Extremely rare bird thought dead discovered on Hawaiian volcano

Source: The Hill | July 28, 2021 | Christian Spencer

There are only an estimated 150 of the kiwikiu, better known as the Maui parrotbill.

The kiwikiu, better known as the Maui parrotbill, is critically endangered. However, this Wednesday, the Hawaii Department of Land and Natural Resources spotted a living individual that had been presumed dead on the slopes of the Haleakalā volcano, SFGate reported.

 Kiwikiu, better known as the Maui parrotbill

In October 2019, scientists tried to translocate seven of the birds to Maui’s Nakula Natural Area Reserve. But five of the seven rare birds were killed in an epidemic of avian malaria brought by nonnative mosquitoes, and the remaining two birds were listed as dead.

All hope was almost lost until department researcher Zach Pezzillo heard a distinct song from a kiwikiu.

“I first heard what I thought might be a distant kiwikiu song,” he said in a statement. “It then sang about ten times across a gulch in some koa trees. It dropped down into some kolea trees where it spent the next twenty minutes calling and actively foraging through the berries, bark and leaves.”

After observing its leg, Pezzillo was able to positively identify the individual bird as one of those two missing kiwikius based on its distinct band.

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