This is the crested honeycreeper, or ʻākohekohe, Palmeria dolei.

This bird was once common throughout the volcanic islands of Maui and Molokaʻi in the North Pacific Ocean, but has seen a massive population decline since human arrival in the region. Around the year 900, settlers began clearing land for agriculture, and brought with them non- native animal species, degrading the environment, which previously knew no terrestrial mammal species.

Later, in the 19th century, the islands saw increasing trade and became a focal point for ships travelling between Asia and North America. Sugar plantations dominated the landscape, and drove its industrialisation.

In 1826, a ship docked at Lahaina Harbour carrying some stowaway southern house mosquitos (Culex quinquefasciatus), which quickly populated the region in the warm climate. These tiny insects, and the diseases they would carry such as avian pox and avian malaria, went on to devastate the islands’ extraordinary and diverse bird population. The ecosystems of the region had been highly isolated since its formation, so the birds there had virtually no immunity to these diseases.

The massive shield volcano Haleakalā at the center of Maui, with its summit at 3000 m, provides some protection from mosquitos, which are unable to breed above 1400 m - the so-called “mosquito line”. Native lowland birds have largely disappeared below this point. The ʻākohekohe has been forced to move to higher ground. In 2019, it was thought less than 1000 remain on the upper slopes of Haleakalā.
On Molokaʻi, the highest elevation is just 100 meters above the mosquito line. The last ʻākohekohe was seen on that island in 1907.

In recent years, it has been observed that the elevation of the mosquito line is rising on Haleakalā, as global heating affects the climate of the region.

According to legend, the powerful goddess Hina lived on the foothills of Haleakalā. The days were too short to complete all her work, so her son Māui lassoed the sun, slowing its journey across the sky and lengthening time.

Ancient myths also tell of a woman named Pele, who fought her sister Nāmaka on the slopes of Haleakalā. In the violent clash they tore each other apart, their flesh and bones scattering over the hillside. Pele’s spirit rose to become a goddess of fire and volcanoes, and Nāmaka’s sank, to become the goddess of the sea, their conflict to remain forever unresolved.

The ʻākohekohe is a large species of honeycreeper, with mostly black plumage streaked with red- orange and silvery grey. It has a shaggy red-orange patch on the hindneck, an orange-buff eye- ring and a short postocular stripe. It has a distinctive forward-curling white crest on its forehead.

It feeds primarily on the nectar of the ʻōhiʻa - which is the most common plant species on the island of Maui, and which can appear variously as a tree or a shrub, depending on where it is growing.

The ʻōhiʻa itself, however, is now in danger. In 2014, a new fungal pathogen was identified that causes what has been termed “Rapid ʻŌhiʻa Death”. The origin of the pathogen is unknown. Infected trees turn brown and die in a matter of weeks. Rapid ʻŌhiʻa Death was first observed only on the island of Hawaiʻi, but in 2018 was also found on Kauaʻi. In July 2019, it was found to have infected trees on Oahu, and a month later was found for the first time on Maui. The pathogen has the potential to decimate the forests of these islands, where ʻōhiʻa makes up 80% of plant life.

It also puts at risk the primary food source for the ʻākohekohe.