This is a lovely kind of honeycreeper (a kind of small songbird bird endemic to Hawaii), formerly found on the island of Moloka’i. Also known as the Kākāwahie, which means “to break up firewood”; their call reminded listeners of the chip of someone chopping wood. This bird resembled a ball of flame, especially in flight. The males were scarlet red all around. Females had a…
Tag: hawaii
Ula-ai-Hawane
A small Hawaiian honeycreeper. It liked the seeds and flowers of a particular sort of palm tree, and when those started to disappeared, so did the bird. Its name means “the red bird that eats the fruit of the hawane palm”. Last seen in 1892.
Mamo
Generations of Hawaiian Royalty trapped Mamos and used their yellow rump feathers for ceremonial royal war cloaks. The Kings of Hawaii supposed ruled that anyone who trapped a Mamo was prevented from killing it, and were required to turn them loose once their yellow feathers had been plucked. It’s impossible to say if this was an effective edict, or if…