Hawaiʻi ʻōʻō

Restoration

Illustration by William Ellis

The Hawaiʻi ʻōʻō was first described by Blasius Merrem in 1786. It had an overall length of 32 centimetres (13 in), wing length of 11–11.5 centimetres (4.3–4.5 in), and tail length of up to 19 centimetres (7.5 in). The colour of its plumage was glossy black with a brown shading at the belly. It was further characterized by yellowish tufts at the axillaries. It had some yellowish plumes on its rump, but lacked yellow thigh feathers like the Bishop's ʻōʻō, and also lacked the whitish edgings on its tail feathers like the Oʻahu ʻōʻō. It had the largest yellow plumes on its wings out of all the species of ʻōʻō. The name of the cinder cone Puʻu ʻŌʻō is often translated as "Hill of the ʻŌʻō-Bird", referring to this species.

At the time of the arrival by Europeans, it was still relatively common on the Big Island, but its decline followed rapidly afterwards. Its striking plumage was already used for ʻaʻahu aliʻi (robes), ʻahu ʻula (capes), and kāhili (feathered staffs) of aliʻi (Hawaiian nobility) by Native Hawaiians. Some were even caught and put in cages to be sold as songbirds, only to live for a few days or weeks before diseases from mosquitoes befell them. The decline of this bird was hastened by both natives and Europeans by the introduction of the musket, which allowed hunters and collectors to shoot birds down from a distance, from great heights, and in great numbers. As late as 1898, hunters were still able to kill over a thousand individuals in one hunt, but after that year, the Hawaiʻi ʻōʻō population declined rapidly.[3] The birds became too rare to be shot in any great quantities, but continued to be found for nearly 30 years.

Despite records of mass hunting, collection seemed to only play a minor role in the species' extinction, and mosquito-borne diseases and deforestation probably were the major reasons for its extinction (very similar to the other members of its genus). The last known sighting was in 1934 on the slopes of Mauna Loa.

• Kauai ʻoʻo
• Oahu ʻoʻo
• Bishop's ʻoʻo

• 3D view Archived 2008-10-25 at the Wayback Machine of specimens RMNH 110.044 and RMNH 110.045 (formerly RMNH 2142) at Naturalis, Leiden (requires QuickTime browser plugin).