Hawaiian honeycreeper

Hawaiian Honeycreepers
Laysan Finch
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia Phylum: Chordata Class: Aves Order: Passeriformes Family: Drepanididae
Genera
Telespiza Psittirostra Dysmorodrepanis Loxioides Rhodacanthis Chloridops Pseudonestor Hemignathus Oreomystis Paroreomyza Loxops Ciridops Vestiaria Drepanis Palmeria Himatione Melamprosops

The Hawaii honeycreepers are small passerine birds endemic to Hawaii. Some authorities categorize this group as the subfamily Drepanidinae of the finch family Fringillidae, to which they are closely related, but they are usually given full family status as the Drepanidae.

The family is divided into three tribes

• Psittirostrini (Hawaiian finches), seedeaters with thick finch-like bills and songs like those of cardueline finches.
• Hemignathini (Hawaiian creepers and allies, including nukupuu). These are generally green-plumaged birds with thin bills which feed on nectar and insects
• Drepanidini (Mamos, iiwis and allies). These are birds often with red plumage. They are nectar-feeders and their songs contain nasal squeaks and whistles.

Male honeycreepers are often more brightly coloured than the female. The flowers of the native plant Metrosideros polymorpha are favoured by a number of nectar-eating honeycreepers.

The wide range of bills in this group, from thick finch-like bills to slender downcurved bills for probing flowers have arisen through adaptive radiation, where an ancestral finch has evolved to fill a large number of ecological niches. 16 forms of Hawaiian honeycreeper have become extinct in the recent past, mostly since the arrival of the Polynesians who introduced the first rats, and a much later introduction of other rodent species and the mongoose.

• Family: Drepanididae
  • Nihoa Finch, Telespiza ultima (critically endangered)
  • Laysan Finch, Telespiza cantans
  • 'O'u, Psittirostra psittacea (critically endangered)
  • Lanai Finch, Dysmorodrepanis munroi
  • Palila, Loxioides bailleui
  • Lesser Koa-finch, Rhodacanthis flaviceps (extinct 1891)
  • Greater Koa-finch, Rhodacanthis palmeri (extinct 1896)
  • Kona Grosbeak Chloridops kona (extinct 1894)
  • Maui Parrotbill, Pseudonestor xanthophrys
  • Hawaii Amakihi, Hemignathus virens
  • Oahu Amakihi, Hemignathus flavus
  • Kauai Amakihi, Hemignathus kauaiensis
  • Anianiau, Hemignathus parvus
  • Greater Amakihi, Hemignathus sagittirostris (extinct 1901)
  • Akialoa, Hemignathus obscurus (extinct 1940)
  • Nukupu'u, Hemignathus lucidus (critically endangered)
  • Akiapolaau, Hemignathus munroi
  • 'Akikiki, Oreomystis bairdi (critically endangered)
  • Hawaii Creeper, Oreomystis mana
  • Maui Alauahio, Paroreomyza montana
  • Kakawahie, Paroreomyza flammea (extinct 1963)
  • O'ahu 'Alauahio, Paroreomyza maculata (critically endangered)
  • Akekee, Loxops caeruleirostris
  • Akepa, Loxops coccineus
  • Ula-Ai-Hawane Ciridops anna (extinct 1892)
  • Iiwi, Vestiaria coccinea
  • Common Mamo Drepanis pacifica (extinct 1898)
  • Black Mamo Drepanis funerea (extinct 1907)
  • Akohekohe, Palmeria dolei
  • Apapane, Himatione sanguinea (extinct 1923)
  • Po'o-uli, Melamprosops phaeosoma (critcally endangered)