The kiwikiu, or Maui parrotbill, is an endangered species and is endemic to the island. A golden, thick-billed bird thought to have died more than 1.5 years ago was seen alive on the slopes of a Maui volcano last Wednesday. The discovery is giving researchers hope for the critically endangered species, Newsweek said . The kiwikiu, or Maui parrotbill, is recognized as an endangered species by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Services and is endemic to the island. According to the Maui Forest Bird Recovery Project, the small, olive-green-and-yellow bird once inhabited all of Maui and the neighboring island of Moloka’i. But humans, feral pigs, wildcats and mosquito-induced disease have dwindled the birds’ numbers to around 150. Hawaii’s Department of Land and Natural Resources researcher Zach Pezzillo recognized the kiwikiu’s distinct song last Wednesday before spotting the welcomed sight on a reserve that covers the Haleakalā volcano, said Newsweek. “It then sang about ten times across a gulch in some koa trees. It dropped down into some kolea trees where it spent the next twenty minutes calling and actively foraging through the berries, bark, and leaves. I walked down into the gulch to get a closer look,” Pezzillo said […]
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