Maui Nukupu'u, 2022
mixed media on paper with metallic accents
5.125" x 7"
$97 including US shipping
From the US Fish and Wildlife Service proposal for removing 23 species from the Federal Lists of Endangered and Threatened Wildlife and Plants due to extinction:
The Maui nukupuu was a medium-sized (approximately 0.78 ounce, or 23 gram) Hawaiian honeycreeper with an extraordinarily thin, curved bill that was slightly longer than the bird's head. The lower mandible was half the length of the upper mandible and followed its curvature rather than being straight (as in the related akiapolaau) (USFWS 2006, p. 2-92). Adult males were olive green with a yellow head, throat, and breast, whereas adult females and juveniles had an olive-green head and yellow or yellowish gray under-parts. The species' coloration and bill shape were quite distinctive, making visual identification of Maui nukupuu relatively easy. The Maui nukupuu's song resembled the warble of a house finch ( Carpodacus mexicanus ), but was lower in pitch. Both the song and the “kee-wit” call resembled those of Maui parrotbill ( Pseudonestor xanthophrys ), and audio detection required visual confirmation (USFWS 2006, p. 2-92).
Historically, the Maui nukupuu was known only from Maui, but subfossil bones of a probable Maui nukupuu from Molokai show that the species likely formerly inhabited that island (USFWS 2006, p. 2-92). All records from late 19th and early 20th centuries were from locations most accessible to naturalists, above Olinda on the northwest rift of Haleakala, and from mid-elevation forests in Kipahulu Valley.
The population of Maui nukupuu was estimated to be 28 birds in 1980 (Scott
et al.
1986, pp. 37, 131); however, confidence intervals on this estimate were large. This population was vulnerable to negative effects of small population size, including stochastic effects and genetic drift that can accelerate the decline of small populations. However, even rare species can persist despite having low numbers. The last confirmed sighting of Maui nukupuu was in 1996, from Hanawi NAR (Reynolds and Snetsinger 2001, p. 140). Over 10,000 person-search hours in Hanawi NAR and nearby areas, including Kipahulu Valley, from October 1995 through June 1999 failed to confirm this sighting or to detect other individuals.