Iiwi (Vestiaria coccinea)
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Abstract
The ‘I‘iwi is one of the most spectacular of extant Hawaiian birds, with vermilion plumage, black wings and tail, and long, decurved bill. In pre-European Hawai‘i, beautiful feather capes, sometimes containing hundreds of thousands of ‘I‘iwi feathers, were a symbol of power and prestige among native Hawaiians. The ‘I‘iwi is a bird of the Hawaiian forests. Its decurved bill seems well adapted to exploit nectar from the similarly shaped flowers of lobelioid plants (Campanulaceae). ‘I‘iwi and ‘Apapane (Himatione sanguinea) are well known for their long flights over the forests in search of the flowers of the ‘öhi‘a (Metrosideros polymorpha) tree, their primary food source. Probably as a consequence of their high flights, ‘I‘iwi, ‘Apapane, and ‘Ö‘ü (Psittirostra psittacea) are the only 3 species of endemic Hawaiian honeycreepers in which the same subspecies occurs on more than one island. Contemporary interisland movements have not been documented.
| Publication type | Report |
|---|---|
| Publication Subtype | Organization Series |
| Title | Iiwi (Vestiaria coccinea) |
| Series title | Birds of North America |
| Series number | No. 327 |
| DOI | 10.2173/bna.327 |
| Year Published | 1997 |
| Language | English |
| Publisher | Academy of Natural Sciences and the American Ornithologist's Union |
| Publisher location | Philadelphia, PA and Washington, D.C. |
| Contributing office(s) | Pacific Island Ecosystems Research Center |
| Google Analytic Metrics | Metrics page |