Akiapola'au

‘AkiapÕlÃ'au Honeycreeper 

Hemignathus munroi

Photographed in the wild, Mauna Kea, Hawaii   Mar 2011

The 'Akiapõlã’au (pronounced ah-kee-ah-POH-LAH-OW) is a member of the highly specialized Hawaiian honeycreeper family. It is one of the rarest endemic birds in Hawaii, with a population of only 1,300. This species is most notable for its mismatched-looking beak that has a long, downward-curving upper mandible, used for probing, and a shorter lower mandible, used as a drill as the bird creeps along tree trunks and branches, probing for arthropods under the bark. It also takes flower nectar and drinks sap from shallow wells it drills in live bark.

It forages and nests on the Koa tree, which has been reduced by grazing goats and sheep the government brought in for hunting. This bird only lays one egg a year which makes it hard for increase of the species. The courts have ordered the government of Hawaii to remove the goats and sheep and maintain a fence around the area to protect the habitat for the 'Akiapõlã’au.

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