| Kauaʻi Palila | |
|---|---|
| Conservation status | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Aves |
| Order: | Passeriformes |
| Family: | Drepanididae |
| Genus: | Loxioides |
| Species: | L. kikuichi |
| Binomial name | |
| Loxioides kikuichi (Helen James and Storrs Olson, 2006) |
|
The Kauaʻi Palila (Loxioides kikuichi) was a species of Hawaiian finch that was much larger than the Palila (Loxioides bailleui). It was probably covered in feathers of red, gold, white, and black. It was described from subfossil remains discovered at the Makauwahi Cave on the south coast of Kauai in the Hawaiian Islands.
The Kauaʻi Palila was one of many native Hawaiian birds that was affected by drastic changes in the environment due to farming. The dry forest was cut down, and irrigation from streams became widespread. The ecosystem became much wetter, and the remaining Naio (Myoporum sandwicense) trees began to rot away. Soon the Pila's Palila was pushed to its limit, and became extinct, though it had lived for a long time, despite human competition and destruction of their habitat. Some speculate that the latest remaining specimen dates back to the 1800s.. Today the Kauaʻi Palila is known from few specimens, found on the island of Kauaʻi. It is unknown if this bird ever got a name in the Hawaiian language, since it seems to have disappeared before Europeans arrived to apply the classification name.
Prehistorically, the Palila may also have inhabited Kauaʻi. The subfossil remains found on Kauai are intriguing. They were found near sea level, where the habitat to which the species is restricted today apparently never occurred. Mamane might conceivably also have grown at lower elevations on the arid parts of Maui Nui. No Palila remains have been discovered on these interspersing islands; it is thus quite possible that the birds from Oahu and Kauai constitute the Pila's Palila, and a third species of Loxioides. A related larger species, Pila's Palila, or Loxioides kikuichi is known exclusively from subfossil remains found on Kauaʻi. It became extinct maybe as late as 1750, maybe much earlier.