There are 71 known

taxa In biology, a taxon (back-formation from ''taxonomy''; plural taxa) is a group of one or more populations of an organism or organisms seen by taxonomists to form a unit. Although neither is required, a taxon is usually known by a particular nam ...

of birds

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

Hawaiian Islands The Hawaiian Islands ( haw, Nā Mokupuni o Hawai‘i) are an archipelago of eight major islands, several atolls, and numerous smaller islets in the North Pacific Ocean, extending some from the island of Hawaii in the south to northernmost Kur ...

, of which 30 are extinct, 6 possibly extinct and 30 of the remaining 48 species and subspecies are listed as

endangered An endangered species is a species that is very likely to become extinct in the near future, either worldwide or in a particular political jurisdiction. Endangered species may be at risk due to factors such as habitat loss, poaching and inva ...

or threatened by the

United States Fish and Wildlife Service The United States Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS or FWS) is an agency within the United States Department of the Interior dedicated to the management of fish, wildlife, and natural habitats. The mission of the agency is "working with othe ...

Habitat loss Habitat destruction (also termed habitat loss and habitat reduction) is the process by which a natural habitat becomes incapable of supporting its native species. The organisms that previously inhabited the site are displaced or dead, thereby ...

and avian disease are thought to have had the greatest effect on endemic bird species in

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 stat ...

List of species

The following is a list of bird species and subspecies endemic to the

Procellariidae The family Procellariidae is a group of seabirds that comprises the fulmarine petrels, the gadfly petrels, the diving petrels, the prions, and the shearwaters. This family is part of the bird order Procellariiformes (or tubenoses), which also ...

Hawaiian petrel The Hawaiian petrel or ''uau'' (''Pterodroma sandwichensis'') is a large, dark grey-brown and white petrel that is endemic to Hawaii. Distribution The Hawaiian petrel was formerly found on all the main Hawaiian Islands except Niihau, but today i ...

or uau, ''Pterodroma sandwichensis'' *

Newell's shearwater Newell's shearwater or Hawaiian shearwater (''ʻaʻo''), (''Puffinus newelli'') is a seabird in the family Procellariidae. It belongs to a confusing group of shearwaters which are difficult to identify and whose classification is controversial. I ...

or ao, ''Puffinus newelli'' *

Bryan's shearwater Bryan's shearwater (''Puffinus bryani'') is a species of shearwater that may occur around the Hawaiian Islands. It is the smallest species of shearwater and is black and white with a bluish gray beak and blue tarsi. First collected in 1963 and t ...

, ''Puffinus bryani'' ('' P. assimilis'': ) *

Bonin petrel The Bonin petrel or'' nunulu'' (''Pterodroma hypoleuca'') is a seabird in the family Procellariidae. It is a small gadfly petrel that is found in the northwest Pacific Ocean. Its secretive habits, remote breeding colonies and limited range have re ...

, ''Pterodroma hypoleuca'' 99% of the total population breeds on the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands

Anatidae The Anatidae are the biological family of water birds that includes ducks, geese, and swans. The family has a cosmopolitan distribution, occurring on all the world's continents except Antarctica. These birds are adapted for swimming, floating ...

Hawaiian goose The nene (''Branta sandvicensis''), also known as the nēnē or the Hawaiian goose, is a species of bird endemic to the Hawaiian Islands. The nene is exclusively found in the wild on the islands of Oahu, Maui, Kauai, Molokai, and Hawaii. In 1957 ...

or nēnē, ''Branta sandvicensis'' *

Hawaiian duck The Hawaiian duck (''Anas wyvilliana'') or koloa is a species of bird in the family Anatidae that is endemic to the large islands of Hawaii. Taxonomically, the koloa is closely allied with the mallard (''A. platyrhynchos''). It differs in that it ...

or koloa maoli, ''Anas wyvilliana'' *

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 Isl ...

, ''Anas laysanensis''

Diomedeidae Albatrosses, of the biological family Diomedeidae, are large seabirds related to the procellariids, storm petrels, and diving petrels in the order Procellariiformes (the tubenoses). They range widely in the Southern Ocean and the North Pacifi ...

Laysan albatross The Laysan albatross (''Phoebastria immutabilis'') is a large seabird that ranges across the North Pacific. The Northwestern Hawaiian Islands are home to 99.7% of the population. This small (for its family) gull-like albatross is the second-most ...

