Several million years ago a single finch species arrived to the Hawaiian Islands and one of the most amazing stories in the natural world has begun. The ancestral bird diverged into more than 50 different species to fill a variety of ecological niches on the islands. This group of birds called Hawaiian Honeycreepers. Although, Darwin’s finches of the Galápagos are better known, this Hawaiian endemic subfamily (Drepanidinae) of the finch family (Fringillidae) is the most spectacular example of adaptive radiation in birds. Every honeycreeper species evolved their own unique bill shapes, plumage colors and behaviors. Some honeycreepers adapted for nectarivory, while others eat fruits, seeds, insects or even snails. Sadly, more than half of the Hawaiian honeycreepers are already extinct. Since Oahu is the most ecologically altered island, it has the fewest honeycreepers among the large islands. Today only four or probably three species exist on Oahu, the Iiwi (Vestiaria coccinea), the Apapane (Himatione sanguinea), the Oahu Amakihi (Chlorodrepanis flava) and the Oahu Alauahio (Paroreomyza maculata), however this species is possibly extinct. The last record of this bird was in 1985.
The Iiwi is still fairly common on the other islands, but it’s extremely rare on Oahu. The Apapane is also common on the other islands and it has some small relict populations on Oahu. The Oahu Amakihi can only be found on the island of Oahu and nowhere else, which makes it one of the most unique birds on the planet and also makes it very vulnerable. This bird originally occured throughout the island, but is now restricted to Oahu’s two mountain ranges, the Waianae and the Koolau Ranges.
The Hawaiian honeycreepers are threathened by habitat loss, introduced predators, introduced birds which compete with honeycreepers for limited food resources and the main threat is the deadly avian malaria carried by introduced mosquitoes.
I first met a Hawaiian honeycreeper in August 2012. It was an Oahu Amakihi that I saw at Waahila Ridge in the Koolau Mountains. I very enjoyed the sighting of the male amakihi as he perched in the canopy of an ohia lehua tree, of which nectar is one of the main food resources of these birds. Unfortuantely, after my first encounter with this bird, I had to wait a very long time until I was able to take a photograph of my first honeycreeper. In the last year and a half, I took many unsuccessful trips to Waahila Ridge and to some other trails in the Koolau Mountains. I saw several amakihis, but I was unable to photograph them. I almost gave up, but last week I decided to give the amakihi another chance and I hiked Waahila Ridge again. Finally, this trip was successful. When I arrived to the place where I previously saw the amakihi, I spotted a juvenile bird in the ohia lehua tree. I had no time to set up my tripod, so I quickly changed the ISO on my camera to 800 and shot the bird by hand holding my equipment. Fortunately, the images were sharp and I was very happy with my first honeycreeper images. Just to make the day perfect, I saw two apapanes as they flew over the trees, so I’ve already seen two of the three honeycreepers of Oahu.
Source:
Pratt, H. D. (2005), The Hawaiian Honeycreepers. Bird Families of the World Series. Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press.
Gear: Canon EOS 7D, Canon EF 300mm F/4 L lens, Canon 1.4x extender
