Mohamed bin Zayed Species project number 11253130

Project Overview

The Maui Forest Bird Recovery Project (MFBRP) was founded in 1997 by the State of Hawaii Division of Forestry and Wildlife (DOFAW) and the US Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) to develop and implement techniques to recover Maui's endangered birds and to restore their habitat. The Kiwikiu (Maui Parrotbill; Pseudonestor xanthophrys), a honeycreeper with only about 500 individuals left, is one of the most endangered native birds remaining in Hawaii. Though the Kiwikiu was once found across all of East Maui, its range is currently limited to 19 square miles on the high elevation northeast slopes of East Maui's Haleakala Mountain.

Project Goals

The objectives of this project include monitoring demographics at the edge of this species' range to more accurately assess the trajectory of the population as a whole while experimentally assessing the feasibility of increasing productivity by offering supplemental food.

Project Results 

To date, Kiwikiu have not visited the supplemental feeding stations; however, it can take time for target birds to find and use supplemented arthropod food. We have since tested our feeder designs with the captive Kiwikiu flock and had very positive results. Some design changes have been made for 2013 to get the feeders higher in the canopy and away from the foraging height of non-natives.