, ''Phoebastria immutabilis'' 99.7% of the total population breeds on the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands *

Black-footed albatross The black-footed albatross (''Phoebastria nigripes'') is a large seabird of the albatross family Diomedeidae from the North Pacific. All but 2.5% of the population is found among the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands. It is one of three species of al ...

, ''Phoebastria nigripes'' 97.5% of the total population breeds on the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands

Accipitridae The Accipitridae is one of the three families within the order Accipitriformes, and is a family of small to large birds with strongly hooked bills and variable morphology based on diet. They feed on a range of prey items from insects to medium-s ...

Hawaiian hawk The Hawaiian hawk or ''io'' (''Buteo solitarius'') is a raptor in the genus ''Buteo'' endemic to Hawaii, currently restricted to the Big Island. The ''io'' is one of two extant birds of prey that are native to Hawaii, the other being the ''pueo'' ...

or io, ''Buteo solitarius''

Rallidae The rails, or Rallidae, are a large cosmopolitan family of small- to medium-sized, ground-living birds. The family exhibits considerable diversity and includes the crakes, coots, and gallinules. Many species are associated with wetlands, althoug ...

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 ...

, ''Porzana palmeri'' † *

Hawaiian rail The Hawaiian rail (''Zapornia sandwichensis''), Hawaiian spotted rail, or Hawaiian crake is an extinct species of diminutive rail that lived on Big Island of Hawaii. A dark form and a lighter, spotted one are known (see below). Taxonomy Con ...

or moho, ''Porzana sandwichensis'' † *

Hawaiian gallinule The Hawaiian gallinule (''Gallinula galeata sandvicensis'') is an endangered chicken-sized water bird in the rail family. It is also variously known as the Hawaiian common gallinule, Hawaiian moorhen, Hawaiian common moorhen, mudhen, or ''� ...

or alae ula, ''Gallinula chloropus sandwichensis'' (''G. chloropus'': ) *

Hawaiian coot The Hawaiian coot (''Fulica alai''), also known as the alae ke'oke'o'' in Hawaiian, is a bird in the rail family, Rallidae, that is endemic to Hawaii. In Hawaiian, ''alae'' is a noun and means ''mud hen''. ''Kea'' or its synonym ''keo'' is an ad ...

or alae keokeo, ''Fulica alai''

Recurvirostridae The Recurvirostridae are a family of birds in the wader suborder Charadrii. It contains two distinct groups of birds, the avocets (one genus) and the stilts (two genera). Description Avocets and stilts range in length from and in weight from ; ...

Hawaiian stilt The Hawaiian stilt (''Himantopus mexicanus knudseni'') is an endangered Hawaiian subspecies of the black-necked stilt (''H. mexicanus'') species. It is a long-legged, slender shorebird with a long, thin beak. Other common names include the Hawai ...

or aeo, ''Himantopus mexicanus knudseni'' (''H. mexicanus'': )

Laridae Laridae is a family of seabirds in the order Charadriiformes that includes the gulls, terns, skimmers and kittiwakes. It includes around 100 species arranged into 22 genera. They are an adaptable group of mostly aerial birds found worldwide. T ...

* Hawaiian (black) noddy or noio, ''Anous minutus melanogenys'' ( ''A. minutus'': )

Strigidae The true owls or typical owls (family Strigidae) are one of the two generally accepted families of owls, the other being the barn owls (Tytonidae). This large family comprises 230 living or recently extinct species in 24 genera. The typical owl ...

Pueo The pueo (''Asio flammeus sandwichensis'') is a subspecies of the short-eared owl and is endemic to Hawaii. The pueo is one of the more famous of the various physical forms assumed by '' aumākua'' (ancestor spirits) in Hawaiian culture. Pueo in ...

, ''Asio flammeus sandwichensis'' ('' A. flammeus'': )

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 ...

* Kauai ōō, ''Moho braccatus'' † * Oahu ōō, ''Moho apicalis'' † * Bishop's ōō, ''Moho bishopi'' † * Hawaii ōō, ''Moho nobilis'' † *

Kioea The kioea (''Chaetoptila angustipluma'') was a endemic Hawaiian bird that became extinct around the mid-19th century. Description The kioea was a large bird, about long, with a long, slightly curved bill. What distinguished the kioea from othe ...

