used to be abundant. In 1885 a wildfire ravaged the island, destroying most of the palms. Only about 700 of these trees remain, making the species endangered but numbers are slowly increasing. The palm is being cultivated in botanical gardens.
The Laysan millerbird was a subspecies of the millerbird, similar in appearance to the remaining subspecies, the Nihoa millerbird. Its dorsal side was brown, and its belly was grayish. Its name derives from its favorite food, several species of moths of the genus Agrotis commonly referred to as "millers".
Amaranthus brownii was an annual herb in the family Amaranthaceae. The plant was found only on the small island of Nihoa in the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands, growing on rocky outcrops at altitudes of 120–215 m (394–705 ft). It was one of nine species of Amaranthus in the Hawaiian Islands, as well as the only endemic Hawaiian species of the genus. It is now considered extinct.
The TanagerExpedition was a series of five biological surveys of the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands conducted in partnership between the Bureau of Biological Survey and the Bishop Museum, with the assistance of the United States Navy. Four expeditions occurred from April to August 1923, and a fifth in July 1924. Led by Lieutenant Commander Samuel Wilder King on the minesweeper USS Tanager (AM-5), and Alexander Wetmore directing the team of scientists, the expedition studied the plant animal life, and geology of the central Pacific islands. Noted members of the team include archaeologist Kenneth Emory and herpetologist Chapman Grant.
The Acrocephalidae are a family of oscine passerine birds, in the superfamily Sylvioidea.
The Laysan honeycreeper, also known as the Laysan ʻapapane or Laysan honeyeater, is an extinct species of finch that was endemic to the island of Laysan in the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands. The bird was first recorded in 1828 and in 1892 received its scientific name from Walter Rothschild, who placed it in the genus Himatione along with the ʻapapane. The specific name, fraithii, refers to George D. Freeth, the self-appointed governor of Laysan, but was misspelled. Rothschild attempted to emend it to freethi in a later publication. This was accepted by most subsequent authors throughout the 20th century, and the bird was also considered a subspecies of the ʻapapane, as H. sanguinea freethii, for most of this time. By the 21st century, after further research, the original name was reinstated and it was considered a full species again. As a Hawaiian honeycreeper, a grouping within the finch subfamily Carduelinae, its ancestors are thought to have come from Asia.
The Saipan reed warbler or gå'ga' karisu in Chamorro is a critically endangered songbird of the Northern Mariana Islands.
Eragrostis variabilis is a species of grass known by the common names variable lovegrass, kawelu, emoloa, and kalamalo. It is endemic to Hawaii, where it occurs on all the main islands plus Kure Atoll, Midway Atoll, Pearl and Hermes Atoll, Lisianski Island, Laysan, and Nihoa.
The Northwestern Hawaii scrub is a tropical and subtropical grasslands, savannas, and shrublands ecoregion on the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands in the Pacific Ocean.
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