The Kauai nukupuu (''Hemignathus hanapepe'') is an

extinct Extinction is the termination of an organism by the death of its Endling, last member. A taxon may become Functional extinction, functionally extinct before the death of its last member if it loses the capacity to Reproduction, reproduce and ...

species of nukupuʻu once found throughout parts of the

Hawaii Hawaii ( ; ) is an island U.S. state, state of the United States, in the Pacific Ocean about southwest of the U.S. mainland. One of the two Non-contiguous United States, non-contiguous U.S. states (along with Alaska), it is the only sta ...

an island of

Kauai Kauai (), anglicized as Kauai ( or ), is one of the main Hawaiian Islands. It has an area of 562.3 square miles (1,456.4 km2), making it the fourth-largest of the islands and the 21st-largest island in the United States. Kauai lies 73 m ...

. It was an insect eater that picked out its tiny prey from tree bark. The males were yellowish with brown wings, while the females were grayish brown with a yellow throat streak.

Conservation

The species was abundant until the 19th century, when the loss of its lowland forests to

slash and burn Slash-and-burn agriculture is a form of shifting cultivation that involves the cutting and burning of plants in a forest or woodland to create a field called a swidden. The method begins by cutting down the trees and woody plants in an area. T ...

farming methods damaged its habitat. By 1889, this bird was very rare, though it could still be found in small flocks in the higher forests. The last confirmed sighting was in 1899; if the species survived after this time, it likely became confined to the

Alakaʻi Wilderness Preserve The Alakai Wilderness Preserve, popularly known as Alakai Swamp, is a montane wet forest on the Hawaiian island of Kauai. Although the preserve is home to alpine bogs, it is not a true swamp. It is located on a plateau near Mount Waialeale, o ...

. From 1984-1998, it was recorded several times in this area, but later analysis of these sightings indicates that almost all these observations were likely of

Kauaʻi ʻamakihi The Kauaʻi ʻamakihi (''Chlorodrepanis stejnegeri'') is a species of Hawaiian honeycreeper, Hawaiian honeycreepers Endemism, endemic to Kauai, Kauaʻi in the family Finch, Fringillidae. The species Hawaiian name is associated with is Kihikihi, or ...

(''Chlorodrepanis stejnegeri''). It was also feared that the winds from

Hurricane Iniki Hurricane Iniki ( ; Hawaiian: ''iniki'' meaning "strong and piercing wind") was a hurricane that struck the island of Kauai on September 11, 1992. It was the most powerful hurricane to strike Hawaii in recorded history, and the only hurricane to ...

in 1992 could have created more damage to the bird's habitat. Intensive searches for this species throughout the 1990s were unsuccessful, although a single unconfirmed report was made in 2007. The species was likely already extinct by 1906, but the recency of some of the unconfirmed sightings indicates that the species should likely not be classified as extinct unless there is no doubt that it is. In September 2021, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service proposed that the Kauaʻi nukupuʻu should be declared extinct, citing fruitless and extensive surveys. In October 2023, the species was delisted from the

Endangered Species Act The Endangered Species Act of 1973 (ESA; 16 U.S.C. § 1531 et seq.) is the primary law in the United States for protecting and conserving imperiled species. Designed to protect critically imperiled species from extinction as a "consequence of e ...

citing extinction.

References

External links

* {{Taxonbar, from1=Q27075768, from2=Q5486437 Hemignathus Hawaiian honeycreepers Biota of Kauai Extinct birds of Hawaii Birds described in 1889 Taxa named by Scott Barchard Wilson