Hoopoe-billed ʻakialoa
| Hoopoe-billed ʻakialoa | |
|---|---|
| Conservation status | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Aves |
| Order: | Passeriformes |
| Family: | Fringillidae |
| Subfamily: | Carduelinae |
| Genus: | Hemignathus |
| Species: | † H. upupirostris |
| Binomial name | |
| Hemignathus upupirostris (Olson & James, 1995) | |
| Synonyms | |
|
Akialoa upupirostris | |
The hoopoe-billed ʻakialoa, (Hemignathus upupirostris), was an extinct species of Hawaiian honeycreeper. Fossil remains have been found of this species in the Hawaiian islands of Kauai and Oahu. The species specific name, upupirostris, is derived from the Latin upupa, hoopoe, and rostrum, bill, and refers to the long sickle-shaped bill which resembles that of the hoopoe. The species was apparently slightly larger than others in its genus. A similar but smaller bird has been discovered but is as yet undescribed from the island of Maui. The species presumably went extinct after the arrival of humans in Hawaii, but is known only from fossil records.[1]