Kauaʻi record · kba_bird_akekee
Akekee
Loxops caeruleirostris
Open this record in the interactive Atlas
About Akekee
ʻAkekeʻe is a small Hawaiian honeycreeper found nowhere in the world except Kauaʻi. Adults are greenish above and yellow below, with a yellow crown and dark facial mask; females are generally somewhat duller than males. Its compact, cone-shaped bill contains an unusual specialization: the lower mandible bends slightly to one side so that its tip is offset from the upper mandible, forming a tool well suited to opening tightly packed plant structures.
That bill is central to the bird’s feeding strategy. ʻAkekeʻe works methodically through ʻōhiʻa foliage, prying apart young leaves and flower buds to reach spiders, psyllids, caterpillars, and other small arthropods. It is strongly associated with ʻōhiʻa and is most characteristic of mature native wet and mesic forest. Today the species is concentrated in the high forests of the Alakaʻi, upper Waimea, and Kōkeʻe regions, with the densest populations generally occurring at higher elevations.
Its reproductive biology remains unusually poorly known because fewer than twenty nests have been documented. Studied nests were placed among small terminal branches of ʻōhiʻa, and females performed most observed nest construction. Documented clutches contained two or three eggs. Females initially fed newly hatched chicks, after which both parents participated in feeding; successful studied nests fledged one or two young. Whether ʻAkekeʻe regularly renest or produce more than one brood in a season remains uncertain.
ʻAkekeʻe is federally and state listed as endangered. Its remaining population faces a combination of mosquito-borne avian malaria, degradation and fragmentation of native forest, invasive plants and animals, possible competition from introduced insects, predation, and the inherent vulnerability of a small population. Because the species depends so strongly on mature ʻōhiʻa forest, conserving intact high-elevation native forest and reducing disease pressure are closely tied to its continued survival on Kauaʻi.
Kauaʻi evidence
Bishop Museum island checklist (version 2, 2017) lists Kauaʻi status R: native resident. See original island table. The record includes Kauaʻi-specific or clearly defined regional evidence appropriate to its stated occurrence status.
Occurrence evidence
bishop_island_checklist_2017
Names and classification
- Scientific name
- Loxops caeruleirostris
- Common names
- Akekee
- Family
- Fringillidae
- Order
- Passeriformes
- Record type
- Species
Kauaʻi occurrence and status
- Kauaʻi occurrence
- Kauaʻi documented: native resident (2017 island checklist)
- Origin
- Endemic
- Conservation status
- Not assessed
- Evidence date
- 2026-09-13
- Evidence limits
- Island occurrence supported by the 2017 checklist; abundance and current year presence are not established here
Habitat and ecology
- Habitats
- Forest
- Food and resource needs
- Ohia specialist that pries open ohia leaves and flower buds to take arthropods, especially spiders, psyllids, and caterpillars.
- Reproduction
- Suitable nesting or roosting sites, seasonal food, and protection from disturbance and predators.
- Shelter
- Shelter and structure within forest.
Threats and conservation
- Threats
- Avian malaria, habitat degradation by non-native plants and ungulates, hurricane-damaged forest structure, non-native insect competition, predators, and small-population dynamics
- Conservation actions
- Prioritize landscape mosquito suppression, protect high-elevation ohia forest, maintain predator control, continue careful captive/field conservation only within stress limits, and track population trajectory
- Monitoring
- Track occurrence, abundance, habitat condition, breeding or seasonal use, and significant threats.
- Data gaps
- Update island status with dated contemporary records · Specific Kauaʻi habitat and abundance need local evidence
Process and seasonal context
- Seasonal timing
- Living Extreme Extinction Risk
- Seasonal description
- Akekee (Loxops caeruleirostris) is recorded as a native resident on Kauaʻi in the Bishop Museum's 2017 island checklist. This is a documented island occurrence, not a claim of an individual sighting in 2026.