Table of Contents
Overview
Brief Summary
Biology
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Comprehensive Description
Description
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Distribution
Range Description
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National Distribution
United States
Origin: Native
Regularity: Regularly occurring
Currently: Present
Confidence: Confident
Type of Residency: Year-round
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Global Range: (100-250 square km (about 40-100 square miles)) RESIDENT in Hawaiian Islands; formerly throughout the higher regions of the island of Hawaii, including the subalpine mamane-naio forests of Mauna Kea, the northwestern slopes of Mauna Loa, and the eastern slopes of Hualalai, and probably other islands (Fancy et al. 1993); now confined to mamane-naio forests on the southwestern, southern, and eastern slopes of Mauna Kea (2000-2850 m); the majority of the population is on the southwestern slope of Mauna Kea near Pu`u La`au (Jacobi et al. 1996). Current breeding range encompasses about 136 square kilometers of dry to mesic subalpine forest between 2000 and 3000 m elevation containing significant densities of mamane. Occupies less than 5% of pre-Polynesian range (Scott et al. 1986).
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U.S.A. (HI)
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Range
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Physical Description
Size
Ecology
Habitat
Habitat and Ecology
Systems
- Terrestrial
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Comments: Mamane and mamane/naio forests; most common in areas with greater crown cover, taller trees, and higher proportion of native plants in understory (Scott et al. 1984). Concentrates in areas where large mamane trees have fully developed green pods (Matthews and Moseley 1990).
Nests in mamane or naio trees; often on horizontal branch, also in lateral fork, or in terminal fork (van Riper III 1980, Matthews and Moseley 1990).
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Habitat
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Migration
Non-Migrant: Yes. At least some populations of this species do not make significant seasonal migrations. Juvenile dispersal is not considered a migration.
Locally Migrant: No. No populations of this species make local extended movements (generally less than 200 km) at particular times of the year (e.g., to breeding or wintering grounds, to hibernation sites).
Locally Migrant: No. No populations of this species make annual migrations of over 200 km.
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Trophic Strategy
Comments: Eats seeds of mamane; also eats insects (especially caterpillars; young leaves, buds, and flowers of mamane; naio berries; poha fruit (Berger 1981, Shallenberger 1984). Parents feed nestlings mamane seeds and insects (Matthews and Moseley 1990).
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Population Biology
Number of Occurrences
Note: For many non-migratory species, occurrences are roughly equivalent to populations.
Estimated Number of Occurrences: 1 - 5
Comments: The remaining birds form essentially one population.
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Global Abundance
2500 - 10,000 individuals
Comments: In the early 1980s, population fluctuated between about 1600 and 6400 individuals (Scott et al. 1984); total population was estimated at 4300 in 1988, 3500 in 1989 (Matthews and Moseley 1990), 3200 in 1991 (Ehrlich et al. 1992). Population estimates ranged from 1371 to 5354 during 1986-1993 (Giffin, in Fancy et al. 1993). Mean population size during 1980-1995 was 3390 (range 1584-5685) (Jacobi et al. 1996). Mid-1990s estimate was about 4170 individuals (Fancy, pers. comm.).
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General Ecology
Often in small flocks. Exhibits strong site tenacity; seasonal home range encompasses only a few square kilometers (Fancy et al. 1993). During nonbreeding season, local and some long-distance movement occurs in response to food levels (Scott et al. 1984). Defends small territory around nesting tree and forages over a larger area (Matthews and Moseley 1990).
Lindsey et al. (1995) examined population structure and found that proportion of hatching year birds ranged from 3.1 to 22.6% over three years. Males outnumbered females in all six years of the study. Mean annual survival was 0.36 in hatching year birds, 0.63 in older individuals; survival increased with availability of mamane pods.
