Effort resumes to breed last 3 po'ouli
By Jan TenBruggencate
Advertiser Science Writer
A team of wildlife experts is back in the Hanawi Natural Area Reserve on Haleakala this week in a new attempt to capture the last three po'ouli.
Associated Press
The snail-eating honeycreepers live in different territories on the mile-high slopes of the volcano, and biologists have failed to get them together to breed. So they're hoping to catch the birds and coax them to breed in captivity.
The last three known po'ouli are believed to be in Maui's Hanawi Natural Area Reserve on Haleakala.
The birds are all at least 6 years or older. Since most forest birds don't live past 15, scientists fear their age could become a problem soon.
"We had hoped these birds could be recovered in the wild, but now we're running out of time, and we're committed to this last-ditch effort to prevent their extinction," said Alan Lieberman, avian conservation coordinator for the Zoological Society of San Diego. The society runs bird conservation centers in Keauhou on the Big Island and in Olinda, Maui, where the po'ouli would be kept.
The two females and a male all were caught previously, had blood taken for tests and were banded and released. When efforts to capture one of the females failed this year, team members said they feared the bird was avoiding the "mist" nets used to trap them. This time the team will go after the male first.
"We believe that bringing the three po'ouli in from the wild is the best and last chance we have to save this unique bird from extinction," said Paul Conry, manager of the state Division of Forestry and Wildlife's wildlife program.
Mist nets are used only in daylight in clear weather. If a bird were caught in rainy weather, it could get wet and chilled, and a helicopter might not be able to get to the site to bring it out. Rain prevented the mist nets from being used during half the catch effort this year.
The field team flew into the Hanawi area Tuesday and will stay until Monday. If they don't get a bird, there are three more attempts scheduled through December.
"I think we just need better luck, better weather," said Eric Vander Werf, the lead Hawaiian forest bird biologist for the Pacific Islands office of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
Po'ouli, Hawaiian for "black head," refers to the bird's mask. A distant relative of other Hawaiian honeycreepers, it is the only one that depends heavily on tree snails. The succinid snails it prefers are not rare, Vander Werf said, but their areas of abundance are spotty on Haleakala.
Discovered in 1973, the bird once covered a fairly wide range on Maui, and fossils have been found on the volcano's south side much lower than the 5,000- to 6,500-foot elevation where the birds are now found on the north slope. The reason for their decline is not known.
Reach Jan TenBruggencate at jant@honoluluadvertiser.com or (808) 245-3074.
