Loxops

Oahu Akepakleidervogel ( Loxops wolstenholmei )

The Akepakleidervögel ( Loxops ) are a genus of small birds dresses. There are two extant and two extinct species.

Etymology

The scientific name Loxops derives from the Greek words Loxos = " crosses over " and ops = "face" from.

Features

The Akepakleidervögel reach sizes up to 10 inches and have short, conical, finches like beaks, which crossed peaks represent an adaptation to the seed pods of Acacia koa and the leaf buds of the Ohia trees. With its tubular tongue occasionally they drink nectar. Their main diet consists of insects, however. The long tail is notched pretty deep at the top. The plumage is in two colors, but the degree varies between species. The call is a high whistling sound, the song consists of various trills.

System

Previously two species and three subspecies have been distinguished. However, the American ornithologist Harold Douglas Pratt was able to explain in 2001 on the basis of DNA analyzes indicate that all taxa of this genus are to be regarded as separate species, so that the genus Loxops currently includes the following types:

• Hawaii Akepakleidervogel ( Loxops coccineus ) Distribution: Hawaii
• Kauai Akepakleidervogel ( Loxops caeruleirostris ) Distribution: Kauai
• Maui Akepakleidervogel ( Loxops ochraceus ) Distribution: Maui, extinct. Since 1988 no longer detected.
• Oahu Akepakleidervogel ( Loxops wolstenholmei ) Distribution: Oahu, extinct. The last pair was observed in 1903, an unconfirmed sighting is said to have existed in the 1930s.

In his scientific first description by Scott Wilson Barchard of Kauai Akepakleidervogel was placed in the monotypic genus Chrysomitridops. Dean Amadon 1950 transferred this taxon as a subspecies of Hawaii Akepakleidervogels in the genus Loxops and synonymisierte both genres.