Birdfinding.info ⇒ Endangered and uncommon, with a tiny and mostly inaccessible range, but it can still be found on guided visits to the Waikamoi Preserve on the northern slope of Mount Haleakala. Much less often found a little farther upslope in the Hosmer Grove of Haleakala National Park.
Akohekohe
Palmeria dolei
Endemic to Maui; critically endangered. Formerly also on Molokai, where last reported in 1907.
Confined to native forests on the northern and eastern slopes of Mount Haleakala in the range of 1,100 to 2,300 m (mainly 1,500 to 2,100 m).
In 1980 the total population was estimated at about 3,800. Subsequent decline seems likely, but has not been obvious and remains unquantified.
Identification
Unique: a medium-large honeycreeper with a prominent bushy whitish frontal crest and largely black plumage highlighted throughout with white, gray, and orange spots and streaks.
Akohekohe. (Waikamoi Preserve, Maui, Hawaii; August 16, 2017.) © Mark Rauzon
Akohekohe. (Waikamoi Preserve, Maui, Hawaii; January 9, 2016.) © Rich Downs
Akohekohe. (Waikamoi Preserve, Maui, Hawaii; August 29, 2016.) © A. Leiggi
Akohekohe. © Robby Kohley
Akohekohe. (Waikamoi Preserve, Maui, Hawaii; November 7, 2014.) © Jim Denny
Akohekohe. (Waikamoi Preserve, Maui, Hawaii; February 10, 2008.) © Jim Denny
Akohekohe. (Waikamoi Preserve, Maui, Hawaii; February 15, 2014.) © A. Leiggi
Akohekohe. (Waikamoi Preserve, Maui, Hawaii; July 14, 2016.) © Jacob Drucker
Akohekohe. (Waikamoi Preserve, Maui, Hawaii; August 3, 2012.) © Luke Seitz
Akohekohe. (Waikamoi Preserve, Maui, Hawaii; September 9, 2017.) © Sharif Uddin
Akohekohe. (Waikamoi Preserve, Maui, Hawaii; December 14, 2016.) © Ben Davis
Akohekohe. (Hosmer Grove, Haleakala National Park, Maui, Hawaii; September 30, 2015.) © Robert Kirk
Akohekohe. (Waikamoi Preserve, Maui, Hawaii; February 21, 2018.) © Peter Kaestner
Akohekohe. (Waikamoi Preserve, Maui, Hawaii; July 14, 2016.) © Jacob Drucker
Akohekohe. (Waikamoi Preserve, Maui, Hawaii; July 28, 2015.) © Alex Wang
Akohekohe. (Waikamoi Preserve, Maui, Hawaii; March 5, 2013.) © Michael Walther
Voice. Calls include a “human-like, up-slurred whistle,” a “four-note peter-peter, reminiscent of similar call of Tufted Titmouse but with hollow quality,” and an array of “harsh or screechy, low-pitched, dissonant (with interspersed clicks and smacking sounds like human tsk-tsk tongue-clicking) and bell-like notes.” (Pratt 2005)
Notes
Monotypic species. Formerly known as the Crested Honeycreeper.
IUCN Red List Status: Critically Endangered.
References
BirdLife International. 2016. Palmeria dolei. The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2016: e.T22720855A94686988. https://dx.doi.org/10.2305/IUCN.UK.2016-3.RLTS.T22720855A94686988.en. (Accessed May 12, 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 12, 2020.)
Pratt, H.D. 2005. The Hawaiian Honeycreepers: Drepanidinae. Oxford University Press.
Pratt, H.D. 2020. Akohekohe (Palmeria dolei). 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/61451. (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. Akohekohe – Palmeria dolei. https://www.xeno-canto.org/species/Palmeria-dolei. (Accessed May 12, 2020.)