Oahu Nukupuu (Hemignathus lucidus)

Year Last Seen:

1899

Comments:

This species was found in O'ahu, Hawaii but it went extinct around the end of the 19th century. Perkins found evidence that many individuals existed in the forests of Oahu in 1860, but no collectors found any trace of it in the 1890s (Munro 1960).

Habitat:

It may have inhabited dense, wet ohia forest and the higher parts of mesic koa-ohia forest (Scott et al. 1986, Pratt et al. 1987).

Causes:

This species went extinct sometime around the start of the 20th century. Deforestation cleared much lowland habitat. Multiple invasive species were already established on Oahu in the 19th century, with the arrival of Rattus rattus shortly followed by Small Indian Mongoose Herpestes auropunctatus in an attempt at control possibly having the most significant effect on Oahu Nukupu'u. If the species was not already extinct, the arrival of avian pox and avian malaria may have ensured extinction.

Distribution:

Hemignathus lucidus was endemic to O'ahu in the Hawaiian Islands, U.S.A., but it went extinct around the end of the 19th century. Perkins found evidence that many individuals existed in the forests of Oahu in 1860, but no collectors found any trace of it in the 1890s (Munro 1960).

References:

IUCN Redbook Data