The hoopoe-billed ʻakialoa, (''Akialoa upupirostris''), is an extinct species of

Hawaiian honeycreeper Hawaiian honeycreepers are a group of small, passerine birds endemic to Hawaii. They are closely related to the rosefinches in the genus ''Carpodacus'', but many species have evolved features unlike those present in any other finch. Their great ...

. Subfossil remains have been found of this species in the

Hawaii Hawaii ( ; haw, Hawaii or ) is a state in the Western United States, located in the Pacific Ocean about from the U.S. mainland. It is the only U.S. state outside North America, the only state that is an archipelago, and the only state ...

an islands of Kauai and

Oahu Oahu () ( Hawaiian: ''Oʻahu'' ()), also known as "The Gathering Place", is the third-largest of the Hawaiian Islands. It is home to roughly one million people—over two-thirds of the population of the U.S. state of Hawaii. The island of O� ...

. The species specific name, ''upupirostris'', is derived from the

Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...

''upupa'',

hoopoe Hoopoes () are colourful birds found across Africa, Asia, and Europe, notable for their distinctive "crown" of feathers. Three living and one extinct species are recognized, though for many years all of the extant species were lumped as a single ...

, and ''rostrum'', bill, and refers to the long sickle-shaped bill which resembles that of the hoopoe. The species was apparently slightly larger than others in its genus. A similar but smaller bird has been discovered but is as yet undescribed from the island of Maui. The species presumably became extinct after the arrival of humans in Hawaii, and is known only from the fossil record.

References

Hoopoe-billed Extinct birds of Hawaii Biota of Kauai Biota of Oahu Hoopoe-billed akialoa Hoopoe-billed akialoa {{Hawaii-stub