Akialoa ellisianus (O'ahu ʻAkialoa)

[sebbe67]

Not seen since the end of the 19th Century.

The Hawaiian name 'AKIALOA (or Akihialoa) refers to the long, curved bill of this species.

Both sexes dull olive-green with very short tails. Very slight paler supercilium above and before eye. Very long, deeply decurved pale gray bill, which was somewhat shorter than the other 'Akialoa. Legs gray. Bill of females and immatures shorter and less curved. (7 - 7.5 inches) Call: Louder and deeper than 'Amakihi calls. Song: A trill intermediate between songs of 'Akiapola'au and 'Amakihi.

This species was a bark-creeper which picked insects from cracks and holes in clumps of moss, lichen and bark.

[Melanie]

GREATER 'AKIALOA (Hemignathus ellisianus) Ex

Formerly Endemic to Hawai'i.

Not seen since the end of the 19th Century.

The Hawaiian name 'AKIALOA (or Akihialoa) refers to the long, curved bill of this species.

Both sexes dull olive-green with very short tails. Very slight paler supercilium above and before eye. Very long, deeply decurved pale gray bill, which was somewhat shorter than the other 'Akialoa. Legs gray. Bill of females and immatures shorter and less curved. (7 - 7.5 inches)

Call: Louder and deeper than 'Amakihi calls. Song: A trill intermediate between songs of 'Akiapola'au and 'Amakihi.

This species was a bark-creeper which picked insects from cracks and holes in clumps of moss, lichen and bark.

[another specialist]

EXTINCT ?
Last collected in 1837.
Possible sighting of pair in 1892.
An unconfirmed sighting in 1937.
Three specimens exist one in Berlin and two in Leyden.

Oahu Akialoa
Hemingnathus obscurus ellisianus


The following was written in 1944 by George Munro in Birds of Hawaii; The plumage of this species is duller than that of the other Akialoas. At least the only specimen known to exist during the period Perkins was in the field showed this and he said the ones he saw:" I distinctly noticed the somber plumage of the upper parts..."

The Hawaii Akialoa was very similar to the Oahu species and was described as having a length of 6.5 inches with very long down curved , sickle shaped bills . The Oahu Akialoas were bark creepers , picking insect food from cracks and crevices in the bark of Ohia and Koa trees.
The birds most likely also obtained nectar from the flowers of Ohia and lobelia trees.

Munro writes; "In 1892, Perkins was sure he saw a pair of these birds. He was then familiar with the Hemignathus of the other islands. I quote from his journal:"On a very narrow part of the ridge a pair of green birds flew across in front of me one just behind and in pursuit of the other, which squeaked as it flew. This darted across the ridge and down the Nuuanu side, the other alighted in an Ohia bush on the ridge... On a number of days afterwards I hunted around Waolani but never again saw anything that could be mistaken for a Hemignathus."

The Oahu Akialoa was the first of the Hawaiian Akialoas to become extinct. Sadly, except for a few old museum specimens and a 100 year old journal description nothing else exists about this interesting species that once flew in the mountain forests of Oahu.

www.oahunaturetours.com/oahuakialoa.html

[another specialist]

www.oahunaturetours.com/oahuakialoa.html

[another specialist]

Extinct birds : an attempt to unite in one volume a short account of those birds which have become extinct in historical times : that is, within the last six or seven hundred years : to which are added a few which still exist, but are on the verge of extinction (1907)

[another specialist]

Extinct birds : an attempt to unite in one volume a short account of those birds which have become extinct in historical times : that is, within the last six or seven hundred years : to which are added a few which still exist, but are on the verge of extinction (1907)

[another specialist]

www.sil.si.edu/digitalcollections/nhrarebooks/rothschild/CF/description-search-results-all.cfm

[Deleted]

O'ahu 'Akialoa
(Hemignathus (Akialoa) ellisianus)

sexes unknown



scanned from H. Douglas Pratt: 'The Hawaiian Honeycreepers, Drepanidinae

[Deleted]

May 31, 2005 14:58:17 GMT Melanie said:

GREATER 'AKIALOA (Hemignathus ellisianus) Ex

Formerly Endemic to Hawai'i.

