Maui ʻakepa

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Maui ʻakepa
Specimen at the Bishop Museum

Critically Endangered  (IUCN 3.1)[1]
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Aves
Order: Passeriformes
Family: Fringillidae
Subfamily: Carduelinae
Genus: Loxops
Species:
L. ochraceus
Binomial name
Loxops ochraceus
Black: Extinct
Green: Current range
Synonyms

Loxops coccineus ochraceus

The Maui ʻakepa (Loxops ochraceus) is a species of

ʻakepa native to Maui in the Hawaiian Islands, and which was common throughout the island. Introduced mosquitoes and other animals to Maui contributed to the declining population, and the bird is considered Critically Endangered by the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. The latest reported sighting of this bird was in 1988, and in 2021 the United States Fish and Wildlife Service proposed declaring it extinct.[2] The species was delisted from the Endangered Species Act on October 16, 2023 citing extinction.[3]

Description

Illustration

It was a four-inch (10 cm) long bird of a dusty green color. It had a small cross bill just like the other Loxops species. Its call was a slight quivering whistle ending with a long trill. It appeared as a small fast moving ball of fluff of green, as it flew from tree to tree.

Feeding

It ate spiders and other invertebrates and drank the nectar of several flowers including the

naio and the lobelia
.

Decline

Like many birds in the area, its condition as a species began to deteriorate as new plants replaced those that it was familiar with. Many of these plants included

avian flu
which was spreading at a rapid pace as the mosquito spread across the island's low elevation forests.

The decline started in the early 20th century when the Maui ʻakepa was still a common bird on much of Maui. However mosquitoes and other animals and plants arrived on ships and colonized the island. The bird became constricted as more of its low elevation forest became colonized by mosquitoes. The upper elevations began to be filled with unusual plants and animals which destroyed the habitat. With much of Maui changed, the birds had a difficult time trying to find places in which they could live.

The idea of captive breeding had not expanded to these songbirds until 1995, but by then the Maui ʻakepa was already gone. In 1988, only one was sighted when a party went on a research trip to study birds that are found in Maui's Hanawi Reserve. Before that there were several other ventures that showed small populations scattered on the reserve. The largest population found in the 1970s contained ten Maui ʻakepa. Today the Maui ʻakepa can only be seen as a specimen in museums. During the 1970s this species was still surviving in small numbers in the East Maui Watershed, and in the reserves that are found in or near the watershed.

On September 29, 2021 the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service proposed to declare the Maui ʻakepa extinct.[4][5] The species was delisted from the Endangered Species Act on October 16, 2023 citing extinction.[3]

See also

  • ʻAkepa

References

  1. doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2016-3.RLTS.T103824084A104236054.en
    . Retrieved 15 January 2018.
  2. ^ "U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Proposes Delisting 23 Species from Endangered Species Act Due to Extinction". U. S. Fish and Wildlife Service. September 29, 2021. Retrieved 2021-09-29.
  3. ^ a b "21 Species Delisted from the Endangered Species Act due to Extinction | U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service". FWS.gov. 2023-10-16. Retrieved 2023-10-17.
  4. ^ "Protected Too Late: U.S. Officials Report More Than 20 Extinctions". The New York Times. Retrieved 29 September 2021.
  5. ^ "Endangered and Threatened Wildlife and Plants; Removal of 23 Extinct Species From the Lists of Endangered and Threatened Wildlife and Plants". www.regulations.gov. Retrieved 2022-06-13.
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