Lana'i 'alauahio
| Lana'i 'alauahio | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Paroreomyza montana montana | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Aves |
| Order: | Passeriformes |
| Family: | Fringillidae |
| Subfamily: | Carduelinae |
| Genus: | Paroreomyza |
| Species: | P. montana |
| Subspecies: | † P. montana montana |
| Trinomial name | |
| Paroreomyza montana montana (S.B. Wilson, 1890) | |
The Lana'i 'alauahio (P. montana montana) was found on much of Lanai’s land. It apparently was common until the early 1900s when there appeared to have been a steep decline in birds on the island. It was similar to the Maui alauahio and this species may have reacted similarly to its existing relative, to which it was considered conspecific. This bird disappeared along with many others, such as the Lanai hookbill which had disappeared earlier.
The species was suffering from habitat degradation. Apparently the many forest plants of Lanai had become displaced, rare or even extinct. Along with this came the major spike of invasive plants from Europe and other continents. Above all may have been the destruction of forest for the construction of the island’s only city, Lanai City. On the island, people had already been living on the island, these people too had cut down much of the forests for farming and settlement. This bird had become rare because of its need for specific plants to survive. It was apparent however that this species started to coexist with the introduced plants but the strain from that had been too much and the population dropped even more.
Though not much of its life is not known, its song along with a few other facts had been learned about this species. Its song was a simple chip that was sung at an interval of one chip every three seconds. It disappeared in 1937, the same year as the ʻula-ʻai-hawane which disappeared on Hawaii.
References
- Frohawk, F.W. "Annotated List of Hawai'i's Extinct Birds" 3 January 2008