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Life History and Behavior
Life Expectancy
Lifespan, longevity, and ageing
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Reproduction
Eggs are laid April-September. Clutch size usually is 2. Incubation by female, variously reported as 21-27 days (van Riper 1980) or 16-17 days (Pletschet and Kelly 1990) or 18 days (Matthews and Moseley 1990). Young are tended by both sexes, leave nest at 21-25 days (van Riper 1980) or 23-29 days (Pletschet and Kelly 1990). Often two broods/year. First breeds at 1 year.
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Conservation
Conservation Status
IUCN Red List Assessment
Red List Category
Red List Criteria
Version
Year Assessed
Assessor/s
Reviewer/s
Contributor/s
Justification
History
- 2010Critically Endangered
- 2009Critically Endangered
- 2008Endangered
- 2004Endangered
- 2000Endangered
- 1996Endangered
- 1994Endangered
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National NatureServe Conservation Status
United States
Rounded National Status Rank: N1 - Critically Imperiled
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NatureServe Conservation Status
Rounded Global Status Rank: G1 - Critically Imperiled
Reasons: Population of a few thousand individuals (some fluctuation) is restricted to small areas on the upper slopes of Mauna Kea, mostly in the Puu Laau area, Hawaii; population size is variable, and population size outside the population center near Puu Laau decreased significantly between 1980 and 1995; population highly vulnerable to fire.
Other Considerations: This species often exhibits unexplained population fluctuations; weather (e.g., pro-longed drought) may be a major factor.
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Status: Endangered
Date Listed: 03/11/1967
Lead Region: Pacific Region (Region 1)
Where Listed:
Population detail:
Population location: entire
Listing status: E
For most current information and documents related to the conservation status and management of Loxioides bailleui , see its USFWS Species Profile
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Status
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Trends
Population
Population Trend
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Global Short Term Trend: Unknown
Comments: USFWS (1990) categorized the status as "stable." Range has not changed since 1975; population size is variable, and population size outside the population center near Pu`u La`au decreased significantly between 1980 and 1995 (Jacobi et al. 1996).
Global Long Term Trend: Decline of >90%
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Threats
Threats
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Degree of Threat: B : Moderately threatened throughout its range, communities provide natural resources that when exploited alter the composition and structure of the community over the long-term, but are apparently recoverable
Comments: Inhabits a small portion of what appears to be suitable forest habitat; reason(s) unclear. Factors that may detrimentally affect palila include changes in forest composition (such as caused by foraging feral ungulates/exotic plants), introduced avian diseases, and heavy rains during nesting (Matthews and Moseley 1990). Most of the feral ungulates on Mauna Kea have been removed. Vulnerable to habitat loss via fire. Frequency of nesting was very low in 1992, possibly the result of a severe drought (1992 End. Sp. Tech. Bull. 17(12):18). Hatching failure, generally due to inviable eggs or desertion (effect of inadequate food supply or inbreeding?), was the primary cause of nest failure at Mauna Kea Forest Reserve, especially in latter part of nesting season (Pletschet and Kelly 1990); depredation by cats or black rats was an important cause of nest losses during the nestling stage (Pletschet and Kelly 1990). However, nest predation by mammals apparently is not a significant limiting factor (Amarasekare 1992).
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Threats
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Management
Conservation Actions
The species's population has been monitored since 198011. In 1979 and 1986, federal courts ordered the eradication of feral goats and feral and wild sheep species from the species's habitat on Mauna Kea, and these rulings have remained in effect despite six legal challenges11,14. Forest regeneration has improved as a result, although current efforts to reduce sheep have not been sufficient to allow the complete recovery of mamane forests11. Despite such efforts, the species's strong site-tenacity might prevent recolonisation of areas of recovered forest. In 1993, some birds were translocated to a new site where predators were controlled and, although many homed back to their capture site, at least two pairs stayed and bred successfully3. Six additional translocations have taken place since, and by the end of 2006, 188 wild birds had been translocated from the western to the northern slope of Mauna Kea13. Approximately 36% persisted for longer than two months, and as of July 2007 a small colony of about 23 birds remains on the northern slope. Egg-laying occurred in 2004, and independent juveniles have been produced in every subsequent year (2005-2007)13. This translocation programme has been aided by a captive breeding programme initiated at the Keauhou Bird Conservation Center in 199610,11. Of 21 captive-reared birds released in 2003-2005, at least ten persisted in the reintroduction area for at least one year, with two males remaining in the north slope colony as of July 200713. The construction of a highway through unoccupied, federally designated critical habitat was approved in 1999. A mitigation plan accompanied the development, including the temporary suspension of cattle grazing in pastures adjacent to the species's range. The species's conservation is the subject of detailed research, and funding from the mitigation plan supported translocation research and enabled the expansion or continuation of studies into the species's ecology and limiting factors, mamane ecology, food availability, predator ecology and management, and fire ecology. Habitat restoration and research into restoration methods are ongoing15. Work is being carried out to restore habitat by controlling fountain grass Pennisetum setaceum (which increases the frequency and intensity of fires) and Cape ivy Delairea odorata (which reduces the vigour of native trees)19. Hawai`i State and federal agencies have begun programmes to control cats and rats5,9. Reforestation is also taking place on the northern slope of Mount Kea19. Goats have been virtually removed from Mauna Kea13, and the plan to build an 87-km-long fence enclosing all of the Palila's critical habitat to prevent the ingress of sheep and goats has been completed18,19. The fence is c.2 m high and encloses c.94 % of the species's habitat19. In 2010, a comprehensive fire management plan was being developed for the Mount Kea area19. Conservation Actions Proposed
Establish protocols and make preparations to control fire5. Intensify control of mammalian predators (especially feral cats) and grazing ungulates1,5,6,14. Continue to expand the application of translocations and captive propagation for introducing the species to currently unoccupied sites within the former range5,13. Reforest areas adjacent to the Mauna Kea Forest Reserve and areas where alien grasses and grazing threaten mamane5. Carry out forest restoration research to find ways to accelerate the rehabilitation and regeneration of mamane trees within the Mauna Kea Forest Reserve11,13. Remove and fence-out ungulates from all critical habitat and the mitigation parcels11,13. Continue to restore forest above Hakalau Wildlife Refuge16.
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Management Requirements: Most effective management activities: removal of feral ungulates (mouflon, cattle) and certain noxious plants (fountain grass, German ivy); extension of woodland zone to areas now intensively grazed (Scott et al. 1984).
As of 1990, the native mamane forest continued to regenerate rapidly after the removal of most feral sheep in critical habitat (USFWS 1990).
Plans for fire control are in place.
Translocations into presently unoccupied areas in range might speed recovery (Fancy et al. 1993).
Biological Research Needs: Relationship among weather changes (e.g., drought), distribution of resources, and population size needs to be studied.
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Global Protection: None. No occurrences appropriately protected and managed
Comments: Occurs in Hawaii Volcanoes National Park; otherwise not in any specific protected area. However, an active management program is continually funded by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the Hawaii State Division of Forestry and Wildlife. Critical habitat has been delineated, and the population is currently (2003) being managed as part of a federal mitigation project (Banko et al. 2002).
Needs: Establish a recognized protected area.
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Conservation
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Wikipedia
Palila
The Palila (Loxioides bailleui) is a critically endangered finch-billed species of Hawaiian honeycreeper. It has a golden-yellow head and breast, with a light belly, gray back, and greenish wings and tail. The bird has a close ecological relationship with the māmane tree (Sophora chrysophylla), and became endangered due to destruction of the trees and accompanying dry forests.
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Physical description
The palila has a yellow head and breast, with white to light gray plumage ventrally, medium gray plumage dorsally, and olive-green wings and tail. The bird also has a heavy dark bill with swollen sides, a brown iris, and dark feet with yellowish soles. The palila is one of the largest living Hawaiian honeycreepers, measuring around 6–7.5 inches (15–19 cm).
