Justification This species is Endangered owing to its very small, severely fragmented and contracting range, where habitat loss and degradation continues owing to feral ungulates and pigs. It may be affected by diseases carried by introduced mosquitoes and has recently disappeared from one area and is declining elsewhere.

Family/Sub-family Fringillidae

Species name author (Wilson, 1891)

Taxonomic source(s) AOU checklist (1998 + supplements), Sibley and Monroe (1990, 1993)

Identification 11 cm. Inconspicuous bark-picker with conical, very slightly downcurved bill. Adults dull grey-green, paler below with white chin and throat, pale grey bill, and dark grey mask from base of bill to behind eye. Juvenile similar but with pale face and white superciliary. Similar spp. Hawai`i `Amakihi Hemignathus virens female and juvenile similar, but throat never white, darker bill and narrower, more curved, dark lores. Voice Song a rattling, descending trill. Call an upslurred sweet. Juveniles following adults utter chatter of irregularly spaced notes whi-whit, whi-whi-whit etc. Hints Still found in most high-elevation native forests but easily overlooked. Joins mixed-species flocks in late summer and autumn.

Population estimate

Population trend

Range estimate (breeding/resident)

Country endemic?

2,500-9,999

decreasing

700 km²

Yes

Range & population Oreomystis mana is endemic to Hawai`i in the Hawaiian Islands (USA), where it was formerly widespread, but now occurs as three disjunct populations. Surveys in 1976-1983 estimated the population at c.12,500 individuals with 2,100 in Kau, 10,000 in Hamakua, 75 in central Kona, and 200 on north-west Hualalai⁶. The small Hualalai population has since disappeared¹¹, the low elevation (700 m) Hamakua population may have disappeared (or perhaps is just seasonal there)³, and the two other smaller populations are thought to be declining¹¹. The Kau population still occupies the extent of range recorded in the 1970s, but it has contracted from higher elevations¹³, and the species appears to have declined between 1977 and 2003 in some parts of the Central Windward region¹⁴.

Ecology: It occurs principally in wet and mesic koa-`ohi`a forest mainly between 1,000 and 2,300 m, with the highest densities mainly between 1,500 and 1,900 m⁵. Historical and occasional recent sightings in dry mamane forest suggest that some individuals may move seasonally, or that a very small population may inhabit dry forest year-round^6,7. It nests in koa trees (in cavities and open cup nests)³ as well as in tall `ohi`a trees, and the species has successfully bred in disturbed woodland⁹.

Threats It may have declined owing to habitat loss and degradation^5,9, although its ability to breed in some types of disturbed forest suggests that habitat alteration is not the primary factor limiting its current distribution⁹. Feral ungulates, particularly pigs, have severely degraded native forests and facilitate the spread of alien plants and disease-carrying mosquitoes^4,6. In 1992, there were pox and malaria epidemics among birds at Hakalau and at mid-elevations^2,10. Nest-predation by introduced rodents and nest-site limitation are additional threats^5,9.

Conservation measures underway The Hakalau Forest National Wildlife Refuge was established to protect some of the best remaining habitat for this and other threatened honeycreepers^5,6. The species has become extinct in the montane sections of the Hawai`i Volcanoes National Park<sup>13</sup>. However, in 2003, the Kahuku unit was added to the national park, incorporating much of the species's habitat in the Kau area<sup>13</sup>. The fencing and eradication of feral goats began in the national park in 1971<sup>8</sup>, and the removal of cattle, mouflon sheep and pigs from the Kahuku unit is expected to benefit the species<sup>13</sup>. During the 1990s, efforts were made to reduce the feral pig population by Hawaiian conservation authorities and private landowners<sup>1</sup>. Planting of koa and other native plants began in the early 1990s, and at the Kapapala Forest Reserve and the Pu`u Wa`awa`a Forest Bird Sanctuary, cattle have been removed and fences erected¹². Technology has been developed to allow captive propagation of this species should it become necessary¹².

Conservation measures proposed Carry out surveys to obtain an up-to-date estimate of the species's total population size. Continue to monitor population trends. Protect higher-altitude native forests above the zone where mosquitoes occur⁵. Expand the programme for fencing and control of feral ungulates in native forests. Rodent control should be pursued and registration for aerial broadcast of rodenticides should be aggressively sought, with studies being undertaken to assess its efficacy and public health implications¹².

References 1. Anderson and Stone (1993). 2. Jacobi and Atkinson (1995). 3. J. Lepson in litt. (2000). 4. Pratt (1994). 5. Ralph and Fancy (1994). 6. Scott et al. (1986). 7. Snetsinger (1995-1996). 8. Stone and Loope (1987). 9. VanderWerf (1998a). 10. VanderWerf (2001). 11. E. VanderWerf in litt. (1999). 12. USFWS (2003). 13. T. Pratt in litt. (2007). 14. Gorresen et al. (2005).

Further web sources of information

Audubon WatchList

U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service - Revised Recovery Plan for Hawaiian Forest Birds 2006

Text account compilers Phil Benstead (BirdLife International), Matt Harding (BirdLife International), Isabel Isherwood (BirdLife International), Alison Stattersfield (BirdLife International), Simon Stuart (Conservation International), Tom Stuart (BirdLife International), Joe Taylor (BirdLife International)

Contributors Rick Camp (US Geological Survey), Scott Fretz (Hawaii Division of Forestry and Wildlife), Marcos Gorresen (US Geological Survey), Jaan Lepson, Thane Pratt (US Geological Survey), Eric VanderWerf (US Fish & Wildlife Service), Bethany Woodworth (US Geological Survey)

IUCN Red List evaluators Stuart Butchart (BirdLife International), Joe Taylor (BirdLife International)

Recommended citation BirdLife International (2009) Species factsheet: Oreomystis mana. Downloaded from http://www.birdlife.org on 10/2/2010

This information is based upon, and updates, the information published in BirdLife International (2000) Threatened birds of the world. Barcelona and Cambridge, UK: Lynx Edicions and BirdLife International, BirdLife International (2004) Threatened birds of the world 2004 CD-ROM and BirdLife International (2008) Threatened birds of the world 2008 CD-ROM. These sources provide the information for species accounts for the birds on the IUCN Red List.

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