The Maui Nui finch (''Telespiza ypsilon'') is an extinct member of the genus ''

Telespiza ''Telespiza'' is a genus of Hawaiian honeycreeper. All species in it are or were endemic to the Hawaiian Islands. Species *†''Telespiza persecutrix'' James & Olson, 1991 - Kauai finch (prehistoric) *†''Telespiza ypsilon'' James & Olso ...

'' in the family

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 ...

. It 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 else ...

to 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 Molokai and Maui. It is only known from

fossil A fossil (from Classical Latin , ) is any preserved remains, impression, or trace of any once-living thing from a past geological age. Examples include bones, shells, exoskeletons, stone imprints of animals or microbes, objects preserved ...

remains and likely became extinct before the first Europeans visited Hawaii in 1778.

Extinction

Due to its early extinction, very little is known about this species. It is only known from a few bones found in caves. It appears that this species began to go extinct when the first Polynesians settlers came to the islands. They cleared some of the land for farming and

introduced species An introduced species, alien species, exotic species, adventive species, immigrant species, foreign species, non-indigenous species, or non-native species is a species living outside its native distributional range, but which has arrived ther ...

for which the native birds had no defence. According to fossil records, their numbers declined rapidly in the early 12th century. It has been speculated that this species' visits to lower elevations was its undoing due to contact with avian diseases and pests. Today, only about sixty percent of Hawaii has not been drastically altered. Many avian diseases and parasites also pose a major threat to Hawai'i's native forest birds.

References

* James, Helen F., & Olson, Storrs L. (1991). ''Descriptions of thirty-two new species of birds from the Hawaiian Islands: Part II. Passeriformes.'' Ornithological Monographs 46. The American Ornithologists' Union, Washington D.C. {{Taxonbar, from=Q2401985 Extinct birds of Hawaii Late Quaternary prehistoric birds Telespiza Holocene extinctions Biota of Maui Biota of Molokai Taxa named by Helen F. James