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Wildlife

Extinct

Hawaiʻi mamo

Drepanis pacifica

Mounted Hawaiʻi mamo in a museum, a black bird with yellow patches and a long curved bill
Image: Wmpearl / Wikimedia Commons (CC0)
Extinct IUCN: EX · Extinct global assessment

What it is

The Hawaiʻi mamo (Drepanis pacifica) was a black honeycreeper with bright yellow feathers on the rump and thighs and a long, curved bill for drinking nectar. The International Union for Conservation of Nature lists it as Extinct.

Range

Forests of the island of Hawaiʻi.

What happened

Hawaiian bird catchers took its yellow feathers for royal cloaks, often releasing the birds. Later, shotgun hunting by collectors, forest clearing, mosquitoes carrying bird diseases and introduced mongooses finished it.

When / status

Last confirmed sighting in 1898.

Human role

Loss of forest, introduced mosquitoes and predators, and heavy hunting for feathers drove it to extinction.

Sources