Invasive mosquitoes & avian malaria

Names and classification

Record type

threat

Kauaʻi occurrence and status

Recorded state

Active / severe in forest-bird range

Threats and conservation

Pressure source

Introduced mosquitoes carrying avian malaria parasites

Exposure pathway

Mosquito bites transmit Plasmodium to susceptible native forest birds

Consequences

Disease, mortality, contraction of safe habitat and population decline

Affected requirements

Adult and juvenile survival; usable disease-free habitat; recruitment

Susceptibility

Native Hawaiian honeycreepers and other susceptible forest birds

Reversibility

Potentially reversible/mitigable if vector abundance falls below transmission thresholds; exact thresholds remain monitored

Early warning indicators

Mosquito abundance; infection prevalence; bird survival; malaria prevalence; elevational mosquito detections

Conservation interventions

Implementation limits

Magnitude, exposure and trend are not assumed uniform across Kauaʻi; local evidence governs.

Sources and further reading

• https://dlnr.hawaii.gov/dofaw/fw-announcements/kauai/mosquito-updates/
• https://dlnr.hawaii.gov/blog/2025/02/14/nr25-23/
• https://www.fws.gov/species/invasive-species/about-invasive-species

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