Birdfinding.info ⇒ The critically endangered Hawaiian Crow (a.k.a. Alala) last bred in the wild in 1992, and the last lifelong wild individuals are believed to have died in 2002. Since the 1990s, most of the global population has existed in captive-breeding facilities on Maui and the Big Island. A reintroduction effort began in 2016 but ended in 2020. Although the species no longer appears doomed, the re-establishment of a resilient wild population remains a distant goal.
Hawaiian Crow
Corvus hawaiiensis
Endemic to the Big Island of Hawaii, where it was extirpated as wild species in 2002. A reintroduction effort ran from 2016 to 2020, when the survivors were recaptured, returning the species to its status as extirpated in the wild.
Key areas in the reintroduction plan for the Hawaiian Crow. © Pacific Rim Conservation 2012
Prior to extirpation, it had inhabited mainly upland forests and semiopen habits of the west and south: the Kona highlands and the southern and eastern slopes of Mauna Loa.
Reintroduction began on the eastern side of Mauna Loa in the Pu’u Maka’ala Natural Area Reserve and was planned to continue in the adjacent Keauhou Forest Reserve and to the south in the Ka’u Forest Reserve.
Efforts to establish a captive population for eventual reintroduction began in the early 1970s, when the wild population had declined below 100 or so and was effectively limited to two separate areas in the Kona highlands.
The captive breeding program did not succeed at first, as three young that fledged in 1981 were its only production during the first twenty years or so. In the 1990s results improved significant and 27 were released. Most of the initially released birds died, the rest were recaptured, and the program shifted to a longer-term strategy of building a large captive flock and removing predators from release areas.
By 2016, the captive flock exceeded 100 and reintroduction began with five released at Pu’u Maka’ala. Successive releases through 2019 reached approximately thirty in total. But the mortality rate was high, with predation by Hawaiian Hawks a significant factor, and in October 2020, the conservation team recaptured the five surviving released birds and began to evaluate Maui as a potentially safer alternative for reintroduction.
Identification
A medium-large raven-like crow with a proportionately large, smooth bill and puffy plumage. All-black except for the flight feathers, which are brownish.
Hawaiian Crow. U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service
Hawaiian Crow. (Big Island, Hawaii; October 15, 1997.) © Gil Ewing
Hawaiian Crow. © Jack Jeffrey
Hawaiian Crow in captive breeding facility. (Keauhou Bird Conservation Center, Big Island, Hawaii; March 27, 2009.) © Dan Weedman
Voice. Varied vocalizations include “a weird-sounding kee-o-reek, a quiet kwahk, and . . . a loud but musical kraa-a-a-ik, upslurred and somewhat modulated” (Pratt et al. 1987).
Notes
Monotypic species.
IUCN Red List Status: Extinct in the Wild.
References
BirdLife International. 2016. Corvus hawaiiensis. The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2016: e.T22706052A94048187. https://dx.doi.org/10.2305/IUCN.UK.2016-3.RLTS.T22706052A94048187.en. (Accessed August 2, 2020.)
eBird. 2020. eBird: An online database of bird distribution and abundance. Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Ithaca, N.Y. http://www.ebird.org. (Accessed August 2, 2020.)
Pacific Rim Conservation. 2012. Hawaiian Bird Conservation Plan: Focal Species: Hawaiian Crow or ‘Alalā (Corvus hawaiiensis). October 2012. https://pacificrimconservation.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/10/Hawaiian%20Crow.pdf.
Pratt, H.D., P.L. Bruner, and D.G. Berrett. 1987. A Field Guide to the Birds of Hawaii and the Tropical Pacific. Princeton University Press.
Pratt, H.D. 1993. Enjoying Birds in Hawaii: A Birdfinding Guide to the Fiftieth State (Second Edition). Mutual Publishing, Honolulu, Hawaii.
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.
Rogers, K.S. 2020. The Hawaiian Crow is once again extinct in the wild. October 16, 2020. Audubon Magazine. https://www.audubon.org/news/the-hawaiian-crow-once-again-extinct-wild.