A stunning ‘I’iwi (formerly Scarlet Honeycreeper) feeds on one of its host plants, the Mamane (
Sophora chrysophylla). Both the pea and the bird are Hawaiian endemics, and the ‘I’iwi (ee-ee-vee) is now listed as Federally Threatened, as an estimated 90+% of the population has vanished. Shauna and I became entranced with the charismatic birds, which guarded their favorite patches of nectar plants. Flower nectar is their primary food. Two other honeycreepers were present and would try to sneak in and raid the 'I'iwi's patches. Not for long - the larger scarlet honeycreeper would roar in and quickly dispense with them. The Mamane apparently can recharge its nectar rapidly, as the honeycreepers would visit every ten minutes or so. Slopes of Mt. Haleakala, Maui, Hawaii, November 22, 2024.
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The honeycreeper in a rare moment of repose - it lasted about two seconds. The highly specialized bill allows it to plumb the depths of certain flowers for nectar, and it is primarily a nectar feeder. We spent about two hours watching these birds in a high elevation forest on the slopes of Mount Haleakala, and it appeared that individual 'I'iwi would guard patches of flowering plants, such as the Mamane in the photo.
At one time, the 'I'iwi occupied a half dozen Hawaiian Islands and ranged from sea level to the highest forests. It has long been persecuted, first by native islanders who coveted the brilliant vermilion feathers. Capes adorned with 'I'iwi feathers - one cape might have hundreds of thousands of feathers - were a status symbol among the nobility. As were helmets adorned with "I"iwi feathers. The accidental introduction of mosquitoes by Europeans brought avian malaria, and that has been devastating to the 'I'iwi and many other songbirds. Almost all "I"iwi that contract malaria succumb to it. Now, they occur on only three islands, and only in high elevation forests where mosquitoes cannot reach.
I hope that I never have to someday say that I saw the 'I'iwi after it has gone extinct.
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2 comments:
King Kamehameha put a ban on killing native species like the i’iwi. ‘Ahu’ula, the feather capes, were made by capturing the birds with sap, pulling only a few feathers, and re-releasing them back. Native Hawaiians were not to blame for dwindling numbers. Capitalism and colonialism is.
No quite, but good try at rewriting history. Here are some quotes from the Cornell Lab of Ornithology from the monograph (peer-reviewed with literature citations) of the I'iwi (Scarlet Honeycreeper):
"Polynesians colonized the Hawaiian Islands around 400 CE and radically changed ecosystems by burning vast areas of forest for agriculture and introducing nonnative plants and animals (78, 129). The great majority of Hawaiian bird species went extinct before European contact (129)..."
"When the Polynesian settlers first reached Hawai’i, they found that the islands provided little in the way of plant food, but birds were abundant and easily captured, and bird meat may have been the primary source of protein for native Hawaiians in some areas (146, 147, 148, 77)."
"Prior to the introduction of firearms, native birds were caught by hand, or rarely, using bow and arrow (60, 76, 77). Theoretically, feather collecting left the bird alive, to "grow another crop of feathers" for later collection (77), but evidence suggests that most died; killed directly for food, or indirectly due to handling during feather collection (147, 155, 77). After the introduction of firearms in the 19th century, the species was "indiscriminately shot" with guns (156, 76, 77)."
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