, ''Chaetoptila angustipluma'' †

Corvidae Corvidae is a cosmopolitan family of oscine passerine birds that contains the crows, ravens, rooks, jackdaws, jays, magpies, treepies, choughs, and nutcrackers. In colloquial English, they are known as the crow family or corvids. Currently, 13 ...

Hawaiian crow The Hawaiian crow or alalā (''Corvus hawaiiensis'') is a species of bird in the crow family, Corvidae, that is currently extinct in the wild, though reintroduction programs are underway. It is about the size of the carrion crow at in length, b ...

or ''alala'', ''Corvus hawaiiensis''

Monarchidae The monarchs (family Monarchidae) comprise a family of over 100 passerine birds which includes shrikebills, paradise flycatchers, and magpie-larks. Monarchids are small insectivorous songbirds with long tails. They inhabit forest or woodland a ...

* Kauai elepaio, ''Chasiempis sclateri'' * Oahu elepaio, ''Chasiempis ibidis'' *

Hawaii elepaio 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 ...

, ''Chasiempis sandwichensis''

Sylviidae Sylviidae is a family of passerine birds that includes the typical warblers and a number of babblers formerly placed within the Old World babbler family. They are found in Eurasia and Africa. Taxonomy and systematics The scientific name Sylviid ...

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 ...

, ''Acrocephalus familaris familaris'' † *

Nihoa millerbird The Nihoa millerbird (''Acrocephalus familiaris kingi'') is a subspecies of the millerbird. It gets its name from its preferred food, the Miller moth. The long millerbird has dark, sepia-colored feathers, white belly, and dark beak. Its natural ...

, ''Acrocephalus familaris kingi''

Turdidae The thrushes are a passerine bird family, Turdidae, with a worldwide distribution. The family was once much larger before biologists reclassified the former subfamily Saxicolinae, which includes the chats and European robins, as Old World flycat ...

* Kamao, ''Myadestes myadestinus'' † *

Puaiohi The puaiohi (''Myadestes palmeri''), or small Kauai thrush, is a rare species of songbird in the Thrush (bird), thrush family, Turdidae, that is Endemism, endemic to the Hawaiian island of Kauai, Kauai. It is closely related to the other three en ...

, ''Myadestes palmeri'' * Olomao, ''Myadestes lanaiensis'' ** Āmaui, ''Myadestes'' (''lanaiensis'') ''woahensis'' † * Omao, ''Myadestes obscurus''

Fringillidae The true finches are small to medium-sized passerine birds in the family Fringillidae. Finches have stout conical bills adapted for eating seeds and nuts and often have colourful plumage. They occupy a great range of habitats where they are usua ...

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 finc ...

, ''Telespiza cantans'' *

Nihoa finch The Nihoa finch (''Telespiza ultima'') is one of the two endemic bird species of the tiny Hawaiian island Nihoa, the other being the Nihoa millerbird. When it was classified in 1917, scientists thought that it would be the last endemic species nam ...

, ''Telespiza ultima'' * Ōū, ''Psittirostra psittacea'' *

Lanai hookbill Lanai ( haw, Lānai, , , also ,) is the sixth-largest of the Hawaiian Islands and the smallest publicly accessible inhabited island in the chain. It is colloquially known as the Pineapple Island because of its past as an island-wide pineapple pl ...

, ''Dysmorodrepanis munroi'' † *

Palila The palila (''Loxioides bailleui'') is a critically endangered finch-billed species of Hawaiian honeycreeper. It has a golden-yellow head and breast, with a light belly, gray back, and greenish wings and tail. The bird has a close ecological rel ...

, ''Loxioides bailleui'' *

Kauai palila Kauai, () anglicized as Kauai ( ), is geologically the second-oldest of the main Hawaiian Islands (after Niʻihau). With an area of 562.3 square miles (1,456.4 km2), it is the fourth-largest of these islands and the List of islands of th ...

, ''Loxioides kikuichi'' † *

Lesser koa-finch The lesser koa finch (''Rhodacanthis flaviceps'') is an extinct species of Hawaiian honeycreeper. Description The only specimens of the lesser koa finch ever caught were a family group with members of different ages and genders, ideal for stu ...

, ''Rhodacanthis flaviceps'' † *

Greater koa-finch The greater koa finch (''Rhodacanthis palmeri'') was a species of finch in the family Fringillidae. It was found only in the Hawaiian Islands. It has been extinct since the late 19th century. Description The bird was about 7–8 in (18–20&n ...

