The Hawaii ōō (''Moho nobilis'') is a member of the extinct genus of the ōōs ('' Moho'') within the extinct family

Mohoidae Mohoidae, also known as the Hawaiian honeyeaters, is a family of Hawaiian species of recently extinct, nectarivorous songbirds in the genera '' Moho'' (ōō) and ''Chaetoptila'' (kioea). These now extinct birds form their own family, representing ...

. It was previously regarded as member of the Australo-Pacific

honeyeater The honeyeaters are a large and diverse family (biology), family, Meliphagidae, of small to medium-sized birds. The family includes the Epthianura, Australian chats, myzomelas, friarbirds, wattlebirds, Manorina, miners and melidectes. They are ...

s (''Meliphagidae'').

Description

The Hawaii ōō was first described by

Blasius Merrem Blasius Merrem (4 February 1761 – 23 February 1824) was a German naturalist, zoologist, ornithologist, mathematician, and herpetologist. In 1804, he became the professor of political economy and botany at the University of Marburg. Early li ...

in 1786. It had an overall length of , wing length of , and tail length of up to . The colour of its plumage was glossy black with a brown shading at the belly. It was further characterized by yellowish tufts at the axillaries. It had some yellowish plumes on its rump, but lacked yellow thigh feathers like the

Bishop's ʻōʻō The Bishop's ‘ō‘ō or Molokai ‘ō‘ō (''Moho bishopi'') was the penultimate member of the extinct genus of the ‘ō‘ōs ('' Moho'') within the extinct family Mohoidae. It was previously regarded as member of the Australo-Pacific honey ...

, and also lacked the whitish edgings on its tail feathers like the

Oʻahu ʻōʻō The O‘ahu ‘ō‘ō (''Moho apicalis'') was a member of the extinct genus of the ‘ō‘ōs ('' Moho'') within the extinct family Mohoidae. It was previously regarded as member of the Australo-Pacific honeyeaters (Meliphagidae). Description ...

. It had the largest yellow plumes on its wings out of all the species of ōō. The name of the cinder cone

Puʻu ʻŌʻō Puu Ōō (also spelled Pu‘u‘ō‘ō, and often written Puu Oo, , ) is a volcanic cone on the eastern rift zone of Kīlauea volcano in the Hawaiian Islands. The eruption that created Puu Ōō began on January 3, 1983, and continued nearly con ...

is often translated as "Hill of the Ōō-Bird", referring to this species.

Extinction

At the time of the arrival by Europeans, it was still relatively common on the Big Island, but its decline followed rapidly afterwards. Its striking plumage was already used for ''aahu alii'' (robes), '' ahu ula'' (capes), and ''

kāhili A ''kāhili'' is a symbol of the aliʻi chiefs and families of the Hawaiian Islands. It was taken by the House of Kamehameha, Kamehamehas as a Hawaiian Kingdom, Hawaiian royal standard and used by the Royal Families to indicate their lineage. H ...

'' (feathered staffs) of '' alii'' (Hawaiian

nobility Nobility is a social class found in many societies that have an aristocracy (class), aristocracy. It is normally ranked immediately below Royal family, royalty. Nobility has often been an Estates of the realm, estate of the realm with many e ...

) by

Native Hawaiians Native Hawaiians (also known as Indigenous Hawaiians, Kānaka Maoli, Aboriginal Hawaiians, First Hawaiians, or simply Hawaiians) ( haw, kānaka, , , and ), are the indigenous ethnic group of Polynesian people of the Hawaiian Islands. Hawaii ...

. Some were even caught and put in cages to be sold as songbirds, only to live for a few days or weeks before diseases from

mosquito Mosquitoes (or mosquitos) are members of a group of almost 3,600 species of small flies within the family Culicidae (from the Latin ''culex'' meaning " gnat"). The word "mosquito" (formed by ''mosca'' and diminutive ''-ito'') is Spanish for "li ...

es befell them. The decline of this bird was hastened by both natives and Europeans by the introduction of the

musket A musket is a muzzle-loaded long gun that appeared as a smoothbore weapon in the early 16th century, at first as a heavier variant of the arquebus, capable of penetrating plate armour. By the mid-16th century, this type of musket gradually d ...

, which allowed hunters and collectors to shoot birds down from a distance, from great heights, and in great numbers. As late as 1898, hunters were still able to kill over a thousand individuals in one hunt, but after that year, the Hawaii ōō population declined rapidly.Henshaw, HW (1902)
Birds of the Hawaiian Islands
', p. 71. The birds became too rare to be shot in any great quantities, but continued to be found for nearly 30 years. Despite records of mass hunting, collection seemed to only play a minor role in the species' extinction, and mosquito-borne diseases and deforestation probably were the major reasons for its extinction (very similar to the other members of its genus). The last known sighting was in 1934 on the slopes of

Mauna Loa Mauna Loa ( or ; Hawaiian: ; en, Long Mountain) is one of five volcanoes that form the Island of Hawaii in the U.S. state of Hawaii in the Pacific Ocean. The largest subaerial volcano (as opposed to subaqueous volcanoes) in both mass and ...

References

External links

3D view
of specimens RMNH 110.044 and RMNH 110.045 (formerly RMNH 2142) at

Naturalis Naturalis Biodiversity Center ( nl, Nederlands Centrum voor Biodiversiteit Naturalis) is a national museum of natural history and a research center on biodiversity in Leiden, Netherlands. It was named the European Museum of the Year 2021. Alth ...

, Leiden (requires

QuickTime QuickTime is an extensible multimedia framework developed by Apple Inc., capable of handling various formats of digital video, picture, sound, panoramic images, and interactivity. Created in 1991, the latest Mac version, QuickTime X, is avai ...

browser plugin). {{DEFAULTSORT:Hawaii Oo Endemic birds of Hawaii Extinct birds of Hawaii Moho (genus) Bird extinctions since 1500 Birds described in 1786 Taxa named by Blasius Merrem

Description

Extinction

See also

References

External links