Kākāwahie

The kākāwahie or Molokaʻi creeper (Paroreomyza flammea) is an extinct species of Hawaiian honeycreeper. It was found on the Hawaiian island of Molokaʻi in Hawaii.

The kākāwahie was 5.5 in (14 cm) long. This bird had the appearance of a ball of flame, especially males, which were scarlet red all around. The female had more of a brownish tinge to its belly. Its call was a chip like someone was cutting wood in the distance. They were discovered in the late 19th century when Scott Barchard Wilson, a British ornithologist was lost in the fog. Wilson had shot down a female and two bright males. He collected several specimens and skins of other species of Molokai birds and then went back to England. They were fast flitting birds but nevertheless, they were still endangered. It is depicted in several paintings from the early 18th, 19th, and 20th centuries.

The kākāwahie lived in the Akoke Forests. Its stronghold in the Akoke Forests was the Kamakou Plateau, where it was seen before disappearing in 1963.

Apparently similar to the Maui Nui ʻalauahio, it used its blunt and short beak to peck out insects from old naio (Myoporum sandwicense) trees. It mainly fed on the larvae of beetles and lepidoptera; however in rare cases, it sipped nectar from flowers, which included the naio. The exterior of its nest was reportedly composed of moss. The binomial name of this species, Paroreomyza flammea, refers to its appearance being to similar to that of a ball of fire as it flit from tree to tree in search of invertebrates.

While fairly common at the start of the 20th century the threat of extinction was raised in the 1930s.^[3]

Las causas de su extinción fueron probablemente similares a las de otras aves forestales hawaianas. La destrucción del hábitat , las enfermedades aviares transmitidas por mosquitos introducidos , así como los depredadores introducidos , son factores importantes en su declive. Entre las enfermedades transmitidas por mosquitos se encontraban la malaria aviar y la viruela aviar . Estas enfermedades provocaban que el kākāwahie enfermara y desarrollara bultos, que finalmente le causaban parálisis y, posteriormente, la muerte por inanición. Los nativos hawaianos cazaban estas aves por sus plumas rojas , que luego se utilizaban en las capas y leis de los aliʻi (nobles y miembros de la realeza). Su último avistamiento se produjo en 1963 en el bosque húmedo montano de la meseta de ʻŌhiʻalele . Se reportó que esta ave sobrevivió hasta la década de 1970. Existe una remota posibilidad de que esta especie sobreviva en regiones remotas e inaccesibles de la meseta de Olokui, una región donde se protege a otra ave posiblemente extinta, el Olomaʻo . El Servicio de Pesca y Vida Silvestre de los Estados Unidos propuso declarar extinta a la especie en 2021, y fue eliminada de la lista de la Ley de Especies en Peligro de Extinción el 16 de octubre de 2023. ^{[ 4 ] [ 5 ]}

• Aves de Norteamérica en línea . Descargado el 12 de enero de 2010.

• "Kākāwahie o Moloka'i Creeper": estrategia integral de conservación de la vida silvestre de Hawái ( .pdf )