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Kauai Oo

A species of 'o'os
Scientific name : Moho braccatus Genus : 'o'os

Kauai Oo, A species of 'o'os
Botanical name: Moho braccatus
Genus: 'o'os
Kauai Oo (Moho braccatus) Photo By Hiart , used under CC-ZERO /Cropped and compressed from original

Description

This bird was among the smallest of the Hawaiian 'o'os, if not the smallest species, at just over 20 centimetres (7.9 in) in length. The head, wings, and tail were black. The rest of the upperparts were slaty brown, becoming rufous on the rump and flanks. The throat and breast was black with white barring, which was particularly prominent in females. The central tail feathers were long, and there was a small tuft of gray feathers under the base of the wing. While the beak and legs were black, the leg feathers were a rich golden yellow. It was the only ‘ō’ō known to have eyes with yellow irises. Like other honeyeaters it had a sharp, slightly curved bill for sampling nectar. Its favored nectar sources were Lobelia species and the ʻohiʻa lehua tree. This species was additionally observed foraging in lapalapa trees. It also ate small invertebrates and fruit. The Kauaʻi ʻōʻō was very vocal, making hollow, erratic, flute-like calls. Both the males and females were known to sing.

General Info

Species Status

The bird was a cavity nester in the thickly forested canyons of Kauaʻi. Many of its relatives have also become extinct, such as the Hawaiʻi ʻōʻō, Bishop's ʻōʻō, and Oʻahu ʻōʻō. Little is known about these extinct birds. The species may have become extinct from a large range of problems, including mosquito-transmitted diseases, which caused the species to retreat to higher ground, ultimately retreating to high-altitude montane forests in the Alaka'i Wilderness Preserve. Higher elevation forests lack tree cavities, so few, if any, nests could be made. In the 1970s the only known footage of the bird was filmed by John L. Sincock on Super 8 film and several song recordings were made as well (with Harold Douglas Pratt, Jr. being one of the people involved in recording the songs). The final blow was two hurricanes coming within ten years of each other. They destroyed many of the old trees with cavities, and prohibited tree growth when the second one arrived, causing the species to disappear. The bird was last sighted in 1985, and the last sound recording was made in 1987 by David Boynton. It is still believed by some that the species may survive undetected, as the species had already been proclaimed extinct twice: once in the 1940s (later rediscovered in 1950) and again from the late 1950s to the early 1970s, being rediscovered by the wildlife biologist John Sincock. However, it has a loud and distinctive call, and intensive surveys have failed to find any since 1987.
Kauai Oo (Moho braccatus) Kauai Oo (Moho braccatus) Photo By Hiart , used under CC-ZERO /Cropped and compressed from original

Scientific Classification

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