, ''Rhodacanthis palmeri'' † *

Kona grosbeak The Kona grosbeak (''Chloridops kona'') is an extinct species of Hawaiian honeycreeper. The Kona grosbeak was endemic to naio (''Myoporum sandwicense'') forests on ʻaʻā lava flows at elevations of near the Kona District on the island of Hawa ...

, ''Chloridops kona'' † *

Maui parrotbill The Maui parrotbill or kiwikiu (''Pseudonestor xanthophrys'') is a species of Hawaiian honeycreeper endemic to the island of Maui in Hawaii. It can only be found in of mesic and wet forests at on the windward slopes of Haleakalā. This spec ...

, ''Pseudonestor xanthophrys'' * Kauai akialoa ''Akialoa stejnegeri'' or ''Hemignathus (ellisianus) procerus'' † * Oahu akialoa, ''Akialoa ellisiana'' or ''Hemignathus ellisianus ellisianus'' † * Maui Nui akialoa, ''Akialoa lanaiensis'' or ''Hemignathus (ellisianus) lanaiensis'' † * Lesser akialoa, ''Akialoa obscura'' or ''Hemignathus obscurus'' † * Common amakihi, ''Hemignathus virens'' *

Oahu amakihi 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’ ...

, ''Hemignathus flavus'' *

Kauai amakihi Kauai, () anglicized as Kauai ( ), is geologically the second-oldest of the main Hawaiian Islands (after Niʻihau). With an area of 562.3 square miles (1,456.4 km2), it is the fourth-largest of these islands and the 21st largest island ...

, ''Hemignathus kauaiensis'' * Greater amakihi, ''Hemignathus sagittirostris'' † * Maui nukupuu, ''Hemignathus affinis'' * Kauai nukupuu, ''Hemignathus hanapepe'' * Oʻahu nukupuu, ''Hemignathus lucidus'' † * Giant nukupuu, ''Hemignathus vorpalis'' † * Akiapolaau, ''Hemignathus munroi'' * Anianiau, ''Magumma parva'' * Akikiki, ''Oreomystis bairdi'' *

Hawaii creeper 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 ...

, ''Oreomystis mana'' *

Oahu alauahio 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� ...

, ''Paroreomyza maculata'' *

Maui alauahio The island of Maui (; Hawaiian: ) is the second-largest of the islands of the state of Hawaii at 727.2 square miles (1,883 km2) and is the 17th largest island in the United States. Maui is the largest of Maui County's four islands, which ...

, ''Paroreomyza montana'' * Lanai alauahio, ''Paroreomyza montana montana'' † * Kakawahie, ''Paroreomyza flammea'' † * Akekee, ''Loxops caeruleirostris'' * Hawaii akepa, ''Loxops coccineus'' * Maui ākepa, ''Loxops coccineus ochraceus'' † * Oahu ākepa, ''Loxops coccineus wolstenholmei'' † * Ula-ai-hawane, ''Ciridops anna'' † * Iiwi, ''Vestiaria coccinea'' *

Hawaii mamo The Hawaii mamo (''Drepanis pacifica'') is an extinct species of Hawaiian honeycreeper. It was endemic to Hawaii. It became extinct due to habitat loss, mosquitoes, introduced predators such as mongoose, and overcollecting. Description This bi ...

, ''Drepanis pacifica'' † *

Black mamo The black mamo (''Drepanis funerea''), also known as the hoa, is an extinction, extinct species of bird once Endemism, endemic to the island of Molokai; there is also subfossil evidence of it having lived on Maui. Description It measured fr ...

, ''Drepanis funerea'' † * Akohekohe, ''Palmeria dolei'' * Apapane, ''Himatione sanguinea'' *

Laysan honeycreeper The Laysan honeycreeper or Laysan apapane (''Himatione fraithii'') is an extinct bird species that was endemic to the island of Laysan in the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands. Taxonomy The species was described by the British ornithologist Walter ...

, ''Himatione fraithii'' † * Poouli, ''Melamprosops phaeosoma'' †

References

* (2005). ''Hawaii's Birds''. Hawaii Audubon Society. Sixth ed.

External links

USGS Biology Programs
Informative site but species classification is out of date
IUCN Redlist of Threatened Species

- Distribution, Status and Population Updates 2002

{{North American birds

Birds, endemic