Habitat

Forests of Hawaiian Is. have been described in detail (Hillebrand 1888, Rock 1913, Nature Conservancy Of Hawai'i I. 1987 Nature Conservancy Of Hawai'i I., The. (1987). Biological overview of Hawai'i's Natural Area Reserve System. Honolulu: Hawai'i Heritage Prog. Close , Cuddihy and Stone 1990 Cuddihy, L. W., and C. P. Stone (1990). Alteration of Native Hawaiian Vegetation: Effects of Humans, their Activities and Introductions. Cooperative National Park Resources Studies Unit, University of Hawaii, Honolulu, HI, USA. Close ). For detailed descriptions of Hawaiian vegetation, see Wagner et al. Wagner et al. 1985 Wagner, W. L., D. Herbst and R. S. N. Yee. (1985). "Status of the native flowering plants of the Hawaiian Islands." In Hawai'i's terrestrial ecosystems: preservation and management., edited by C. P. Stone and J. M. Scott, 23-74. Honolulu: Univ. of Hawai'i Press. Close , Wagner et al. 1990 Wagner, W. L., D. R. Herbst and S. H. Sohmer. (1990). Manual of the flowering plants of Hawai'i. Honolulu: Univ. of Hawai'i Press and Bishop Museum Press. Close , and 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 . Vegetation is most often characterized according to elevation (coastal, lowland montane, subalpine, alpine) and moisture (dry, mesic, wet), as well as regime topography floristics and plant physiognomy (Cuddihy and Stone 1990 Cuddihy, L. W., and C. P. Stone (1990). Alteration of Native Hawaiian Vegetation: Effects of Humans, their Activities and Introductions. Cooperative National Park Resources Studies Unit, University of Hawaii, Honolulu, HI, USA. Close ). Forests on Kaua‘i, O‘ahu, Maui, Moloka‘i, and Hawai‘i, where meliphagids have been known to occur, have canopies dominated by <10 species, primarily ‘öhi‘a and koa (Acacia koa), or both. ‘Öhi‘a forests, from sea level to 1,800 m elevation, range from 5–30 m in height, and canopy closure is very open to closed, with variable understory dominated by small trees and shrubs. ‘Ölapa (Cheirodendron spp.) often occurs as a codominant in lower-stature (e.g., 5 m) ‘öhi‘a forests. Other understory plants include tree ferns (Cibotium spp.), terrestrial ferns (e.g. Dryopteris spp.), and flowering/fruiting shrubs and vines providing food for meliphagids, such as lobeliads (Lobelia, Clermontia, Cyanea spp.) and ‘ie‘ie (Freycinetia arborea). Koa forests occur up to 2,000 m elevation in very open to closed canopy situations; understory species vary, and terrestrial and tree ferns, shrubs, and small trees are common. Perkins (Perkins 1903 Perkins, R. C. L. (1903). Fauna Hawaiiensis, Volume I, Part IV: Vertebrata (D. Sharp, Editor). Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, United Kingdom. Close ) noted that Hawai‘i and Bishop's ‘ö‘ö did not thrive in forests made open by grazing cattle.

Kaua‘i ‘Ö‘ö. Inhabited forests from sea level to mountaintops on Kaua‘i (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 , Henshaw 1902a Henshaw, H. W. (1902a). 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 , Munro 1944a Munro, G. C. (1944a). Birds of Hawai'i. Honolulu: Tong Publ. Co. Close , Olson and James 1982b Olson, S. L., and H. F. James (1982). Prodromus of the fossil avifauna of the Hawaiian Islands. Smithsonian Contributions to Zoology no. 365, Washington, DC, USA. Close ), but by early 1900s, was confined to higher-elevation forests, principally Alaka‘i Swamp (see Figure 2) in central part of the island (Munro 1944a Munro, G. C. (1944a). Birds of Hawai'i. Honolulu: Tong Publ. Co. Close , Richardson and Bowles 1964 Richardson, F. and J. Bowles. (1964). A survey of the birds of Kauai, Hawaii. Honolulu: B. P. Bishop Mus. Bull. 227. Close , Sincock et al. 1984 Sincock, J. L., R. E. Daehler, T. Telfer and D. H. Woodside. (1984). Kauai forest bird recovery plan. Portland, OR: U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. Close ). Richardson and Bowles (Richardson and Bowles 1964 Richardson, F. and J. Bowles. (1964). A survey of the birds of Kauai, Hawaii. Honolulu: B. P. Bishop Mus. Bull. 227. Close ) described habitat as thick forest, with ‘ö‘ö preferring high-elevation canyons rather than forested ridges. Scott et al. (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 ) indicated that ‘ö‘ö historically used 6 forest types: arid low-elevation woodland, dry lowland forest, mesic lowland forest, mesic montane forest, wet lowland forest, and wet montane forest.

