Birdfinding.info ⇒ The Kauai O’o was last detected (heard) on April 29, 1987, and last seen in 1985. By then, the territory of the last male had been known for several years, and its mate had not been since 1981—likely killed in November 1982 by Hurricane Iwa, if not sooner. Their nest cavity was in the Alakai Swamp along Halepa’akai Stream.
Kauai O’o †
Moho braccatus
Extinct. Formerly endemic to Kauai.
During most of the 1800s, it was regarded as common in all types of forests at all elevations throughout Kauai. By the early 1900s, it was mostly limited to the Alakai Plateau.
Locations where the Kauai O’o was reported during the 1900s. Hawaii Department of Natural Resources 2005
Identification
A small, nearly all-black honeyeater with yellow thighs and white scalloping on the throat.
Kauai O’o. (Alaka’i Wilderness Preserve, Kauai, Hawaii; July 1975.) © Robert Shallenberger
Kauai O’o. (Alaka’i Wilderness Preserve, Kauai, Hawaii; July 1975.) © Robert Shallenberger
Kauai O’o. (Sincock’s Camp, Alaka’i Wilderness Preserve, Kauai, Hawaii; June 6, 1975.) © Mike Scott
Kauai O’o. (Alaka’i Wilderness Preserve, Kauai, Hawaii; July 1975.) © Robert Shallenberger
Kauai O’o. (Alaka’i Wilderness Preserve, Kauai, Hawaii; July 1975.) © Robert Shallenberger
Kauai O’o. (Alaka’i Wilderness Preserve, Kauai, Hawaii; July 1975.) © Robert Shallenberger
Kauai O’o, side view. © Auckland War Memorial Museum
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Kauai O’o, ventral view. © National Museum of New Zealand
Kauai O’o. (Bernice Pauahi Bishop Museum.) © camerai2i
Kauai O’o, immature and adult. John Gerrard Keulemans, 1900
Kauai O’o. Frederick Frohawk, 1899
Kauai O’o, ventral view. (Specimen ID: RMNH.AVES.110028; Kauai, Hawaii.) © Naturalis Biodiversity Center
Kauai O’o, side view. (Specimen ID: RMNH.AVES.110028; Kauai, Hawaii.) © Naturalis Biodiversity Center
Kauai O’o, dorsal view. (Specimen ID: RMNH.AVES.110028; Kauai, Hawaii.) © Naturalis Biodiversity Center
Notes
Monotypic species.
IUCN Red List Status: Extinct.
References
BirdLife International. 2016. Moho braccatus. The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2016: e.T22704323A93963628. https://dx.doi.org/10.2305/IUCN.UK.2016-3.RLTS.T22704323A93963628.en. (Accessed June 11, 2020.)
Conant, S., H.D. Pratt, and R.J. Shallenberger. 1998. Reflections on a 1975 expedition to the lost world of the Alaka’i and other notes on the natural history, systematics, and conservation of Kaua’i birds. Wilson Bulletin 110:1-22.
Hume, J.P. 2017. Extinct Birds (Second Edition). Bloomsbury Publishing PLC, London.
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.