Qualifies for the list as a Red List Species

Photo: Jack Jeffrey

Now limited to eastern Maui where it is found in just three forested areas, this species also once occurred on Lana’i, where it was last seen in 1937 and is now considered to have become extirpated there. In one of these three areas the species is abundant, while common in another and scarce in the third. The bird’s natural history was poorly known before an intensive study which began in 1994. It is found primarily in native montane mesic and wet forest dominated by ‘ohi’a, but also occurs in alien montane forest composed mainly of pines. The bird feeds principally on arthropods, which it gleans from leaves, manor branches, small branches, and trunks. In foraging it hops and creeps up and down trunks and branches, often making short flights.

The bird’s habitat is being threatened by grazing by feral goats, with feral axis deer introducing a new pressure, since they are not prevented from entering native forests by existing fences put up to exclude ungulates. The bird is at risk from disease and predation. It is found mostly above 1,600 m; its estimated population is 17,000 individuals. In some forest edge localities it experiences high nest mortality due to rats; other predators may include Short-eared Owl, Barn Owl, mongoose, and feral cats. Habitat restoration at higher elevations, above the range of introduced mosquitoes, will benefit the species.