Not seen since the end of the 19th Century.

The Hawaiian name 'AKIALOA (or Akihialoa) refers to the long, curved bill of this species.

Both sexes dull olive-green with very short tails. Very slight paler supercilium above and before eye. Very long, deeply decurved pale gray bill, which was somewhat shorter than the other 'Akialoa. Legs gray. Bill of females and immatures shorter and less curved. (7 - 7.5 inches)

Call: Louder and deeper than 'Amakihi calls. Song: A trill intermediate between songs of 'Akiapola'au and 'Amakihi.

This species was a bark-creeper which picked insects from cracks and holes in clumps of moss, lichen and bark.

This picture shows the species from Kaua'i. The description may also refer to the Kaua'i species.

[another specialist]

Image reference: 35886

Title: Loxops coccinea rufa, Myadastes obcurus oahuensis, Psittirostra psittacea

Description:
Hemignathus lucidus, Hemignathus ellisianus, Moho apicalis. Birds (listed from top to bottom) native to the Hawaiian Islands, many now extinct. Illustration by Julian Hume.

piclib.nhm.ac.uk/piclib/www/image.php?img=81646&frm=ser&search=hume,%20julian%20pender

[another specialist]

The extinct ‘akialoa species were among the most morphologically specialized of all Hawaiian birds in the subfamily Drepanidinae. With inconspicuous yellow-green plumage, their most distinctive features were their spectacular decurved bills, up to half the body length. These large Hawaiian honeycreepers foraged principally by creeping along tree trunks and large branches, probing for insects under moss and bark, and taking nectar from tubular flowers. In behavior and bill morphology, they were broadly convergent with Southeast Asian spider-hunters (Nectariniidae: Arachnothera spp.).

Four taxa of ‘akialoa existed during historical times, differing from one another primarily in body size and bill length, with the largest, longest-billed form on Kaua‘i Island in the northwest and the smallest, shortest-billed form on Hawai‘i Island in the southeast. Birds of intermediate size existed on the islands of O‘ahu and Läna‘i. Because of this size gradient, and the extreme scarcity of specimens from O‘ahu and Läna‘i Islands, taxonomists differ on species limits applied to these 4 taxa, recognizing as few as 1 polytypic species or as many as 4 separate species.

The most recent treatment by the American Ornithologists’ Union (1998) recognizes 2 species of ‘akialoa: (1) Greater ‘Akialoa, with 3 sub-species (referred to as groups in Am. Ornithol. Union 1998), 1 each on Kaua‘i, O‘ahu, and Läna‘i Islands; (2) Lesser ‘Akialoa, on Hawai‘i Island. Because the forms described from each of the 4 islands are distinctive and their taxonomic status uncertain, we treat each separately in this account, to the extent possible given what little is known of these extinct birds. Hereafter, each island form is referred to by name as follows: The 3 subspecies of Greater ‘Akialoa are Kaua‘i ‘Akialoa (H. e. stej-negeri), O‘ahu ‘Akialoa (H. e. ellisianus, Fig. 1, top), and Läna‘i ‘Akialoa (H. e. lanaiensis); and the Lesser ‘Akialoa is called Hawai‘i ‘Akialoa (H. obscurus, Fig. 1, bottom).

Prehistoric forms of ‘akialoa have been described from fossil bones, including the Hoopoe-billed ‘Akialoa (H. upupirostris), which was similar in size to the Kaua‘i ‘Akialoa, and found on Kaua‘i and O‘ahu Islands (James and Olson 1991). Fossil bones of an ‘akialoa similar to and probably conspecific with the Läna‘i ‘Akialoa have also been found on Moloka‘i and Maui Islands, along with a second, smaller species on Maui Island and a very large species on Hawai‘i Island (H. F. James pers. comm.). All these prehistoric species likely fell victim to human-induced changes (e.g., habitat destruction, predation, and disease), and should be considered part of the modern fauna of Hawaiian Islands. Collectively, these fossil forms and the 4 historically known forms are referred to as the ‘akialoa complex.

