SPECIES

Akekee Loxops caeruleirostris Scientific name definitions

Jaan Kaimanu Lepson and H. Douglas Pratt
Version: 1.0 — Published March 4, 2020
Text last updated January 1, 1997

Identification

Field Identification

Small Hawaiian honeycreeper endemic to Kaua‘i I., HI. Total length 10 cm, mass 10–12 g. Slightly sexually dichromatic. Both sexes greenish above with yellow cap and rump; yellow below, with triangular black face mask. Female slightly duller than male. Tail long and notched. Bill conical, light bluish gray; tip of lower mandible curved to one side. Legs and eyes appear black in the field.

Distinguished from other honeycreepers by broad triangular face mask, conical bill, yellow cap and rump, and long, notched tail. More restricted to the canopy than other green Hawaiian honeycreepers. This species' thorough, methodical probing of leaf buds is distinctive and helps identify it from a distance.

Similar Species

Most similar in appearance to Kaua‘i ‘Amakihi (Hemignathus kauaiensis), but latter species has thick down-curved bill, larger size and heavier build, and different foraging behavior, including picking at bark and taking nectar from flowers. Slightly smaller ‘Anianiau (H. parvus) is more uniformly colored; lacks black in face; and has thin, slightly down-curved, pinkish bill. Larger Nukupu‘u (H. lucidus)—critically endangered and unlikely to be seen—differs by having extraordinary, long, thin, decurved upper bill twice the length of the lower bill; entirely yellow head in males; and distinctive stocky build, with short tail and large head. Songs also differ: ‘Akeke‘e has high-pitched trill, which changes tempo and pitch partway through; Kaua‘i ‘Amakihi has loud, even trill; and ‘Anianiau typically has trill consisting of 2-note or 3-note elements. Nukupu‘u song unknown, but reportedly a loud warble, apparently similar to song of ‘Akiapo¯la¯‘au (H. munroi) of Hawai‘i I. (Perkins 1903). Calls of the small Kaua‘i honeycreepers similar and often indistinguishable (see also Sounds: vocalizations, below).

Laterally curved lower mandible and offset mandible-tips of ‘Akeke‘e not visible in field, but diagnostic in the hand. The only congener, the ‘Akepa, does not occur on Kaua‘i I.

Recommended Citation

Lepson, J. K. and H. D. Pratt (2020). Akekee (Loxops caeruleirostris), version 1.0. In Birds of the World (A. F. Poole and F. B. Gill, Editors). Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Ithaca, NY, USA. https://doi.org/10.2173/bow.akekee.01