PO’OULI MELAMPROSOPS PHAEOSOMA HONEY CREEPER Brandon Cho.

PO’OULIMELAMPROSOPS PHAEOSOMAHONEY CREEPERBrandon Cho

DESCRIPTION

• ~14 cm long

• Short tailed passerine

• Heavy, finch like bill

• Brown top, greyish-white below, broad black mask extending past the eyes, grey above the mask, shading into brown of crown, with bold, pale patch just behind mask

• Juvenile similar but buffier below with smaller mask without grey above

• Song a quiet jumble of chittering notes. Call a loud chirk, often in short series

• Found in remote `ohi`a forest. The two known nests were in `ohi`a trees

• Feeds primarily on snails, insects, and spiders, and occasionally fruit

LOCATION

• Endemic to Maui of the Hawaiian Islands.

• Two found nests in the wild were in `ohi`a forest trees (1,400 -2,100 m).

• Fossil records show that the trees are a secondary habitat to a much drier one at 300 – 1,500 m altitude.

ENDANGERED? WHY?

• Critically endangered

• Habitat destruction and modification. Timber, cattle ranching, agriculture

• Rapid spread of disease-carrying mosquitos (continual threat)

• 473% increase in pig activity. Feral pigs disturb the understory of the forest, destroying microhabitats that house the bird’s food sources.

• Predation by

• Decline of native land snails, and important food source for the bird.

HOW MANY ARE LEFT?

• The species was first discovered in 1973 with an estimated population of fewer than 200 birds.

• As of 1998, there were only three known individuals.

• One died in captivity in 2004, and the other two have not been seen since 2003 and 2004.

• The species may be extinct, but continuing surveys in all areas of potential habitat are needed to confirm that no other individuals survive. If any do still survive, the total population must be tiny.

IMPORTANT BECAUSE

• A diamond in the rough. Extremely rare to see one.

• As a species of the earth, they should be preserved.

• Little to no environmental or industrial effects.

• Studying them could better help understand why they declined in the first place. Allows preparation from it happening again.

CURRENT EFFORTS

• 1986, the 30 km square area, Hanawi NAR, was created to protect the species.

• All feral pigs were eradicated from three fenced areas.

• Feral pig control

• Captivity

• Surveying for birds

MORE EFFORT!

• More survivor surveys of the land

• Extend the new EMWP lower-elevation fence line west and below the existing Hanawi NAR fence-line to help prevent the spread of invasive weeds and mosquitoes into upper elevation forests and abet the restoration of more lower elevation habitat

• Intensify habitat management and protection

SUCCESS

• Because none have been seen, the results are difficult to call a success

• Feral pig control has worked

• Captivity results in them fleeing or dying

• Reserves are well intact

CITATIONS

"Melamprosops phaeosoma." (Black-faced Honeycreeper, Po'o-uli, Poo-uli). N.p., n.d. Web. 1 Feb. 2014.

<http://www.iucnredlist.org/details/22720863/0>.

"Native Birds Of Hawai`i - Po`o-uli." Native Birds Of Hawai`i - Po`o-uli. N.p., n.d. Web. 1 Feb. 2014. <http://www.state.hi.us/dlnr/consrvhi/forestbirds/poouli.html>.

"Species." Poo-uli (Melamprosops phaeosoma). BirdLife International, n.d. Web. 1 Feb. 2014.

<http://www.birdlife.org/datazone/speciesfactsheet.php?id=8926>.