WatchList Species Account for Palila (Loxioides bailleui)

Qualifies for the list as a Red List Species

Photo: Jack Jeffrey

Prior to the arrival of the Polynesians, the Palila was found on Oahu, Kauai and the island of Hawaii, but it was extirpated on Oahu and Kauai well before the 19th Century. At present it is limited to the upper slopes of Mauna Kea Volcano on the island of Hawaii, almost entirely on the western side, at 2,000 to 3000 m elevation. It was once common on the eastern and southern slopes but is now found there less frequently and in low numbers. The last observation on Mauna Loa was more than 50 years ago.

Like most other native Hawaiian passerines, the Palila has become stranded in the uppermost part of its historic range; in this case, the present range is tiny, about 136 km2 of dry to mesic subalpine forest, with the majority of the birds found within an area of only 20.5 km2. There they are found in dry, open forests of mamane and mamane-naio, where they use their heavy parrot-like bills to feed on their preferred food, mamane seed pods, though they also eat other parts of the tree, including flower parts and nectar, leaf buds, and young leaves, while also gleaning insects from leaves, branches, and the trunk. Dependence on this one food source means that the bird’s survival and reproductive success depend on the crop of mamane seeds; in drought years when the crop is low, most Palilas do not attempt to breed.

Among the problems the bird has faced is overbrowsing by ungulates, which seriously degraded the dry forest. Removal of goats, feral sheep and mouflon sheep has improved the situation and mamane and many other native plants are regenerating, though since the Palila shows strong site tenacity, this has prevented or slowed its recolonization of newly suitable habitat. Some birds have been translocated and others from a captive breeding program have been introduced into these areas, but translocated birds tend to return to the area from which they were removed. Predation by cats and rats is a problem as well, but state and federal agencies have begun programs to control these introduced predators. The bird’s habitat is accessible and it is easy to observe; annual census conducted on its population yields numbers which have varied from 1,584 to 5,685 in recent years, with no trends apparent.

The bird is federally listed as endangered and classified also as endangered under IUCN-World Conservation Union criteria.