Extinct

Very little is known about this bird, since only five stuffed specimens are known to exist. The last time it was spotted with certainty was in 1892, and it is considered extinct.

The Hawaiians knew it well enough to have given it a name: "`ula-`ai-hawane" meaning "red bird that eats the fruit of the hawane palm." The bird was found only on Hawai`i Island near hawane palms in the Kona and Hilo Districts and the Kohala Mountains, but never in large numbers. Its distinctive coloring pattern of red, black, and gray set it apart from other members of the honeycreeper family.