The Maui nukupuʻu is a species of nukupuʻu Hawaiian honeycreeper that was endemic to the island of Maui in the Hawaiian Islands. The small, five-inch-long bird lived only in eastern Maui, where it was dependent on high-elevation mesic and wet forests of ʻōhiʻa lehua and koa. These two species of trees attract insects, causing the Maui nukupuʻu to have a higher chance of finding a meal near these trees. It was last sighted in the late 1990's, and is most likely extinct.
Region
Hawaiian Islands
Typical Environment
Formerly restricted to high-elevation mesic and wet forests on the windward slopes of Haleakalā (East Maui). It was closely tied to native ʻōhiʻa lehua (Metrosideros polymorpha) and koa (Acacia koa), where it gleaned insects from trunks and branches. The species avoided degraded lowlands and was largely confined to cooler, disease-reduced elevations. Habitat fragmentation, introduced mosquitoes carrying avian malaria, and forest alteration likely compressed its already narrow range. Today it is presumed absent from former haunts, with no confirmed modern breeding sites.
Altitude Range
1000–2000 m
Climate Zone
Highland
Ease of Keeping
Beginner friendly: 1/5
This Hawaiian honeycreeper evolved an unusually asymmetric, strongly decurved bill ideal for extracting insects from bark and crevices of native trees like ʻōhiʻa lehua and koa. It was confined to high-elevation forests on East Maui, likely avoiding lower elevations due to avian malaria and habitat loss. The last reliable records were in the late 1990s, and it is now considered possibly extinct. Its fate underscores the vulnerability of island specialists to disease, invasive species, and habitat change.
Temperament
solitary and territorial
Flight Pattern
short rapid wingbeats with quick, darting flights between branches
Social Behavior
Typically observed alone or in pairs, methodically gleaning along trunks and larger branches. Breeding likely involved open cup nests placed in native trees, with both parents attending young. Territorial behavior was focused around rich foraging patches in koa-ʻōhiʻa forest.
Migratory Pattern
Resident
Song Description
Thin, high-pitched whistles and chips, interspersed with short, simple phrases. Contact calls were sharp and faint, often hard to detect over wind in montane forest.
Plumage
Olive-green upperparts with yellow to yellow-olive underparts; slightly paler throat and face. Feathers are sleek and close-fitting, aiding in agile movement through dense foliage.
Diet
Primarily insect larvae and adult arthropods gleaned from bark, lichens, and leaf clusters on ʻōhiʻa and koa. The long upper mandible probed crevices while the shorter lower mandible helped pry and pick prey. It also took spiders and other small invertebrates and may have occasionally sipped nectar while foraging.
Preferred Environment
Forages in mid to upper canopy of intact native forest, especially along trunks, large limbs, and dense branch junctures. Avoided heavily degraded or non-native dominated stands.
