Palila
Sign in to saveThe palila (Loxioides bailleui) is a critically endangered finch-billed species of Hawaiian honeycreeper. It has a golden-yellow head and breast, with a light belly, gray back, and greenish wings and tail. The bird has a close ecological relationship with the māmane tree (Sophora chrysophylla), and became endangered due to destruction of the trees and accompanying dry forests. The first specimen of the palila was collected in 1876 at the Greenwell Ranch on the Big Island by Pierre Étienne Théodore Ballieu (1828–1885), who was French consul in Hawaiʻi from 1869 to 1878. The type specimen (No. 1
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8 sectionsContents
- Taxonomy
- Description
- Distribution and status
- Conservation and threats
- Ecology and behavior
- Litigation
- External links
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The palila (Loxioides bailleui) is a critically endangered finch-billed species of Hawaiian honeycreeper. It has a golden-yellow head and breast, with a light belly, gray back, and greenish wings and tail. The bird has a close ecological relationship with the māmane tree (Sophora chrysophylla), and became endangered due to destruction of the trees and accompanying dry forests. The first specimen of the palila was collected in 1876 at the Greenwell Ranch on the Big Island by Pierre Étienne Théodore Ballieu (1828–1885), who was French consul in Hawaiʻi from 1869 to 1878. The type specimen (No. 1876-645) is housed at the Muséum national d'histoire naturelle in Paris.
==Taxonomy== The Hawaiian honeycreepers (Drepanididae) are sometimes included in the true finch family (Fringillidae). Oustalet scientifically described the palila in 1877. Named Loxioides bailleui by him, it was for some time united with several other "parrot-billed" Hawaiian honeycreeper species in Psittirostra. Currently, the palila has again been moved to genus Loxioides, which was long considered monotypic. The native name ōū poopapale ("capped ōū") probably refers to this species too. Despite its bill and habits being somewhat similar to the ōū, its color pattern betrays a very close relationship with the genus Telespiza.