ʻAkikiki

Although the taxonomic affinities of Oreomystis remain uncertain, some phylogenetic evidence indicates that it is most closely allied with the {{okina}}alauahios (Paroreomyza). Together, they form the second most basal recent lineage within the Hawaiian honeycreepers aside from the recently-extinct poʻouli (Melamprosops phaeosoma), and the most basal extant lineage.{{Cite journal |last1=Lerner |first1=Heather R.L. |last2=Meyer |first2=Matthias |last3=James |first3=Helen F. |last4=Hofreiter |first4=Michael |last5=Fleischer |first5=Robert C. |date=2011-11-08 |title=Multilocus Resolution of Phylogeny and Timescale in the Extant Adaptive Radiation of Hawaiian Honeycreepers |journal=Current Biology |language=en |volume=21 |issue=21 |pages=1838–1844 |doi=10.1016/j.cub.2011.09.039 |issn=0960-9822 |pmid=22018543 |doi-access=free}} However, other studies support it being slightly more derived than Paroreomyza.{{Cite web |title=A consensus taxonomy for the Hawaiian honeycreepers » Malama Mauna Kea Library Catalog |url=https://sites01.lsu.edu/wp/mnspapers/files/2014/10/85.pdf |access-date=2022-06-28 |website=lsu.edu}}

The {{okina}}akikiki is small (13 cm length; 12-17 g mass),{{cite book|last=Pratt|first=H. Douglas|title=The Hawaiian Honeycreepers: Drepanidinae|year=2005|publisher=Oxford University Press|location=USA|isbn=019854653X}} with gray plumage above and white below. It is not sexually dimorphic. Juveniles have large white eye rings; adults may retain a pale eyebrow for several years. Legs and bill are pink. The tail is short compared to other birds on Kaua{{okina}}i, giving it a stocky appearance.

The adult contact call is a short weet or whit, sometimes doubled. The call may also resemble that of the {{okina}}anianiau, with which it may flock. Its song, heard only in breeding season, is a descending trill.{{cite web|last=Kuhn|first=David|title=Native Birds of Kauai|url=http://soundshawaiian.com/birds_kauai.html|access-date=4 August 2012}} The juvenile breeding call is a stuttering series of chits. During the breeding season, females use a similar call to solicit feeding by males.

It is currently found only in the highest elevation native rainforests of Koke{{okina}}e State Park and the Alaka{{okina}}i Wilderness Preserve on Kaua{{okina}}i.{{cite web|author=BirdLife International|title=Akikiki (Oreomystis bairdi)|url=http://www.birdlife.org/datazone/speciesfactsheet.php?id=8913|access-date=4 August 2012}} Subfossil records indicate that it was once found at sea level as well, and thus may have inhabited a wider range of habitats, including dry forest.{{cite web |url=http://www.state.hi.us/dlnr/dofaw/cwcs/files/NAAT%20final%20CWCS/Chapters/Terrestrial%20Fact%20Sheets/Forest%20Birds/akikiki%20NAAT%20final%20!.pdf |title=ʻAkikiki or Kauaʻi Creeper |work=Hawaii’s Comprehensive Wildlife Conservation Strategy |publisher=State of Hawaiʻi |date=2005-10-01 }}

The {{okina}}akikiki is often compared to the nuthatches of North America because it forages by hopping along the trunks and branches of both live and dead trees, picking off arthropods. {{okina}}Akikiki often forage in pairs, family groups, or mixed-species flocks.

Few {{okina}}akikiki nests have been found. Nesting occurs from March to June, with both males and females constructing nests of moss and lichen several meters up in the crowns of {{okina}}ohi{{okina}}a trees.Foster, J. T., et al. Akikiki (Oreomystis bairdi). In: Poole, A. and F. Gill (eds.) The Birds of North America. Philadelphia, Pennsylvania: The Birds of North America Inc. 2000. Only the female incubates the eggs, but both parents feed the nestlings and fledglings. The long juvenile dependency period means only a single brood per pair is typically raised each breeding season.

