Oʻahu Grosbeak

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O'ahu Grosbeak

Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Aves
Order:	Passeriformes
Family:	Drepanididae
Genus:	Chloridops
Species:	C. wahi

Binomial name

Chloridops wahi

The O'ahu Grosbeak (Chloridops wahi) was a species of finch in the Fringillidae family. Psittirostra wahi was endemic to naio forest on lava flows at 1,000–1,800 m on Hawaii, USA. The species was already very rare when it was first discovered when islanders landed. Its fossils were being found in only about four square miles, and was rare in the record. Reasons for its extinction are not very well known. The genus is known from fossils from Oahu. It was endemic to Hawaii. The O'ahu grosbeak was found at elevations of about 5,000 feet or higher in the cloud forests in areas of the koa forest. The bird was larger than its hawaiian cousin, two inches larger to be exact. It in total length is nine inches long

1 Habitat & Diet
2 Breeding
3 Extinction
4 Source

[edit] Habitat & Diet

The Chloridops wahi (O'ahu grosbeak), though an interesting bird on account of its peculiar structure, is a singularly uninteresting one in its habits. It was a dull, sluggish, solitary bird and very silent-its whole existence may be summed up in the words “to eat.” Its food consists of the seeds of the fruit of the aaka (bastard sandal-tree, and probably in other seasons of those of the sandalwood tree), and as these are very minute, its whole time seems to be taken up in cracking the extremely hard shells of this fruit, for which its extraordinarily powerful beak and heavy head have been developed. The bastard sandal-tree referred to here is more commonly known today as the naio tree (Myoporum sandwicense), which grows primarily on medium-aged lava flows. It is one of the quietest birds on the islands.

[edit] Breeding

It had a small nest that was not well formed and the eggs usually counted only two or even just one.

[edit] Extinction

It must have gone extinct when its land was being cut down for farming and agriculture. As invasive plants like sugarcane and pineapple, native plants like the Naio trees that the O'ahu Grosbeak had less to eat and perhaps starved. Invasive animals probably caught the slow and sluggish birds eaisily, accelerating their extinction. The eggs of this bird were probably even easier to get to because of their poorly built nests.