Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 40, Number 3, 1 March 2023 — Kanawao me ka Hō'ailona [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

Kanawao me ka Hō'ailona

By Lisa Kapono Mason

Mole kiwikiu posing ot Keauhou Bird Conservation Center, Howoi'i. Notice his thick porrot-like bill ond sturdy frome perfect for teoring into bork ond bronches. - Photo: Ann Tonimoto Johnson/ LOHE Lob

Rediscovered in 1950, Kiwikiu (Maui Parrotbill - Pseudonestor xanthophrys ) is one of the rarest of the Hawaiian honeycreepers. These relatively large, greenish-yellow birds have a curved parrot-like bill ideal for extracting insects and larvae from understory branches. Kiwikiu is difficult to detect in their rugged, densely vegetated habitat and are typically heard by their high-pitched "ehew-ee" eall before being seen. On a lucky day, one may find Kiwikiu's signature mark - a delicate chevron-shaped puncture on undevoured kanawao fruits (an endemic berry). Why Kiwikiu leave some fruits uneaten in this way remains a mystery. With a single declining population in eastern Waikamoi and fewer than 100 individuals remaining, Kiwikiu's fight for survival is critical. Reducing Culex mosquito loads that transmit deadly avian malaria, captive breeding, and the movement of individuals from Maui to high elevation forests on other islands, are a few conservation strategies currently in the works to help save Kiwikiu ffom extinction. ■

A glistening konowoo ( Broussaisia arguta ] showing off severol ripened infructescences ofter the roin. - Photos: Lisa L.K. Mason/ LOHE Lab

A lorvol covity inside o split tree ( bronch thot moy hove housed o tosty . meol for o hungry kiwikiu.

- A konowoo fruit with scarred over • punctures from o kiwikiu bite. Wos there something tasty inside?