SPECIES

Akikiki Oreomystis bairdi Scientific name definitions

Jeffrey T. Foster, J. Michael Scott, and Paul W. Sykes Jr.
Version: 1.0 — Published March 4, 2020
Text last updated January 1, 2000

Identification

Field Identification

Small Hawaiian honeycreeper (10.9–12.2 cm, 11.5–17.0 g), dark gray to olive on head, back, sides, and flanks, and white to off-white on throat, breast, belly, and undertail coverts. Legs, feet, nails, and bill dull pink, with bill short and slightly downcurved. Tail short and square: 12 rectrices. Nine primaries, 10th vestigial, 6th and 7th longest and about equal length. Sexes of adults indistinguishable by plumage. Juveniles similar to adults but have a patch of white surrounding each eye resembling spectacles. Distinct whit call. Forage like nuthatches; most often seen creeping along trunks and branches of live ‘öhi‘a (Metrosideros polymorpha) trees and dead snags, picking insects from bark.

Similar Species

Many of the small wet-forest birds on Kaua‘i appear vaguely similar. With the exception of the Japanese Bush-Warbler (Cettia diphone), all of these potentially confusing birds contain yellow or green plumage, but the dense canopy of the forest often mutes any coloration. Confounding this is the similarity between the calls of the ‘Akikiki and 3 other native honeycreepers. Adult male ‘Anianiau is evenly colored bright yellow, with female and immature a dull yellow green to gray. ‘Anianiau bill is short, thin, and downcurved. ‘Akeke‘e has pale-blue conical bill and thick, black mask. Plumage is olive-yellow on back and bright yellow on crown, throat, and rump. Tail is noticeably notched. ‘Akeke‘e forages for insects high in terminal leaf clusters of ‘öhi‘a trees. Kaua‘i ‘Amakihi has dark lores and a bill that is darker, larger, and more decurved than bill of ‘Anianiau or ‘Akikiki. Kaua‘i ‘Amakihi often picks insects from bark of trees, as does ‘Akikiki, but stands more upright. ‘Anianiau is extremely active like ‘Akikiki, but it primarily sips nectar and gleans foliage, often close to ground. The introduced Japanese White-eye (Zosterops japonicus) has yellow on its throat and belly and has a distinct white eye-ring that is smaller and more clearly defined than the “spectacles” of juvenile ‘Akikiki, and does not extend into lores. The introduced Japanese Bush-Warbler is bicolored like the ‘Akikiki, but has a pale superciliary line; is found low in canopy in dense vegetation; and has a conspicuous, strong, whistled song.

Recommended Citation

Foster, J. T., J. M. Scott, and P. W. Sykes Jr. (2020). Akikiki (Oreomystis bairdi), 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.akikik.01