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Manu Minute: The little Maui creeper

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Maui ʻalauahio, also known as the Maui creeper, is a small insectivorous native honeycreeper. Adult males are mostly olive-green in color with bright yellow faces, throats, and underparts. The amount and “intensity” of yellow in these birds vary among individuals. Adult females have similar but duller plumage. Both sexes have small, straight bills.
Jack Jeffrey
Maui ʻalauahio, also known as the Maui creeper, is a small insectivorous native honeycreeper. Both adult males and females have olive-green and yellow plumage, though males are brighter than females.

Maui ʻalauahio are small insectivorous honeycreepers. They are endemic to Maui, and they used to be found across the island as well as Lānaʻi, Molokaʻi, and Kahoʻolawe. Their population has declined about 40% since the 1990s, due in large part to the spread of avian malaria.

Although endangered, there are still a few good spots to catch sight of the Maui ʻalauahio. Try Hosmer Grove in Haleakalā National Park or Polipoli Spring State Recreation Area.

AMTJ_Maui Alauahio Spectrogram Video.mp4

Audio credit: LOHE Bioacoustics Lab

Patrick Hart is the host of HPR's Manu Minute. He runs the Listening Observatory for Hawaiian Ecosystems (LOHE) Lab at the University of Hawaiʻi at Hilo.
Ann Tanimoto-Johnson is the Lab Manager & Research Technician in the Hart Lab/Listening Observatory for Hawaiian Ecosystems (LOHE) Bioacoustics Lab. She researches the ecology, bioacoustics, and conservation of our native Hawaiian forests, birds, and bats.
Savannah Harriman-Pote is the energy and climate change reporter. She is also the lead producer of HPR's "This Is Our Hawaiʻi" podcast. Contact her at sharrimanpote@hawaiipublicradio.org.
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