Extinct

The `akialoa was a very striking bird, looking like an overgrown `amakihi with a very long decurved bill. It was a stocky green bird about 7 inches long with black lores. They were found on all islands, except Maui, with slight variations between islands. The species from Hawai`i Island was smaller, more olive green in color and with a smaller bill. The long bill was like a probing tool, adapted to searching out insects in soft and rotted wood or in clumps of moss and lichens.

By the 1900's the `akialoa was extinct on all islands except Kaua`i. The last sighting was in 1967 in the Alaka`i Swamp on Kaua`i, and it is very likely that the Kaua`i species, if not already, may soon be extinct.