Lesser ʻakialoa

Lesser ʻakialoa
Specimen
Conservation status
Extinct (1940)  (IUCN 3.1)
Presumed Extinct (1940)  (NatureServe)
Scientific classification
Domain:	Eukaryota
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Aves
Order:	Passeriformes
Family:	Fringillidae
Subfamily:	Carduelinae
Genus:	†Akialoa
Species:	†A. obscura
Binomial name
†Akialoa obscura (JF Gmelin, 1788)
Synonyms
Hemignathus obscurus

The lesser ʻakialoa (Akialoa obscura) is an extinct species of Hawaiian honeycreeper in the subfamily Carduelinae of the family Fringillidae. It was endemic to the island of Hawaiʻi. It became extinct due to habitat loss and disappeared at around the same time as its Oʻahu relative.

Description

Illustration

It was a yellowish bird with a two-inch-long thin whitish-yellow bill. It had small olive green wings which it used to flit from tree to tree to look for insects like beetles and caterpillars.

Behavior

It was seen gleaning the trees in search of insects. The bill of the akialoa was also designed for more than bug extraction. The akialoa also fed on nectar in the flowers of lobeliads and o’hia blossoms. Its long bill could easily fit into petals of long flowers and took pollen from flower to flower on its forehead. It was collected at several places. It was once thought to be the same species as the Maui and Oahu form, but when specimens were compared all together the scientist saw that all three were different species.

Extinction

With the loss of the trees and the flowers it depended on, the bird had no shelter or food and disappeared in 1940.

External links

• 3D view of specimens RMNH 110.013 and RMNH 110.014 at Naturalis, Leiden (requires QuickTime browser plugin)