Facts about Bishop's O'o
- 08
Avian malaria and avian pox, carried by introduced Culex mosquitoes, are considered primary drivers of the Bishop's O'o extinction alongside deforestation.
- 07
Bishop's O'o birds belonged to the Hawaiian honeycreeper family Drepanididae, which originated from a single colonizing finch species that arrived in the Hawaiian islands approximately 5 million years ago.
- 06
Female Bishop's O'o birds laid eggs in cup-shaped nests woven from plant fibers and suspended from tree branches in the native Hawaiian forests where they foraged for insects and nectar.
- 05
Mosquitoes introduced to Hawaiian forests by European contact likely transmitted avian diseases that devastated Bishop's O'o populations along with habitat loss from sugarcane plantations.
- 04
Yellow plumage with black wings and tail distinguished Bishop's O'o males from the drab olive-brown females, a sexual dimorphism common among Hawaiian honeycreepers.
- 03
Male Bishop's O'o birds produced a loud, distinctive call consisting of two clear notes that could be heard across the Hawaiian forest canopy for considerable distances.
- 02
In the 1970s, a Bishop's O'o population of fewer than 20 individuals remained in the remote Alakai Swamp on Kauai before that colony also disappeared.
- 01
The Hawaiian honeycreeper Bishop's O'o went extinct in 1989 when the last known male died on the Big Island, ending a species that had evolved distinctive curved bills for nectar feeding.