Maui Parrotbill Pseudonestor xanthophrys Scientific name definitions

The Maui Parrotbill is an endangered Hawaiian honeycreeper that was first collected in 1892 by Henry Palmer and described by Rothschild (Rothschild 1893a Rothschild, L. W. (1893). Avifauna of Laysan and the neighboring islands with a complete history to date of the birds of the Hawaiian possessions, Pt. III. London, U.K: R. H. Porter. Close ). No Hawaiian name for the species survives. Currently restricted to the remote high-elevation rain forests of eastern Maui, the Maui Parrotbill was thought to be extinct until its rediscovery in 1950 (Richards and Baldwin 1953 Richards, L. P. and P. H. Baldwin. (1953). Recent records of some Hawaiian honeycreepers. Condor 55:221-222. Close ). Today the population is estimated to be about 500 birds (Scott et al. 1986 Scott, J. M., S. Mountainspring, F. L. Ramsaey and C. B. Kepler (1986). Forest bird communities of the Hawaiian Islands: their dynamics, ecology, and conservation. Studies in Avian Biology 9. Close ).

Before the 1980s, various naturalists had encountered Maui Parrotbill but had collected little detailed information (Wilson and Evans 1890 Wilson, S. B. and A. H. Evans (1890). Aves Hawaiienses: the birds of the Sandwich Islands. London: R. H. Porter. Close , Rothschild 1893a Rothschild, L. W. (1893). Avifauna of Laysan and the neighboring islands with a complete history to date of the birds of the Hawaiian possessions, Pt. III. London, U.K: R. H. Porter. Close , Henshaw 1902a Henshaw, H. W. (1902). Birds of the Hawaiian Islands being a complete list of the birds of the Hawaiian possessions with notes on their habits. Honolulu, HI: Thomas G. Thrum. Close , Perkins 1903 Perkins, R. C. L. (1903). Fauna Hawaiiensis, Volume I, Part IV: Vertebrata (D. Sharp, Editor). Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, United Kingdom. Close , Banko 1968 Banko, W. E. (1968). Rediscovery of Maui Nukupu'u, Hemignathus lucidus affinis, and sighting of Maui Parrotbill, Pseudonestor xanthophrys, at Kipahulu Valley, Maui, Hawai'i. Condor 70:265-266. Close , Scott and Sincock 1977 Scott, J. M. and J. L. Sincock. (1977). Recent observations on the birds of the Koolau Forest Reserve, Maui. Western Birds 8:113-116. Close ). Very little was known about the species until biologists began natural history studies in the 1980s, and the first confirmed active nest was not discovered until 1993 (Van Gelder 1993 Van Gelder, E. (1993). First Maui Parrotbill nests found. Hawai'i's Forests and Wildlife 8 (1):9. Close , Lockwood et al. 1994 Lockwood, J. L., J. E. Green, K. Wakelee, E. Van Gelder, S. Ashe and R. Aburomia. (1994). A description of Maui Parrotbill (Pseudonestor xanthophrys) nests and nesting behavior. 'Elepaio 54 (10):61-64. Close ).

The Maui Parrotbill is a small, olive-green bird with a relatively large, parrotlike bill, which it uses to rip into branches and stems, to pluck and bite open fruit, and to lift bark and lichens in search of concealed invertebrates. It is one of the most sexually dimorphic of Hawaiian honeycreepers: Males are much larger than females, and their underparts are brighter yellow. Chicks are fed by regurgitation, and because fledglings remain dependent on their parents for 5 months or longer, sightings are frequently of family groups.

The ecology of this species remains poorly known, but ongoing research should provide much needed information, especially about factors affecting productivity. Such understanding will be essential in developing management strategies to help safeguard the future of the Maui Parrotbill.