Hawaiian honeycreeper

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{{Taxobox | color = pink | name = Hawaiian Honeycreeper | image = Pseudonestor xanthophrys.jpg | image_width = 200px | image_caption = Maui Parrotbill, Pseudonestor xanthophrys | regnum = Animalia | phylum = Chordata | classis = Aves | ordo = Passeriformes | familia = Drepanididae | familia_authority = Cabanis, 1847 | subdivision_ranks = Genera | subdivision = Telespiza
Psittirostra
Dysmorodrepanis (extinct)
Loxioides
Rhodacanthis (extinct)
Chloridops (extinct)
Orthiospiza (extinct)
Xestospiza (extinct)
Pseudonestor
Hemignathus
Magumma (disputed)
Akialoa (disputed; extinct)
Heterorhynchus (disputed)
Oreomystis
Paroreomyza
Vangulifer (extinct)
Aidemedia (extinct)
Loxops
Ciridops (extinct)
Vestiaria
Drepanis (extinct)
Palmeria
Himatione
Melamprosops (extinct?) }}

Hawaiʻian honeycreepers are small passerine birds endemic to Hawaiʻi. Some authorities categorize this group as the subfamily Drepanidinae of the finch family Fringillidae, to which they are closely related, but they are usually given full family status as the Drepanididae.

The family is divided into three tribes

  • Psittirostrini (Hawaiʻian finches), seedeaters with thick finch-like bills and songs like those of cardueline finches.
  • Hemignathini (Hawaiʻian creepers and allies, including nukupuʻus). These are generally green-plumaged birds with thin bills which feed on nectar and insects
  • Drepanidini (Mamos, ʻIʻiwi and allies). These are birds often with red plumage. They are nectar-feeders and their songs contain nasal squeaks and whistles.

Some unusual forms extinct in earlier times, like Xestospiza or Vangulifer, cannot easily be placed into these tribes.

The male Hawaiʻian Honeycreepers are often more brightly coloured than the females, but in the Hemignathini, they often look very similar. The flowers of the native plant Metrosideros polymorpha (ʻohiʻa lehua) are favoured by a number of nectar-eating honeycreepers.

The wide range of bills in this group, from thick finch-like bills to slender downcurved bills for probing flowers have arisen through adaptive radiation, where an ancestral finch has evolved to fill a large number of ecological niches. Some 15 forms of Hawaiʻian Honeycreeper have become extinct in the recent past, many more since the arrival of the Polynesians who introduced the first rats. The recent extinctions are due to the introduction of other rodent species and the mongoose, habitat destruction and avian malaria and fowlpox.

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Species

  • Family: Drepanididae (or: Drepaniidae)
    • Genus: Telespiza - finch-like, granivores, opportunistic scavengers
    • Genus: Psittirostra - slightly hooked bill, ʻIeʻie fruit specialist
    • Genus: Dysmorodrepanis - pincer-like bill, possibly snail specialist
    • Genus: Loxioides - finch-like, Mamane seed specialist
      • Palila, Loxioides bailleui
    • Genus: Rhodacanthis - finch-like, Koa seed specialists
    • Genus: Chloridops - thick-billed, Naio and other hard seed specialist
    • Genus: Orthiospiza - large weak bill, possibly soft seed or fruit specialist?
    • Genus: Xestospiza - cone-shaped bills, possibly insectivores
    • Genus: Peseudonestor - parrot-like bill, probes rotting wood for insect larvae
      • Maui Parrotbill, Pseudonestor xanthophrys
    • Genus: Hemignathus - pointed or long and decurved bills, insectivores or nectarivores
      • Hawaiʻi ʻAmakihi, Hemignathus virens
      • Oʻahu ʻAmakihi, Hemignathus flavus
      • Kauaʻi ʻAmakihi, Hemignathus kauaiensis
      • Nukupuʻu, Hemignathus lucidus
      • ʻAnianiau, Hemignathus parvus or Magumma parva
      • Greater ʻAmakihi, Hemignathus sagittirostris Conservation status: Extinct{{#if:{{{when|}}}| (1901) }}
      • Giant ʻAmakihi, Hemignathus vorpalis Template:StatusPrehistoric
      • Hawaiʻi ʻAkialoa, Hemignathus obscurus or Akialoa obscura Conservation status: Extinct{{#if:{{{when|}}}| (1940) }}
      • Maui Nui ʻAkialoa, Hemignathus lanaiensis or Akialoa lanaiensis Conservation status: Extinct{{#if:{{{when|}}}| (1892) }}
      • Oʻahu ʻAkialoa, Hemignathus ellisianus or Akialoa ellisiana Conservation status: Extinct{{#if:{{{when|}}}| (1940) }}
      • Kauaʻi ʻAkialoa, Hemignathus stejnegeri or Akialoa stejnegeri Conservation status: Extinct{{#if:{{{when|}}}| (1969) }}
      • Hoopoe-billed ʻAkialoa, Hemignathus upupirostris or Akialoa upupirostris Template:StatusPrehistoric
      • ʻAkiapolaʻau, Hemignathus munroi or Heterorhynchus wilsoni
    • Genus: Oreomystis - short pointed bills, browsers
      • ʻAkikiki, Oreomystis bairdi
      • Hawaiʻi "Creeper", Oreomystis mana
    • Genus: Paroreomyza - similar to Oreomystis
      • Maui ʻAlauahio, Paroreomyza montana (more properly called Maui Nui ʻAlauahio, but today occurs on Maui only)
      • Kakawahie, Paroreomyza flammea Conservation status: Extinct{{#if:{{{when|}}}| (1963) }}
      • Oʻahu ʻAlauahio, Paroreomyza maculata
    • Genus: Vangulifer - flat rounded bills, possibly caught flying insects
    • Genus: Aidemedia - straight thin bills, insectivores
    • Genus: Loxops - small pointed bills with the tips offset a little horizontally, insectivores
      • ʻAkekeʻe, Loxops caeruleirostris
      • Akepa, Loxops coccineus
    • Genus: Ciridops - finch-like, fed on Loulu fruits etc
    • Genus: Vestiaria - decurved bill, nectarivore
    • Genus: Drepanis - decurved bills, nectarivores
    • Genus: Palmeria - thin bill, nectarivore, especially ʻOhiʻa
      • ʻAkohekohe, Palmeria dolei
    • Genus: Himatione - thin bill, nectarivore
      • ʻApapane, Himatione sanguinea
    • Genus: Melamprosops - short pointed bill, browser and snail specialist

Several other known species are undescribed, as they are known only from very fragmentary fossil remains insufficient to deterine taxonomic affiliation. The term "prehistoric" above indicates birds that went extinct between first human settlement of Hawai'i around 400 AD and European contact in 1778.da:Seglfugle de:Kleidervögel fr:Drepanidinae lt:Havajų gėlinukės ja:ハワイミツスイ族 (Sibley) pt:Drepanididae

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