Hawaiʻi ʻōʻō
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The Hawaii ōō (''Moho nobilis'') was a member of the extinct genus of the ōōs ('' Moho'') within the extinct family Mohoidae. It was previously regarded as member of the Australo-Pacific
honeyeater The honeyeaters are a large and diverse family, Meliphagidae, of small to medium-sized birds. The family includes the Australian chats, myzomelas, friarbirds, wattlebirds, miners and melidectes. They are most common in Australia and New Gui ...
s (''Meliphagidae'').


Description

The Hawaii ōō was first described by Blasius Merrem in 1786. It had an overall length of , wing length of , and tail length of up to . The sexes were similar in appearance, but females were smaller and the end of their tail feathers was not as twisted as that of males. The colour of its plumage was glossy black with a brown shading at the belly. It also had yellowish tufts at the axillaries, which juveniles lacked. 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 co ...
is often translated as "Hill of the Ōō-Bird", referring to this species. The Hawaii ōō had a dipping flight which was compared to that of the
Eurasian magpie The Eurasian magpie or common magpie (''Pica pica'') is a resident breeding bird throughout the northern part of the Eurasian continent. It is one of several birds in the crow family (corvids) designated magpies, and belongs to the Holarctic r ...
. George C. Munro noted that its wings could produce a buzzing sound while flapping quickly, which was not recorded in other birds present in its habitat. Its call was harsh and disyllabic, and this led to the belief that the name ''ōō'' was derived from this species. It was typically shy and timid, but it was highly aggressive towards other birds when they approached its territory, even interrupting its own acts to drive them away. This usually involved the bird engaging in a display, in which it would raise its wings, erect its tail feathers and display its yellowish plumes while attacking them.Hume, J. P., & Walters, M. (2012). ''Extinct Birds (Vol. 217)''. A&C Black. Nests and eggs of the Hawaii ōō have never been discovered, mainly because the species preferred to settle in the highest of branches.


Extinction

When Europeans first arrived, 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'' (feathered staffs) of '' alii'' (Hawaiian
nobility Nobility is a social class found in many societies that have an aristocracy. It is normally appointed by and ranked immediately below royalty. Nobility has often been an estate of the realm with many exclusive functions and characteristics. T ...
) by
Native Hawaiians Native Hawaiians (also known as Indigenous Hawaiians, Kānaka Maoli, Aboriginal Hawaiians, or simply Hawaiians; , , , and ) are the Indigenous Polynesian people of the Hawaiian Islands. Hawaiʻi was settled at least 800 years ago by Polynesian ...
. Some were even caught and put in cages to be sold as songbirds, only to live for a few days or weeks before
diseases A disease is a particular abnormal condition that adversely affects the structure or function of all or part of an organism and is not immediately due to any external injury. Diseases are often known to be medical conditions that are asso ...
from
mosquito Mosquitoes, the Culicidae, are a Family (biology), family of small Diptera, flies consisting of 3,600 species. The word ''mosquito'' (formed by ''Musca (fly), mosca'' and diminutive ''-ito'') is Spanish and Portuguese for ''little fly''. Mos ...
es befell them. The decline of this bird was hastened 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 dis ...
, 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 play only 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.


See also

* Kauai ʻoʻo * Oahu ʻoʻo * Bishop's ʻoʻo


References


External links


3D view
of specimens RMNH 110.044 and RMNH 110.045 (formerly RMNH 2142) at Naturalis, Leiden (requires
QuickTime QuickTime (or QuickTime Player) is an extensible multimedia architecture created by Apple, which supports playing, streaming, encoding, and transcoding a variety of digital media formats. The term ''QuickTime'' also refers to the QuickTime Pla ...
browser plugin). {{DEFAULTSORT:Hawaii Oo Extinct birds of Hawaii Moho (genus) Bird extinctions since 1500 Birds described in 1786 Taxa named by Blasius Merrem