There is nothing more exciting than being out on a mountain trail and hearing the upslur cheedle-ee whistle of an endangered ‘akiapōlā‘au – or ʻaki for short. The ʻaki's beak is iconic with a long, decurved upper mandible and a short woodpecker-like lower mandible. These birds chisel away with the lower mandible and then use the upper mandible to fish out their prey of insect larva, spiders, and beetle larva.
The first photo above is an ʻaki that appears to be healthy (it has been included for comparison). The rest of the images were all taken in sequence on another day. Scroll through to compare.
So what is wrong with the other bird's right eye? It is evidence of avian pox infection spread by the mosquito, an invasive species on the Island of Hawaiʻi. This bird may lose the eye and has likely already lost a toe. This is all because of a mosquito bite.
The ʻaki's safest habitat is at higher altitudes where mosquitos are less often found, but severely limiting their range. However, it's not completely safe, as I took all of these photos on Puʻu ʻŌʻō Trail, over 5000' above sea level. Climate change and the warming temperatures of the Hawaiian mountains are a problem for the remaining ‘akiapōlā‘au.
I've read that in the mid-1990s there were estimates of only 800 of these amazing birds remaining. Mosquito control is critical is we want to see our beautiful native birds survive.
I just added the image of the healthy ʻaki to my shop along with other new images of native/endemic birds - check them out.
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