The Laysan honeycreeper or Laysan apapane (''Himatione fraithii'') is an extinct bird species that was

endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also found elsew ...

to the island of

Laysan Laysan (; haw, italics=no, Kauō ), located northwest of Honolulu at , is one of the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands. It comprises one land mass of , about in size. It is an atoll of sorts, although the land completely surrounds a shallow c ...

in the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands.

Taxonomy

The species was described by the British ornithologist

Walter Rothschild Lionel Walter Rothschild, 2nd Baron Rothschild, Baron de Rothschild, (8 February 1868 – 27 August 1937) was a British banker, politician, zoologist and soldier, who was a member of the Rothschild family. As a Zionist leader, he was presen ...

in 1892 under its current binomial name. In a review published in 1950, the American ornithologist

Dean Amadon Dean Arthur Amadon (June 5, 1912 – January 12, 2003) was an American ornithologist and an authority on birds of prey. Amadon was born in Milwaukee, Wisconsin to Arthur and Mary Amadon. He received a BS from Hobart College in 1934 and a Ph.D. ...

treated the Laysan honeycreeper as a subspecies of the

ʻApapane The apapane (''Himatione sanguinea,'' pronounced /ˌ ɑ pɑˈpɑ neɪ/, ''ah-pah-PAH-ney'') is a small, crimson species of Hawaiian honeycreeper endemic to the Hawaiian Islands. They are the most abundant and widely distributed honeycreeper and ...

and adopted the

trinomial name In biology, trinomial nomenclature refers to names for taxa below the rank of species. These names have three parts. The usage is different in zoology and botany. In zoology In zoological nomenclature, a trinomen (), trinominal name, or ternary ...

''Himatione sanguinea freethii''. Subsequent publications followed this lead. In 2015 the North American Classification Committee (NACC) of the American Ornithologists' Union decided to promote the extinct honeycreeper to the species level and to adopt the original binomial name. This change was adopted by the

International Ornithological Committee The International Ornithologists' Union, formerly known as the International Ornithological Committee, is a group of about 200 international ornithologists, and is responsible for the International Ornithological Congress and other international ...

in their world list of birds.

Description

An adult male Laysan honeycreeper had vermilion upperparts, an ashy-brown lower abdomen and underwing-coverts, and brownish-white undertail-coverts. Adult females were similar to the male, but had paler red feathers. After molting, the feathers were brighter but faded with sunlight exposure.

Diet

Laysan honeycreepers fed on

nectar Nectar is a sugar-rich liquid produced by plants in glands called nectaries or nectarines, either within the flowers with which it attracts pollinating animals, or by extrafloral nectaries, which provide a nutrient source to animal mutualists ...

from the native

flower A flower, sometimes known as a bloom or blossom, is the reproductive structure found in flowering plants (plants of the division Angiospermae). The biological function of a flower is to facilitate reproduction, usually by providing a mechani ...

s on the island, especially ''maiapilo'' (

Capparis sandwichiana ''Capparis sandwichiana'' is a species of flowering plant in the Capparaceae family endemic to the Hawaiian Islands. Common names include ''maiapilo'', ''pua pilo'', and Hawaiian caper. ''C. sandwichiana'' can be found on the main islands, Midwa ...

). When populations of that species declined, it was forced to feed on nectar from ''ākulikuli'' (''

Sesuvium portulacastrum ''Sesuvium portulacastrum'' is a sprawling perennial herb that grows in coastal areas throughout much of the world. It is commonly known as shoreline purslane or (ambiguously) "sea purslane," in English, ''dampalit'' in Tagalog and 海马齿sl in ...

'') and ''ihi'' (''

Portulaca ''Portulaca'' (, is the type genus of the flowering plant family Portulacaceae, with over 100 species, found in the tropics and warm temperate regions. They are known as the purslanes. Common purslane (''Portulaca oleracea'') is widely consume ...

lutea''). It was observed visiting ''koali awa'' (''

Ipomoea indica ''Ipomoea indica'' is a species of flowering plant in the family Convolvulaceae, known by several common names, including blue morning glory, oceanblue morning glory, ''koali awa'', and blue dawn flower. It bears heart-shaped or 3-lobed leaves an ...

''), ''pōhuehue'' ('' I. pes-caprae brasiliensis''), and ''nohu'' (''

Tribulus ''Tribulus'' is a genus of plants in the family Zygophyllaceae and found in diverse climates and soils worldwide from latitudes 35°S to 47°N. The best-known member is '' T. terrestris'' (puncture vine), a widespread invasive species and weed. ...

cistoides''), and would also feed on

caterpillar Caterpillars ( ) are the larval stage of members of the order Lepidoptera (the insect order comprising butterflies and moths). As with most common names, the application of the word is arbitrary, since the larvae of sawflies (suborder Sym ...

s and

moth Moths are a paraphyletic group of insects that includes all members of the order Lepidoptera that are not butterflies, with moths making up the vast majority of the order. There are thought to be approximately 160,000 species of moth, many of w ...

s. Unlike the

ʻapapane The apapane (''Himatione sanguinea,'' pronounced /ˌ ɑ pɑˈpɑ neɪ/, ''ah-pah-PAH-ney'') is a small, crimson species of Hawaiian honeycreeper endemic to the Hawaiian Islands. They are the most abundant and widely distributed honeycreeper and ...

, the Laysan honeycreeper foraged on the ground.

Breeding

Laysan honeycreeper primarily nested in the center of tall grass bunches, but sometimes built nests in dense ''āheahea'' (''

Chenopodium ''Chenopodium'' is a genus of numerous species of perennial or annual herbaceous flowering plants known as the goosefoots, which occur almost anywhere in the world. It is placed in the family Amaranthaceae in the APG II system; older classifica ...

sandwichensis'')

shrub A shrub (often also called a bush) is a small-to-medium-sized perennial woody plant. Unlike herbaceous plants, shrubs have persistent woody stems above the ground. Shrubs can be either deciduous or evergreen. They are distinguished from trees ...

s. Nests were made of rootlets interwoven with grass blades. The clutch size was four to five

eggs Humans and human ancestors have scavenged and eaten animal eggs for millions of years. Humans in Southeast Asia had domesticated chickens and harvested their eggs for food by 1,500 BCE. The most widely consumed eggs are those of fowl, especial ...

Extinction

Domestic rabbits were introduced to the island in the late 19th century, and quickly consumed nearly all vegetation on the island, including nectar sources for the Laysan honeycreeper. The bird was filmed in 1923 during the

Tanager Expedition The ''Tanager'' Expedition was a series of five biological surveys of the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands conducted in partnership between the Bureau of Biological Survey and the Bishop Museum, with the assistance of the United States Navy. Four ex ...

. Shortly after, Laysan was battered by a strong storm, and later attempts at finding any remaining Laysan honeycreeper failed. Other birds also inhabited the island, including the

Laysan millerbird The Laysan millerbird (''Acrocephalus familiaris familiaris'') was a subspecies of the millerbird, similar in appearance to the remaining subspecies, the Nihoa millerbird. Its dorsal side was brown, and its belly was grayish. Its name derives fr ...

, the

Laysan rail The Laysan rail or Laysan crake (''Zapornia palmeri'') was a flightless bird endemic to the Northwest Hawaiian Island of Laysan. This small island was and still is an important seabird colony, and sustained a number of endemic species, includ ...

, the

Laysan duck The Laysan duck (''Anas laysanensis''), also known as the Laysan teal, is a dabbling duck endemic to the Hawaiian Islands. Fossil evidence reveals that Laysan ducks once lived across the entire archipelago, but today survive only on Laysan Is ...

, and the

Laysan finch The Laysan finch (''Telespiza cantans'') is a species of Hawaiian honeycreeper, that is endemic to the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands. It is one of four remaining finch-billed Hawaiian honeycreepers and is closely related to the smaller Nihoa fin ...

. Of these, only the finch and the duck remain extant.

References

Himatione Hawaiian honeycreepers Natural history of the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands Extinct birds of Hawaii Tanager Expedition Bird extinctions since 1500 Birds described in 1892 Taxa named by Walter Rothschild Articles containing video clips {{fringillidae-stub