Bishop’s O’o †

Birdfinding.info ⇒  The Bishop’s O’o is a mysterious species.  All specimens of it were collected on Molokai, where it was last seen by an ornithologist in 1904, but local residents reported that it persisted until at least 1915.  Its historical status on Maui is not clear.  There is subfossil evidence of a Moho that inhabited Maui, and field observations at various times were consistent with Bishop’s O’o, so it seems likely to have occurred there.  From the historical period when observers were familiar with o’os from other islands, the last report from Maui was on June 9, 1901, northeast of Olinda at around 900 m elevation.  Then in 1973, an observer in eastern Maui reported hearing distinctive vocalizations of an o’o.  Finally, in May of 1980 and 1981, in the Ko’olan Forest Reserve, observers reported seeing and positively identifying Bishop’s O’o.