There is some sexual dimorphism. Males tend to have brighter colors overall, as well as clear-cut black lores. The corresponding area contrasts less with the dirty-yellow heads in the marginally smaller females.
The bird's song is inconspicuous, containing whistling, warbling and trilling notes. The call is characteristic, however, being a clear, bell-like whistle, chee-clee-o or te-cleet. This is loudly communicated between birds advertising food during the morning and evening, and according to native informants, it is given most frequently during the day as rain approaches (Rothschild 1900).
Systematics and nomenclature
The Hawaiian honeycreepers (Drepanididae) are sometimes included in the true finch family (Fringillidae). Oustalet scientifically described the palila in 1877. Named Loxioides bailleui by him, it was for some times united with several other "parrot-billed" Hawaiian honeycreeper species in Psittirostra. Currently, the palila has again been moved to genus Loxioides, which was long considered monotypic. The native name ʻōʻū poʻopapale ("capped ʻōʻū") probably refers to this species too (Rothschild 1900, FWIE 1996). Despite its bill and habits being somewhat similar to the ʻōʻū, its color pattern betrays a very close relationship with the genus Telespiza.
Distribution and status
Currently, the palila can be found only on the upper slopes of Mauna Kea on the island of Hawaiʻi. Palila live from about 6,500 to 9,500 feet (2,000 to 2,900 m) AMSL. The population density of the bird increases in areas where māmane (Sophora chrysophylla) grows more plentiful, and the birds do not appear to venture far from māmane stands. Essentially, this means that the species is confined - and may always have been so - to the area above the moist forest belt at around 3,000–4,500 feet (910–1,400 m).
Palila are today found in less than 10 percent of their historical range; they were found at elevations down to 4,000 feet (1,200 m) as late as the 19th century. Loxioides bailleui was abundant throughout Hawaiʻi until the beginning of the 20th century. It lived on the upper slopes of Mauna Kea, the northwest slopes of Mauna Loa, and the eastern slopes of Hualālai. Then, as early as 1944, scientists believed the bird almost extinct.
On March 11, 1967, the palila were listed as an endangered species under the ESA. In 1975, it was estimated that only 1,614 palila existed. In 1978, the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that feral sheep and goats had to be removed from critical habitat of the bird. From annual counts between 1980 and 1996, variable estimates of population ranged from 1,584 to 5,685 mature birds, though there are no consistent trends. In 1997, the west slope of Mauna Kea contained 72% of the population. The entire population, an estimated 4,396 birds, occupied an estimated 78 square kilometres (19,000 acres) (BLI 2004).
Ecology and behavior
The palila favors māmane and māmane-naio (Myoporum sandwicense) dry forests. A habitat mix containing, apart from said forest, patches of grasslands, pūkiawe (Styphelia tameiameiae) shrubland on lava fields, and other types of native understory vegetation is optimal for their survival[citation needed].
The diet of the palila is almost exclusively the immature seeds of māmane when these are available. These contain much vile-tasting phenolic compounds in the seed coat and a lethal amount of quinolizidine alkaloids in the embryos themselves. By some undetermined means, adult palila are able to cope with a dose of these toxins that would kill other small animals in mere minutes. The amount of toxin in māmane varies, and the palila can be seen to avoid certain trees. It is possible that these contain the highest amounts of poison, but how the birds would be able to recognize this is not known (Banko et al. 2002).
