The Atlantic canary, known worldwide simply as the wild canary and also called the island canary, common canary, or canary, is a small passerine bird belonging to the genus Serinus in the finch family, Fringillidae. It is native to the Canary Islands, the Azores, and Madeira. Wild birds are mostly yellow-green, with brownish streaking on the back. The species is common in captivity and a number of colour varieties have been bred.
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 "tooth".
The Northwestern Hawaiian Islands or Leeward Hawaiian Islands are the small islands and atolls in the Hawaiian island chain located northwest of the islands of Kauai and Niihau. Politically, they are all part of Honolulu County in the U.S. state of Hawaii, except Midway Atoll, which is a territory distinct from the State of Hawaii, and grouped as one of the United States Minor Outlying Islands. The United States Census Bureau defines this area, except Midway, as Census Tract 114.98 of Honolulu County. Its total land area is 3.1075 square miles (8.048 km2). All the islands except Nihoa are north of the Tropic of Cancer, making them the only islands in Hawaii that lie outside the tropics.
Laysan, located 808 nautical miles northwest of Honolulu at 25°42′14″N171°44′04″W, is one of the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands. It comprises 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 a shallow central lake some 8 feet (2.4 m) above sea level that has a salinity approximately three times greater than the ocean. Laysan's Hawaiian name, Kauō, means egg.
The Laysan rail or Laysan crake was a flightless bird endemic to the Northwest Hawaiian Island of Laysan. This small island was and still is an important seabird colony, and sustained a number of endemic species, including the rail. It became extinct due to habitat loss by domestic rabbits, and ultimately World War II.
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 puaiohi, or small Kauaʻi thrush, is a rare species of songbird in the thrush family, Turdidae, that is endemic to the Hawaiian island of Kauaʻi. It is closely related to the other three endemic Hawaiian thrushes, the kāmaʻo, olomaʻo, and ʻōmaʻo. It was first collected by Henry Palmer in 1891 at Halemanu around the entrance to the Kōkeʻe State Park.
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.
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 palila is a critically endangered finch-billed species of Hawaiian honeycreeper. It has a golden-yellow head and breast, with a light belly, gray back, and greenish wings and tail. The bird has a close ecological relationship with the māmane tree, and became endangered due to destruction of the trees and accompanying dry forests. The first specimen of the palila was collected in 1876 at the Greenwell Ranch on the Big Island by Pierre Étienne Théodore Ballieu (1828–1885), who was French consul in Hawai‘i from 1869 to 1878. The type specimen is housed at the Muséum national d'histoire naturelle in Paris.
The Fiji parrotfinch is a species of estrildid finch endemic to Fiji that was formerly considered to be a subspecies of the red-headed parrotfinch. This parrotfinch is a small, mainly green bird with a red head and tail and a stubby dark grey bill. It is found in both forested and open habitats, and has adapted well to man-made environments such as grasslands, pasture and gardens. Pairs have a courtship display in which they fly above the trees in an undulating flight, calling constantly. Breeding birds build a domed grass nest with a side entrance, and lay a clutch normally of four white eggs. Newly hatched chicks are naked and pink, with blue balls at the upper and lower corners of the gape, and black markings inside the mouth; older fledglings resemble the adults, but lack the red head colouring. The Fiji parrotfinch eats seeds, especially of grasses, and also readily feeds on insects and nectar. It forms small flocks of up to six birds after the breeding season.
The white-bridled finch, also known as the canary-winged finch or black-throated finch, is a small passerine bird belonging to the genus Melanodera together with the yellow-bridled finch. Formerly placed in the family Emberizidae, it is now considered a tanager. It is found in grassland in southernmost South America. There are two subspecies: M. m. melanodera in the Falkland Islands and M. m. princetoniana in southern Argentina and Chile.
The ʻōmaʻo is an endemic species of robin-like bird found only on the island of Hawaii. ʻŌmaʻo are closely related to the other endemic thrushes of the Hawaiian Islands, the kāmaʻo, the olomaʻo, and the puaiohi. ʻŌmaʻo are found primarily in rainforests in the eastern and southeastern regions of the Big Island. Population estimates approximate 170,000 birds, making it the most common of the Hawaiian thrushes. It appears to have a stable population, but because the entire population exists on a small range and is endemic to a single island, it is considered vulnerable.
The Oʻahu ʻalauahio, also known as the Oʻahu creeper, is a small finch-like Hawaiian honeycreeper that is endemic to the Hawaiian island of Oahu. It is probably extinct.
Psittirostrini is a formerly-recognized tribe of Hawaiian honeycreepers. It was used for the finch-like honeycreepers that once inhabited all of the Hawaiian Islands. These birds are granivorous and have songs like those of non-Hawaiian cardueline finches. The only definitely extant species are the Laysan finch, the Nihoa finch, the Maui parrotbill, and the palila. Extinct species include the koa finches, the ʻōʻū, and the Lanaʻi hookbill.
Hawaiian honeycreepers are a group of small, passerine birds endemic to Hawaiʻi. They are closely related to the rosefinches in the genus 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.
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.
