Olomaʻo

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Oloma'O

Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Aves
Order:	Passeriformes
Family:	Turdidae
Genus:	Myadestes
Species:	M. lanaiensis

Binomial name

Myadestes lanaiensis
(Wilson, 1891)

The Molokai Olomao or the Molokai Thrush was endemic to Maui and Molokai. It had a close related species which was endemic to Lanai but went extinct in 1931. This bird is thin seven and a half inches long bird. It has a beak which was brown and had black lores that stretched to the eyes. The Molokai Olamao had a blackish back with a brownish front and white bottom It had blackish legs with greyish thighs.. Its chicks were similarly colored as the other thrushes, with a checkered brown and white on its body.

It lived high up in the forests of Molokai and was found in most of the forests in Maui. It like its relative may have eaten berries and insects. We do not know for sure, due to its high rarity and its crypticness, constantly avoiding people. It was found in larger numbers in olapa plants and several other fruit bearing plants. Its breeding biology was studied very much in detail however several inactive nests have been discovered of this species. They were placed high up in the trees as do all the thrushes. It was made from fibers and lichen all sown together. We do not know how the young chicks would have looked like because we have never found the active nests.

This bird was common, like most other birds on Maui and on Molokai, in the early 1890s. It was so common that it was thought to be the most nuemorus bird on Molokai. However, ornithologists started noticing a strict decline of birds on Maui. Nothing was really done for the birds at this time and between 1900 to 1910, there were no more Molokai Olamao sighted on the island of Maui. The Lanai Thrush, its close relative was not doing much better either. It was exceptionably rare at the start of the 20th century and by 1931 to 1933, it too had vanished . The populations on Molokai were already dropping in a fast rate as many of the birds were collected by hunters who created specimens from them. Hunting over the years reduced the genetic diversity in this species. The only remaining population left was the one on East Molokai, which was very small. This small population however has given us a lot about what we know about Molokai Olamao. Three nests, the only ones known to science were all discovered on Molokai. All the nests were inactive, however they tell us what trees the birds may prefer and what materials are needed to make the nests. Knowing this will not only help improve our old plan to help Molokai birds, but also help to create a new one. The new plan was to protect O’hia trees through out the island, as all three nests were found in O’hia trees, we think they are to be protected for a breeding population to be successful. The next plan was to capture several birds, or to take several eggs (if we ever find a active nest) and breed the captive population. Meanwhile we will introduce the plants that are needed by the Molokai Olomao. Once the captive population has grown large enough, we will take several of the birds and release them into wild populations to stabilize and increase their numbers. May I remind you that we need to find some birds to create this idea. Constant surveillance of the species showed a steep decline through the 1950s,60s,70s and early 80s. The last reported sighting of the species was in the 1988 and there were only two birds sighted, with a core population estimated at best nineteen birds on the entire island. Afterward, with no more sightings for several years, there were no more scheduled searches for the species and it was presumed extinct. However even after the searches had stopped, there were sightings of a brownish black bird in the area for years, so the species may still exist in small numbers in the highest, most isolated parts of Molokai.

Important documents that this bird is included in is the Endangered Species List in which it was added in 1970. It is also include in the Maui Molokai Birds Recovery Plan in 1984. It was also included in other small government documents that were designed to protect this species both specifically and all the species as a whole.

[edit] Systematics

Maui birds may have constituted a separate subspecies or race, but became extinct before any studies could be performed. Two subspecies are recognized: