Birdfinding.info ⇒ The last confirmed observation of Kona Grosbeak was the collection of a set of specimens in September 1892 on the northwestern slopes of Mauna Loa barely five years after the collection of the type specimen on June 21, 1887. All recorded observations of the species occurred at middle elevations on the west side of the Big Island on Mauna Loa and Hualalai.
Kona Grosbeak †
Chloridops kona
Extinct. Formerly endemic to the Big Island of Hawaii.
Known from forests between approximately 1,400 and 1,700 m elevation on the slopes of Pu’u Hualalai and Mauna Loa, where it was mostly observed feeding on naio and māmane fruits.
Identification
A medium-sized, stocky, olive grosbeak with a massive pink bill.
Adults were uniformly yellow-olive throughout.
Immatures were olive above with paler, yellowish-white underparts.
Kona Grosbeak. Frederick Frohawk, 1899
Kona Grosbeak, close-up view of its massive bill. © Bernice Pauahi Bishop Museum
Kona Grosbeak. (Specimen on display at Bernice Pauahi Bishop Museum, Honolulu; July 6, 2016.) © David Eickhoff
Kona Grosbeak, adult and immature—but note that the bills are illustrated as dark gray, whereas in reality this species had a pinkish bill. John Gerrard Keulemans, 1900
Kona Grosbeak. © Bernice Pauahi Bishop Museum
Kona Grosbeak. (Natural History Museum at Tring; October 11, 1891.) © Andrew Esposito
Kona Grosbeak, male, ventral view. (Specimen ID: RMNH.AVES.110015; Kona, Big Island, Hawaii; October 15, 1891.) © Naturalis Biodiversity Center
Kona Grosbeak, male, side view. (Specimen ID: RMNH.AVES.110015; Kona, Big Island, Hawaii; October 15, 1891.) © Naturalis Biodiversity Center
Kona Grosbeak, male, dorsal view. (Specimen ID: RMNH.AVES.110015; Kona, Big Island, Hawaii; October 15, 1891.) © Naturalis Biodiversity Center
Notes
Monotypic species.
IUCN Red List Status: Extinct.
References
BirdLife International. 2016. Chloridops kona. The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2016: e.T22728825A94998118. https://dx.doi.org/10.2305/IUCN.UK.2016-3.RLTS.T22728825A94998118.en. (Accessed June 1, 2020.)
Hume, J.P. 2017. Extinct Birds (Second Edition). Bloomsbury Publishing PLC, London.
Pratt, H.D. 2005. The Hawaiian Honeycreepers: Drepanidinae. Oxford University Press.
Pyle, R.L., and P. Pyle. 2017. The Birds of the Hawaiian Islands: Occurrence, History, Distribution, and Status. Version 2 (January 1, 2017). http://hbs.bishopmuseum.org/birds/rlp-monograph/. B.P. Bishop Museum, Honolulu, Hawaii.