Alaka‘i Swamp is not a true swamp, but a high montane plateau dissected by numerous forested ravines and valleys and bordered by sheer, deep canyons (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 , Conant et al. 1998 Conant, S., H. D. Pratt and R. J. Shallenberger. (1998). Reflections on a 1975 expedition to the lost world of the Alaka'i and other notes on the natural history, systematics, and conservation of Kaua'i birds. Wilson Bulletin 110 (1):1-22. Close ). It is a 52-km²subtropical to temperate rain forest averaging 1,220 m in elevation. About 58% of area is deeply dissected, 28% gently sloping or flat, 11% low swamp vegetation, and 3% treeless bog (Woudt and Nelson 1963 Woudt, B. D. and R. Nelson. (1963). Hydrology of the Alaka'i Swamp, Kaua'i, Hawai'i. Univ. of Hawai'i, Honolulu: Hawai'i Agric. Exp. Stn. Close ). Ridges between streams often are broad and flat, with many bogs. Rainfall is frequent each day and fairly uniform throughout year, averaging about 510 cm annually (J. L. Sincock unpubl.). Mount Wai‘ale‘ale (elevation 1,569 m), one of the wettest places on Earth, with mean annual rainfall of 1,415 cm (Giambelluca et al. 1986 Giambelluca, T. W., M. A. Nullet and P. A. Schroeder. (1986). Rainfall atlas of Hawai'i. Honolulu, HI: Dep. Land and Nat. Resour. Close ), is located in se. Alaka‘i. This very wet forest is dominated by ‘öhi‘a ranging in height from 1 to 24 m, with lapalapa (Cheirodendron platyphyllum) and ‘ölapa (C. trigynum) as common subdominants. Over much of area, ‘öhi‘a forms dense canopy, with numerous emergent snags (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 , Conant et al. 1998 Conant, S., H. D. Pratt and R. J. Shallenberger. (1998). Reflections on a 1975 expedition to the lost world of the Alaka'i and other notes on the natural history, systematics, and conservation of Kaua'i birds. Wilson Bulletin 110 (1):1-22. Close , J. L. Sincock unpubl.). Forest vegetation very dense, even at ground level, heavily overgrown with epiphytes. Epiphytic community is prolific, with abundant mosses, ferns, and flowering plants (Conant et al. 1998 Conant, S., H. D. Pratt and R. J. Shallenberger. (1998). Reflections on a 1975 expedition to the lost world of the Alaka'i and other notes on the natural history, systematics, and conservation of Kaua'i birds. Wilson Bulletin 110 (1):1-22. Close ).

O‘ahu ‘Ö‘ö. No information. Probably found throughout native forest on O‘ahu I.

Bishop's ‘Ö‘ö. Found in high montane forest, including cliffs, dense tangled brush of boggy mountaintops, and low brush (Perkins Perkins 1895 Perkins, R. C. L. (1895). Notes on some Hawaiian birds. Ibis 1 (8):117-129. 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 )—areas dominated by ‘öhi‘a forests Moloka‘i I. Probably originally inhabited all native forest from sea level to mountaintops. Quoting Henry Palmer, Rothschild (Rothschild 1893a Rothschild, L. W. (1893a). 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 : 16 [Di.]) states, “It was found in the lower and upper forest-region, but more in the latter.” More recent sighting (Sabo 1982 Sabo, S. R. (1982). The rediscovery of Bishop's 'O'o on Maui. 'Elepaio 42:69-70. Close ) on northeast flank of Haleakalä Crater, Maui, was in montane rain forest of ‘öhi‘a, with understory of ‘ölapa (Cheirodendron trigynum), pilo (Coprosma ochracea), and pükiawe (Styphelia tameiameiae).

Hawai‘i ‘Ö‘ö. Inhabited all forests from sea level to tree line on Hawai‘i I. (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. (1893a). 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 , Perkins 1893b Perkins, R. C. L. (1893b). Notes on collecting in Kona, Hawaii. Ibis ser. 6 5 (1):101-112. Close , Henshaw 1902a Henshaw, H. W. (1902a). 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 , Munro 1944a Munro, G. C. (1944a). Birds of Hawai'i. Honolulu: Tong Publ. Co. Close ). Forest habitats used included arid low-elevation, dry lowland, dry montane, mesic lowland, mesic montane, wet lowland, and wet montane (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 ).

Kioea. Little information. Peale (Peale 1848 Peale, T. R. (1848). Mammalia and ornithology: U.S. Exploring Expedition, 1838-1842. Vol. 8. Philadelphia, PA: Sherman. Close : 148) stated, “frequents woody districts,” and on the basis of fossil records and fragmentary notes in the old literature, Scott et al. (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 ) concluded that Kioea occurred primarily in dry woodland or scrubland below 1,500 m elevation. Historically, probably inhabited native forests down to sea level on Hawai‘i I.