Birdfinding.info ⇒ The Apapane (“AH-pah-pah-NAY”) is the most numerous and widespread of Hawaii’s native songbirds. It is common and usually conspicuous at montane sites on Kauai, Maui, and the Big Island, less common on Oahu, rare on Molokai, and nearing extirpation on Lanai. On Oahu, it can be found in the hills above Honolulu, including Tantalus Drive, Wiliwilinui Ridge, Kuli’ou’ou Valley, and Aiea Ridge, and in the west at Mount Ka’ala; on Maui, Polipoli Spring and the Hosmer Grove of Haleakala National Park; on Kauai, Waimea Canyon and Koke’e State Park; on the Big Island, throughout the highlands.
Apapane
Himatione sanguinea
Endemic to Hawaii, where it occurs on the six islands with forested highlands: Kauai, Oahu, Molokai, Lanai, Maui, and the Big Island.
Favors ohia-dominated forests, mostly above 1,200 m elevation, but also descends to lowlands. When not breeding, it becomes semi-nomadic in search of flowering trees, sometimes moving from island to island.
Identification
A mid-sized honeycreeper with a thin, decurved, black bill, and mostly crimson plumage. The wings and tail are black, and the lower belly and undertail coverts are snow-white.
Apapane. (Pihea Trail, Kauai, Hawaii; December 10, 2017.) © Laura Keene
Apapane. (Hawaii Volcanoes National Park, Big Island, Hawaii; December 10, 2019.) © William Richards
Immature plumages are a motley mix of browns, grays, and reds, with black wings and tail.
Apapane, immature. (Hosmer Grove, Haleakala National Park, Maui, Hawaii; July 14, 2018.) © Timo Mitzen
Apapane, immature molting into adult plumage. (Alakai Swamp Trail, Kauai, Hawaii; June 25, 2017.) © George Gibbs
Notes
Monotypic species.
More Images of the Apapane
Apapane. (Hosmer Grove, Haleakala National Park, Maui, Hawaii; June 30, 2016.) © Dubi Shapiro
Apapane. (Hosmer Grove, Haleakala National Park, Maui, Hawaii; July 27, 2018.) © Frank Salmon
Apapane. (Koke’e State Park, Kauai, Hawaii; February 28, 2020.) © Donna Pomeroy
Apapane. (Hosmer Grove, Haleakala National Park, Maui, Hawaii; April 2, 2017.) © Ryan Sanderson
Apapane. (Pihea Trail, Kauai, Hawaii; January 15, 2016.) © Michael Hooper
Apapane. (Hosmer Grove, Haleakala National Park, Maui, Hawaii; March 13, 2011.) © Brenda Wright
Apapane. (Koke’e State Park, Kauai, Hawaii; April 5, 2014.) © Jim Denny
Apapane. (Koke’e State Park, Kauai, Hawaii; February 28, 2020.) © Donna Pomeroy
Apapane. (Pihea Trail, Kauai, Hawaii; February 8, 2013.) © Matthew Grube
Apapane. (Hosmer Grove, Haleakala National Park, Maui, Hawaii; August 25, 2014.) © Jeff Stacey
Apapane. (Koke’e State Park, Kauai, Hawaii; March 29, 2016.) © Dan Murphy
Apapane. (Koke’e State Park, Kauai, Hawaii; November 23, 2015.) © Dubi Shapiro
Apapane. (Hosmer Grove, Haleakala National Park, Maui, Hawaii; May 4, 2018.) © Alan Schmierer
Apapane. (Hosmer Grove, Haleakala National Park, Maui, Hawaii; July 1, 2019.) © Walter Oshiro
Apapane. (Pihea Trail, Kauai, Hawaii; February 17, 2020.) © Daniele Mitchell
Apapane. (Hawaii Volcanoes National Park, Big Island, Hawaii; March 28, 2019.) © Bart Wickel
Apapane. (Hosmer Grove, Haleakala National Park, Maui, Hawaii; July 27, 2018.) © Frank Salmon
Apapane. (Koke’e State Park, Kauai, Hawaii; November 23, 2015.) © Dubi Shapiro
Apapane. (Hosmer Grove, Haleakala National Park, Maui, Hawaii; July 1, 2019.) © Walter Oshiro
Apapane in flight. (Volcano Village, Big Island, Hawaii; January 3, 2016.) © Ken Simonite
Apapane in flight. (Alaka’i Wilderness Preserve, Kauai, Hawaii; March 10, 2019.) © Joachim Bertrands
Apapane, molting into adult plumage. (Hosmer Grove, Haleakala National Park, Maui, Hawaii; September 12, 2019.) © Dan Murphy
Apapane, molting into adult plumage. (Hosmer Grove, Haleakala National Park, Maui, Hawaii; September 12, 2019.) © Dan Murphy
Apapane, immature molting into adult plumage. (Alakai Swamp Trail, Kauai, Hawaii; June 25, 2017.) © George Gibbs
Apapane, immature. (Pua Akala Tract, Hakalau Forest National Wildlife Refuge, Big Island, Hawaii; July 19, 2013.) © Michael Todd
Apapane, immature molting into adult plumage. (Hosmer Grove, Haleakala National Park, Maui, Hawaii; August 14, 2018.) © Eric VanderWerf
Apapane, immature molting into adult plumage. (Hosmer Grove, Haleakala National Park, Maui, Hawaii; August 14, 2018.) © Eric VanderWerf
References
BirdLife International. 2017. Himatione sanguinea (amended version of 2016 assessment). The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2017: e.T103828426A111174421. https://dx.doi.org/10.2305/IUCN.UK.2017-1.RLTS.T103828426A111174421.en. (Accessed May 21, 2020.)
eBird. 2020. eBird: An online database of bird distribution and abundance. Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Ithaca, N.Y. http://www.ebird.org. (Accessed May 21, 2020.)
Pratt, H.D. 2005. The Hawaiian Honeycreepers: Drepanidinae. Oxford University Press.
Pratt, H.D. 2020. Apapane (Himatione sanguinea). In Handbook of the Birds of the World Alive (J. del Hoyo, A. Elliott, J. Sargatal, D.A. Christie, and E. de Juana, eds.). Lynx Edicions, Barcelona. https://www.hbw.com/node/61450. (Accessed May 9, 2020.)
Pyle, R.L., and P. Pyle. 2017. The Birds of the Hawaiian Islands: Occurrence, History, Distribution, and Status. Version 2 (January 1, 2017). http://hbs.bishopmuseum.org/birds/rlp-monograph/. B.P. Bishop Museum, Honolulu, Hawaii.
Xeno-Canto. 2020. Apapane – Himatione sanguinea. https://www.xeno-canto.org/species/Himatione-sanguinea. (Accessed May 21, 2020.)