Common when first encountered in 1779 by the Cook Expedition (which first recorded the name “Akaiearooa”), the historically known ‘akialoa species suffered rapid population declines concurrent with the spread of avian diseases and extensive habitat modification and destruction during the nineteenth century. Already uncommon or scarce when first encountered by Europeans, just 2 or 3 specimens of the O‘ahu ‘Akialoa (from mid-1830s) and 3 of the Läna‘i ‘Akialoa (from 1892) are known to exist in museums worldwide, and next to nothing is known of these 2 taxa. The Hawai‘i and Kaua‘i ‘akialoa remained common until the 1890s, but the former became extinct in the early to mid-1900s, while the latter was last sighted in the remote Alaka‘i region of Kaua‘i Island in the late 1960s. All species are now believed extinct.


bna.birds.cornell.edu/

[surroundx]

Olson, Storrs L. and James, Helen F. (1995). Nomenclature of the Hawaiian Akialoas and Nukupuus (Aves: Drepanidini). Proceedings of the Biological Society of Washington 108(3): 373-387.

[Sebbe]

Revise species limits in three extinct complexes of Hawaiian honeycreepers

checklist.aou.org/nacc/proposals/PDF/2015-B.pdf

[Peter]

Taxonomy

Kingdom Phylum Class Order Family
Animalia Chordata Aves Passeriformes Fringillidae

Scientific Name: Akialoa ellisiana
Species Authority: (Gray 1860)
Common Name(s):
English – Oahu Akialoa
Synonym(s):
Hemignathus ellisianus (Gray, 1860)
Taxonomic Source(s): del Hoyo, J., Collar, N.J., Christie, D.A., Elliott, A., Fishpool, L.D.C., Boesman, P. and Kirwan, G.M. 2016. HBW and BirdLife International Illustrated Checklist of the Birds of the World. Volume 2: Passerines. Lynx Edicions and BirdLife International, Barcelona, Spain and Cambridge, UK.

Assessment Information

Red List Category & Criteria: Extinct ver 3.1
Year Published: 2016
Date Assessed: 2016-10-01
Assessor(s): BirdLife International
Reviewer(s): Butchart, S. & Symes, A.
Facilitator/Compiler(s): Brooks, T., Gilroy, J., Khwaja, N., Mahood, S., Martin, R
Justification:
This species was found in the Hawaiian Islands, USA, but it is now Extinct as a result of forest clearance and introduced disease. The last report was of the subspecies stejnegeri on Kaua'i in 1969.

Geographic Range

Range Description: Hemignathus ellisianus was endemic the mountains of O'ahu, Hawaii, USA (Stattersfield et al. 1998). It is known from only two specimens collected in 1837 (Olson and James 1995), although there were undocumented reports in 1937 and 1940 (Greenway 1967).
Countries occurrence:
Regionally extinct:
United States (Hawaiian Is.)
Additional data:
♦ Continuing decline in area of occupancy (AOO): Unknown
♦ Extreme fluctuations in area of occupancy (AOO): No ♦ Estimated extent of occurrence (EOO) - km2:
♦ Continuing decline in extent of occurrence (EOO): Unknown ♦ Extreme fluctuations in extent of occurrence (EOO): No
♦ Continuing decline in number of locations: Unknown
♦ Extreme fluctuations in the number of locations: No
Range Map: Click here to open the map viewer and explore range.

Population

Population: No extant population remains.
Additional data:
♦ Continuing decline of mature individuals: Unknown
♦ Extreme fluctuations: No ♦ Population severely fragmented: No
♦ Continuing decline in subpopulations: Unknown
♦ Extreme fluctuations in subpopulations: No ♦ All individuals in one subpopulation: No

Habitat and Ecology

Habitat and Ecology: It inhabited all forest up types above 200 m (Gorresen et al. 2009), feeding on insects and nectar (Amante-Helweg et al. 2009).
Systems: Terrestrial
Continuing decline in area, extent and/or quality of habitat: Unknown
Generation Length (years): 5.5
Movement patterns: Not a Migrant

Threats

Major Threat(s): The species is thought to have been driven to extinction by habitat destruction and disease (Collar et al. 1994).

Citation: BirdLife International. 2016. Akialoa ellisiana. The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2016: e.T103823212A95007113. Downloaded on 11 December 2016.
www.iucnredlist.org/details/103823212/0