Kama’o †

Birdfinding.info ⇒  The last substantiated observation of Kama’o was the tape-recording of a singing male in the Alakai Swamp on June 27, 1987.  Reports without corroborating evidence persisted till at least 1989 and possibly into the 1990s, but it seems clear that the precipitous decline of this species ended with its extinction sometime between June 1987 and the early 1990s.  This history is among the most tragic of Hawaii’s endemics.  In the late 1800s, the Kama’o was considered to be the most numerous native landbird on Kauai.  By 1928 it was found only in montane forests above 1,100 m, then in the early 1970s its population was estimated at 340, and by 1981 it was estimated at 24.  This sprint to oblivion seems most likely to have resulted from susceptibility to a pathogen—and it is notable that throughout this process Kauai supported a closely related thrush, the Puaiohi, which was already rare when described, but outlived the Kama’o.