Maui ʻAkepa

Maui Akepakleidervogel ( Loxops ochraceus )

The Maui Akepakleidervogel ( Loxops ochraceus ) is a most likely extinct Singvogelart from the kind of Akepakleidervögel ( Loxops ) within the subfamily of dresses birds. He was in the east of the Hawaiian island of Maui home.

Features

The Maui Akepakleidervogel was a little bird clothes with a size of 10 centimeters and had a conical beak. The beak halves were crossed at the top. The plumage coloration of males two color morphs can be distinguished. The yellow color morph was bright mustard yellow, the red color morph was characterized by a red- orange color. The primaries, secondaries which, the wing-coverts and tail feathers were dark brown with yellow seams. The iris was dark brown. The beak was light gray to straw yellow, and sometimes had a dark tip. The legs were black.

The females were dull gray-green, darker on the crown and back. The wings and tail were dark brownish-gray with gray-green seams. Some specimens had a yellowish tinge on the throat and on the upper chest. The juvenile birds saw the females similar to them but lacked the yellow portion of the throat. About the vocalizations There is little information, the call should have been similar to that of the Hawaiian Akepakleidervogels ( Loxops coccineus ).

Habitat

The Maui Akepakleidervogel inhabited both rain forests, which are dominated by iron woods and koa acacia, and dry koa acacia forests.

Way of life

The Maui Akepakleidervogel was a state bird. Caterpillars, insects and spiders were the largest inventory of food, which he captured with the help of his asymmetric beak by scanning of bound together with spider or caterpillar silk leaves of the Ohia trees or koa acacia or by poking around in the bud scales. Rarely was a recording of nectar of ohia blossoms. The only observations on the reproductive behavior were made in 1903. Here, a possible courtship, similar to the Hawaiian Akepakleidervogels was documented and a pair built a nest in an Ohia tree. The nesting material consisted of Pulu, a fibrous or fluffy product of tree ferns of the genus Cibotium.

Status

After a final proof in 1988 of Maui Akepakleidervogel is considered most likely extinct. Possible audio recordings during search expeditions in the 1990s, is unconfirmed and searching for the type remained inconclusive. All 62 specimens in the Museum collections were collected 1879-1900. Before the colonization of Maui by the people of Maui Akepakleidervogel was probably quite common on Maui, but since the 1880s the incidence was limited to the upper elevations of Haleakala volcano. The last observations were made there to the northern and eastern slopes.

System

The Maui Akepakleidervogel was temporarily as a subspecies of Hawaii Akepakleidervogels. On the basis of DNA analysis as well as differences in plumage coloration and nesting behavior, however, the American Ornithology Harold Douglas Pratt was able to prove in 2001 that it is a separate species at Maui Akepakleidervogel.