Hoopoe-billed ʻakialoa

Hoopoe-billed ʻakialoa
Conservation status
Extinct
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Aves
Order:	Passeriformes
Family:	Fringillidae
Subfamily:	Carduelinae
Genus:	Akialoa
Species:	† A. upupirostris
Binomial name
Akialoa upupirostris (Olson & James, 1995)
Synonyms
Hemignathus upupirostris

The hoopoe-billed ʻakialoa, (Akialoa upupirostris), was an extinct species of Hawaiian honeycreeper. Fossil remains have been found of this species in the Hawaiian islands of Kauai and Oahu. The species specific name, upupirostris, is derived from the Latin upupa, hoopoe, and rostrum, bill, and refers to the long sickle-shaped bill which resembles that of the hoopoe. The species was apparently slightly larger than others in its genus. A similar but smaller bird has been discovered but is as yet undescribed from the island of Maui. The species presumably became extinct after the arrival of humans in Hawaii, and is known only from the fossil record.^[1]

References

1. Pratt, H. Douglas (2005). The Hawaiian honeycreepers: Drepanidinae. Bird Families of the World. p. 249. ISBN 978-0-19-854653-5.