Birdfinding.info ⇒ The last record of Maui Nukupu’u that is generally accepted as valid occurred in June 1901, although subsequent sightings were reported until at least 1998. In the 1800s, it was most often observed and collected above Olinda (in or near the current Waikamoi Preserve), where it was reported to be fairly common. It was rarely found elsewhere. After 1901 there were few if any reports for over 60 years and the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service declared it extinct in 1966. From 1967 to 1998 many observers reported sightings, mainly from the remote Hanawi Natural Area Reserve. None were supported by physical evidence, but some had multiple signatories and persuasive details. The last of these was in 1995. A significant problem with all modern nukupu’u sightings on both Kauai and Maui is the occurrence of amakihis with deformed bills.
Maui Nukupu’u †
Hemignathus affinis
Extinct. Formerly endemic to Maui.
Before its decline, in the late 1800s, it was known from montane ohia forests on the northern slopes of Mount Haleakala at elevations of around 1,200 to 2,150 m.
Identification
A stout, short-tailed honeycreeper with a long, decurved bill, the upper mandible about twice as long as the lower.
The male had an essentially all-yellow head (like the male Kauai Nukupu’u) that contrasted with its olive back.
Females and immatures had a mostly olive head and neck with yellow on the face and throat (like the male Oahu Nukupu’u).
Maui Nukupu’u, male. © Bernice Pauahi Bishop Museum
Maui Nukupu’u, female and male. John Gerrard Keulemans, 1900
Maui Nukupu’u, male. (Natural History Museum at Tring; collected at Haleakala, Maui, Hawaii; August 9, 1892.) © Andrew Esposito
Notes
Monotypic species. Formerly considered conspecific with Kauai and Oahu Nukupu’us, known collectively as the Nukupu’u (Hemignathus lucidus).
IUCN Red List Status: Critically Endangered (Possibly Extinct).
References
BirdLife International. 2016. Hemignathus affinis. The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2016: e.T103823664A104234257. https://dx.doi.org/10.2305/IUCN.UK.2016-3.RLTS.T103823664A104234257.en. (Accessed May 21, 2020.)
Hume, J.P. 2017. Extinct Birds (Second Edition). Bloomsbury Publishing PLC, London.
Pratt, H.D. 2005. The Hawaiian Honeycreepers: Drepanidinae. Oxford University Press.
Pratt, H.D., and C.J. Sharpe. 2020. Maui Nukupuu (Hemignathus affinis). In Handbook of the Birds of the World Alive (J. del Hoyo, A. Elliott, J. Sargatal, D.A. Christie, and E. de Juana, eds.). Lynx Edicions, Barcelona. https://www.hbw.com/node/61447. (Accessed May 9, 2020.)
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.