Chaetoptila sp. ‘Maui Nui’

Maui Nui Kioea (Chaetoptila sp.)  

This form, which either was closely related to – or maybe more probably identical with the Hawaiian Kioea (Chaetoptila angustipluma (Peale)), is only known from subfossil remains which were found on the island of Maui. [2]

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Habitat Hawaii and Molokai.”  

(source: Sanford B. Dole: List of Birds of the Hawaiian Islands. Hawaiian Almanac and Annual. 41-58. 1879) [1]

This tiny footnote attached to a description of the Hawaiian Kioea, might have based on the confusion with another species called Kioea by the Hawaiians, the Bristle Curlew (Numenius tahitensis Gmelin), but I personally think this is rather unlikely.  

So there is a slight possibility that the Kioea, or Narrow-feathered Honeyeater (or a very similar species) survived on Moloka’i Island into the 19th century. 

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References:  

[1] Sanford B. Dole: List of Birds of the Hawaiian Islands. Hawaiian Almanac and Annual. 41-58. 1879 
[2] S. L. Olson; H. F. James: Descriptions of thirty-two new species of birds from the Hawaiian Islands: Part II. Passeriformes. Ornithological Monographs 45: 1-91. 1991

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edited: 13.09.2020