Facts about Moho nobilis

1. 06

   Specimen skins of Moho nobilis preserved in museum collections, including those at the American Museum of Natural History, remain among the only physical evidence of the species' existence today.

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2. 05

   Black plumage with distinctive orange-yellow wattles adorned the face of Moho nobilis, distinguishing it from other Hawaiian honeycreeper species.

   Moho nobilisMay 14sharemorphologyappearancehawaii
3. 04

   Fewer than 50 Moho nobilis individuals existed by the 1970s, with the population confined to remote Alakai Swamp forests on Kauai where introduced mosquitoes transmitted avian diseases.

   Moho nobilisMay 14shareextinctiondiseasepopulation
4. 03

   Moho nobilis males produced loud, distinctive calls that could be heard up to half a mile away across Hawaiian forest canopies.

   Moho nobilisMay 14sharebehaviorbiologyextinct
5. 02

   In 1902, the Moho nobilis was formally described as a new species by ornithologist Walter Rothschild, nearly a century before its extinction.

   Moho nobilisMay 14shareornithologytaxonomyextinction
6. 01

   The Hawaiian Moho nobilis, an extinct honeycreeper, was last recorded in 1981 on Kauai before disappearing from the island entirely.

   Moho nobilisMay 14shareextinctionbiologyhawaiian