The bitter taste of the seed coats probably does not affect the birds (see below). Nonetheless, the seed coats are not very nutritious, and are thus discarded. Palila bills are adapted to open Fabales pods. The birds hold the pod with one foot and pry it open with the bill to expose the seeds. They then tear away the visible portion of the seed coat and extract the embryo, leaving the remaining coat in the pod. Seeds that drop out of the pod intact during opening are picked up and positioned longitudinally in the bill. The seed coat is then neatly cut open by the bill's edge and the embryo nudged out with the bird's tongue. The seed coat, still remaining in one piece, is then dropped.(Banko et al. 2002)
Palila also eat naio berries and other fruit (such as the introduced Cape gooseberry: Rothschild 1900), and māmane flowers, buds, and young leaves. Additionally, they feed on caterpillars, particularly those of Cydia species (māmane codling moths) and more rarely on those of Uresiphita polygonalis virescens (māmane snout moth). These caterpillars as well as other insects, along with the very nutritious māmane seeds, provide the palila's main source of protein. Nestlings, apparently not yet able to cope with the amount of poison contained in the seeds, are fed to a large extent on Cydia caterpillars. These destroy or discard the māmane's toxins they take up with their food, so that the caterpillars themselves are non-toxic. They do contain high amounts of phenolic compounds they probably sequester from their food and quite likely taste as bad. Palila do not seem to mind the adverse taste or are physically unable to perceive it, given that they go to great lengths to obtain this food during breeding season. (Banko et al. 2002)
The abundance of māmane seeds affects reproduction rates and adult survival. Palila start to eat the seeds at higher elevations and then gradually move downslope. During droughts, when māmane seeds are scarce, most birds do not attempt to breed.
The birds normally breed from February to September. The female constructs a loose, cup-shaped nest around 4 inches (10 cm) in diameter high up in a māmane or naio tree. For this it uses grasses, stems, roots, lichen, and branch bark from the māmane trees provide the building material. Lichen and small leaves layer the inside of the nest. Usually the palila clutch size is two eggs. Both parents regurgitate food to feed their young. The juveniles remain in the nest for up to 31 days before fledging.
Legal background
The palila was the first animal to have a 9th circuit federal case cited in its own name. Prior to Palila v. Hawaii Department of Land and Natural Resources 852 F.2d 1106 (U.S. 1988), cases were cited under the represented party e.g. Lujan v. Defenders of Wildlife 504 U.S. 555 (U.S. 1992), this opened a door for environmental protection agencies who in prior years had lost on issue of standing, e.g. Lujan.
Counsel: For PALILA, Plaintiff - Appellee: Michael R. Sherwood, Esq., Earthjustice Legal Defense Fund, San Francisco, California.
Judges: Before: Schroeder, Noonan, and O'Scannlain, Circuit Judges.
References
- ^ BirdLife International (2009). "Loxioides bailleui". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Version 2009.2. International Union for Conservation of Nature. http://www.iucnredlist.org/apps/redlist/details/149611. Retrieved 30 January 2010.
- Banko, P.; Cipollini, M.L.; Breton, G.; Paulk, E.; Wink, M. & Izhaki, I. (2002): Seed chemistry of Sophora chrysophylla (Mamane) in relation to the diet of the specialist seed predator Loxioides bailleui (Palila) in Hawai'i. Journal of Chemical Ecology 28(7): 1393-1410. doi:10.1023/A:1016248502927 PDF fulltext
- Fish and Wildlife Information Exchange (FWIE) (1996): [‘Ō‘ū, ESIS101027 (draft)]. Virginia Tech. Version of 1996-MAR-14. HTML fulltext Disclaimer
- Rothschild, Lionel Walter (1898–1900): 42. Loxioides bailleui. In: The avifauna of Laysan and the neighboring islands (Vol.3): 197-198. R.H. Porter, London. JPEG/PDF fulltext
- Lujan v. Defenders of Wildlife 504 U.S. 555 (U.S. 1992)
- Palila v. Hawaii Dep't of Land & Natural Resources 852 F.2d 1106 (9th Cir. 1988)
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Names and Taxonomy
Taxonomy
Comments: Perhaps congeneric with Telespiza cantans (Johnson et al. 1989). Formerly included in genus Psittirostra (AOU 1998).
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