The Large Kauai Thrush, known to the native Hawaiians as kāma’o, was described in 1887; as its name implies, it was endemic to the island of Kaua’i.
It was the largest member of its genus on the islands, and it inhabited its home together with another congeneric species, the Small Kauai Thrush, aka. puaiohi, (Myadestes palmeri (Rothschild)), which is still surviving until today.
The Large Kauai Thrush was considered very common at the beginning of the 1800s and was found throughout the island, however, the destruction of the island forests and the unintentional introduction of avian malaria onto the islands took their toll on the birds and their populations collapsed.
The last sighting took place in 1989 in the infamous Alaka’i Wilderness Preserve, which was the last fortress for a number of endemic bird species; and like so many other Hawaiian birds, also the kāma’o is now extinct.
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syn. Phaeornis myadestina Stejneger
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Photo: Hiart
(no copyright)
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edited: 17.11.2021