| ʻAkekeʻe | |
|---|---|
| Male above, female below | |
| Conservation status | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Aves |
| Order: | Passeriformes |
| Family: | Fringillidae |
| Genus: | Loxops |
| Species: | L. caeruleirostris |
| Binomial name | |
| Loxops caeruleirostris Wilson, 1890 |
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The ʻAkekeʻe is a bird species in the family Fringillidae, where it is placed in the Hawaiian honeycreeper genus Loxops. It is endemic to the island of Kauaʻi where it is found in small numbers in higher elevations. Because of the unusual bill and similar size and shape, the ʻAkekeʻe and the ʻĀkepa (Loxops coccineus) were for some time classified as a single species. This was eventually changed, because of the ʻAkekeʻe's color, nesting behavior and calls.
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The ʻAkekeʻe is a greenish-yellow bird with a black mask around the eye (especially prominent in the male) and a bluish bill, unlike the ʻĀkepa, which is usually red, canary-yellow or orange, without black, and have horn-colored bills. Their bill-tips are crossed over, though not bent as in distantly-related Fringillidae the crossbills (Loxia).[2] The ʻAkekeʻe's call is softer than its relatives.
The ʻAkekeʻe uses its bill like scissors to cut open buds in search of insects to eat. It also takes the nectar to certain trees as part of its diet. This bird creates nests from simple twigs while the ʻĀkepa use tree cavities as their nest sites.
The ʻAkekeʻe is currently found only in the Waimea Canyon State Park, Alakaʻi Wilderness Preserve and Kōkeʻe State Park. It has been heading toward extinction because of its lack of tolerance to alteration of its habitat, which is based on mesic and wet forests, especially ʻōhiʻa lehua (Metrosideros polymorpha) trees.
The ʻAkekeʻe is threatened by the introduction of plants like the banana pōka (Passiflora tarminiana), a passionflower vine, that displace the native plants. Feral pigs and feral goats also destroy native growth. Eventually, the insects on which the ʻAkekeʻe feeds will disappear from such areas, as they do not find their usual host plants anymore. Avian malaria (Plasmodium relictum) and fowlpox transmitted by accidentally introduced mosquitos continues to wreak havoc on the ʻAkekeʻe; this is the reason why these birds are hardly ever found anymore below 1,100 meters ASL, but only in higher regions where the mosquitoes do not occur yet. Forest clearing in different parts of the island of Kauaʻi has caused a major loss of habitat of many birds.[3]
Conservation status for this species was updated to Critically Endangered in 2008 due to a rapid decrease in population over the last decade. Current population estimates are under 5,000 birds.[1]