In 2018, the first {{okina}}akikiki was bred in captivity with the assistance of the San Diego Zoo.{{cite news |last=Fikes |first=Bradley J. |date=20 August 2018 |title=With San Diego Zoo's help, endangered Hawaiian bird bred in captivity for first time |url=http://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/news/zoo/sd-me-san-diego-zoo-akikiki-bred-20180820-story.html |work=San Diego Union-Tribune |access-date=5 September 2018 }}

The {{okina}}akikiki's habitat has been reduced to a fragment of its former range by deforestation and deterioration by invasive species. Avian malaria, to which most Hawaiian honeycreepers have little immunity, affects birds below approximately 1000 m elevation and further restricts the {{okina}}akikiki's range. Introduced rats are thought to be major predators of eggs and nestlings. Competition for food and space with non-native birds, such as Japanese white-eye, may also affect its numbers.

The {{okina}}akikiki has been listed as critically endangered on the IUCN Red List since 2000. It has been a candidate for listing as an endangered species under the Endangered Species Act since 1993, but was not listed as such until 2010.{{cite web|title=Newly designated endangered species|url=http://www.fws.gov/home/feature/2010/pdf/designatedendangeredspecieslisted2010.pdf|publisher=US Fish and Wildlife Service|access-date=4 August 2012}} Because little is known about this species, the primary focus of recovery efforts so far have been estimating the population size and understanding its basic biology.{{cite web|author=Kauai Forest Bird Working Group|title=ʻAkikiki Five-Year Recovery Plan|url=http://kauaiforestbirds.org/index.php/download_file/view/559/69/|access-date=4 August 2012}} Captive breeding, reintroduction, and habitat restoration are planned.

An extremely steep decline was noted between 2018 and 2021 in Halehaha, one of the species' former strongholds, with the population declining from 70 to 5 individuals, leaving only 45 wild individuals overall. This decline has been blamed on climate change allowing the mosquitoes carrying avian malaria to invade higher elevations. In addition, it has been predicted that at the current decline rate, the species will likely go extinct in the wild by 2023. About 41 captive individuals exist, although only a limited amount of offspring have been produced. It is currently planned to keep a significant number of {{okina}}akikiki in captivity until landscape-scale control of mosquitoes using Wolbachia can be performed starting in 2024 at the earliest, after which the birds could be reintroduced to their habitat.

In May 2015, a high-school teacher in Tamil Nadu, India named Prakash Vaithyanathan{{Cite web|url=https://ssd.jpl.nasa.gov/sbdb.cgi?sstr=7613|title=7613 'Akikiki (1996 DK) - NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory Database}}{{Cite web|url=https://www.audubon.org/news/endangered-hawaiian-bird-immortalized-space|title=Endangered Hawaiian Bird Immortalized In Space|date=2016-04-20|website=Audubon|language=en|access-date=2019-03-01}} suggested that the International Astronomical Union name a celestial body Akikiki during the 2015 IAU General Assembly conducted in Hawaii. After much consideration, asteroid number 7613 was officially named 7613 {{okina}}Akikiki.{{Citation|title=7613 {{okina}}Akikiki|date=2019-02-28|url=https://it.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=7613_%E2%80%98Akikiki&oldid=103050722|work=Wikipedia|language=it|access-date=2019-03-01}}

{{Reflist}}

{{Wikispecies|Oreomystis bairdi}}

• [https://web.archive.org/web/20101211230906/http://audubon2.org/watchlist/viewSpecies.jsp?id=5 Audubon WatchList]
• [https://web.archive.org/web/20090221164533/http://www.arkive.org/akikiki/oreomystis-bairdi/ ARKive]
• [http://kauaiforestbirds.org/birds/akikiki/ Kaua{{okina}}i Forest Bird Recovery Project]
• [http://www.birdlife.org/datazone/species/index.html?action=SpcHTMDetails.asp&sid=8913&m=0 BirdLife species factsheet]
• {{cite web |url=http://www.state.hi.us/dlnr/dofaw/cwcs/files/NAAT%20final%20CWCS/Chapters/Terrestrial%20Fact%20Sheets/Forest%20Birds/akikiki%20NAAT%20final%20!.pdf |title=ʻAkikiki or Kauaʻi Creeper |work=Hawaii’s Comprehensive Wildlife Conservation Strategy |publisher=State of Hawaiʻi }}

{{Passeroidea|N.|state=collapsed}}

{{Taxonbar|from=Q1304953}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Akikiki}}

Category:Oreomystis

Category:Hawaiian honeycreepers

Category:Endemic fauna of Hawaii

Category:Critically endangered fauna of Hawaii

Category:Birds described in 1887

Category:Taxa named by Leonhard Stejneger

Category:Taxonomy articles created by Polbot

Category:ESA endangered species