O`ahu `Elepaio
Mary Kawena Pukui cites a Hawaiian proverb, Ho`okolo aku i ka nui manu. Go inquire of the other birds. Go and consult others, and in her gloss on its origin, a mischievous `elepaio plays the starring role:
One day a man went up to a mountain spring for water. On the way down he paused to rest, then fell asleep. An `elepaio lighted and, seeing the man’s gourd bottle, pecked a hole in the gourd. The sound of the pecking woke the man, who saw the water running out. In anger he threw a stone at the `elepaio and injured its leg. It flew away and met an `io. “O! `Io. I was stoned by a man,” `Elepaio cried. “What did you do?” asked `Io. “Pecked the man’s bottle.” “Then the fault is yours,” answered `Io. `Elepaio flew on and met Pueo. The same words were exchanged between them. So it was with `I`iwi, `…`š, and all the others. `Elepaio’s disgust grew greater with `Amakihi, who laughed at him in derision. Receiving no sympathy, `Elepaio sat and thought and finally admitted to himself that he, indeed, was to blame. (From: `…lelo No`eau: Hawaiian Proverbs & Poetical Sayings, by Mary Kawena Pukui, 1983.)
The `elepaio was well known to the people of early Hawai`i. Canoe makers watched the bird’s movements whenever a koa tree was felled to make a canoe. If the bird pecked at the wood searching for a meal of insects, it was useless to work on that log because it would not prove seaworthy.
The `elepaio is a small, round, forest bird with brown-gray coloring above and white or light coloring below, and white markings on the wings, rump, and tail. Characteristic of the `elepaio is the way the bird holds its tail up at an angle. The Native Hawaiians named the `elepaio after its song: a loud whistled “el-e-pai-o.” `Elepaio also refers to one who craves fish but does not go fishing. The cry of the bird was thought to suggest “`ono ka i`a, `ono ka i`a,” “fish is delicious, fish is delicious.” A variety of kalo with leaves that are mottled with white is also called `elepaio. Tradition has it that the `elepaio is the first bird to awaken and sing, thus telling the supernatural workers of the night, such as menehune, that day approaches and work must be abandoned.
The `elepaio is a member of the monarch flycatcher family. It probably evolved in the Hawaiian islands from Melanesian ancestors that colonized the Hawaiian islands via Polynesia or Micronesia. Once established, the `elepaio further evolved into three subspecies, each of which is endemic to a different island: Kaua`i, O`ahu, and Hawai`i. Although all three subspecies still exist, the O`ahu `elepaio is in danger of going extinct.
The decline has been attributed to lost and degraded habitat – the handiwork of human activities and invasive species; predation by rats; and avian malaria and pox. Before humans arrived in the Hawaiian islands, nearly all of O`ahu was forested. The O`ahu `elepaio probably occupied nearly all of the forested areas. The bird was so common that, according to early naturalists, it was the most abundant bird from sea level to well above the higher elevations and appeared to be holding its own in O`ahu forests even after so many other native birds had disappeared.
By 1960, the bird occupied 30 percent of its original O`ahu habitat. In 1975, its distribution had declined to 14 percent of its original range, and by 1990, the O`ahu `elepaio was restricted to a total area of just 11,600 acres, approximately 4 percent of its original habitat. The O`ahu `elepaio is now known from only six isolated core sub-populations and several smaller sub-populations in the Ko`olau and Wai`anae mountain ranges, with a total of approximately 2,000 birds.
Actions taken by concerned citizens have resulted in legal protection for this imperiled bird. In 1994, geographer and avid birder, Vaughn Sherwood, petitioned the Fish and Wildlife Service to list the O`ahu `elepaio as an endangered or threatened species. In January 2000, the Conservation Council for Hawai`i, represented by Earthjustice, sued the service for failing to place the O`ahu `elepaio on the endangered species list and designate critical habitat for the bird. In settlement of that suit, the O`ahu `elepaio was listed as an endangered species in April 2000, and recently designated critical habitat takes effect January 9, 2002.
The Service designated five areas totaling 65,879 acres as critical habitat for the O`ahu `elepaio, an amount sufficient to support a population of approximately 10,100 birds. Unlike the Service’s proposed critical habitat for Hawai`i’s threatened and endangered plants, critical habitat for the O`ahu `elepaio includes areas that are currently unoccupied by the bird.
Recovery actions for the O`ahu `elepaio will be identified in the Service’s Hawai`i Forest Bird Combined Recovery Plan, which covers 21 listed and imperiled birds. The plan should be available for public review in the next year or so. In the meantime, the Service, U.S. Army, Hawai`i Department of Land and Natural Resources, and dedicated individuals are actively managing the O`ahu `elepaio’s habitat, monitoring adult birds, and controlling rat predation.
Citizens must also be maka`ala to ongoing and proposed activities that may harm the bird or its habitat.
— Marjorie Ziegler
Volume 12, Number 7 January 2002
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