The Hawaiian Coot or alae keokeo (Fulica alai) is a species of bird

Bird

Birds are feathered, winged, bipedal, endothermic , egg-laying, vertebrate animals. Around 10,000 living species and 188 families makes them the most speciose class of tetrapod vertebrates. They inhabit ecosystems across the globe, from the Arctic to the Antarctic. Extant birds range in size from...

 in the rail family

Family (biology)

In biological classification, family is* a taxonomic rank. Other well-known ranks are life, domain, kingdom, phylum, class, order, genus, and species, with family fitting between order and genus. As for the other well-known ranks, there is the option of an immediately lower rank, indicated by the...

, Rallidae

Rallidae

The rails, or Rallidae, are a large cosmopolitan family of small to medium-sized birds. The family exhibits considerable diversity and the family also includes the crakes, coots, and gallinules...

, that is endemic to Hawaii

Hawaii

Hawaii is the newest of the 50 U.S. states , and is the only U.S. state made up entirely of islands. It is the northernmost island group in Polynesia, occupying most of an archipelago in the central Pacific Ocean, southwest of the continental United States, southeast of Japan, and northeast of...

.
It is similar to the American coot at 33–40.6 cm (13–16 in) in length and weighing around 700 g (1.5 lb). Its natural habitat

Habitat

* Habitat , a place where a species lives and grows*Human habitat, a place where humans live, work or play** Space habitat, a space station intended as a permanent settlement...

s are freshwater lake

Lake

A lake is a body of relatively still fresh or salt water of considerable size, localized in a basin, that is surrounded by land. Lakes are inland and not part of the ocean and therefore are distinct from lagoons, and are larger and deeper than ponds. Lakes can be contrasted with rivers or streams,...

s, freshwater marsh

Marsh

In geography, a marsh, or morass, is a type of wetland that is subject to frequent or continuous flood. Typically the water is shallow and features grasses, rushes, reeds, typhas, sedges, other herbaceous plants, and moss....

es, coastal saline lagoon

Lagoon

A lagoon is a body of shallow sea water or brackish water separated from the sea by some form of barrier. The EU's habitat directive defines lagoons as "expanses of shallow coastal salt water, of varying salinity or water volume, wholly or partially separated from the sea by sand banks or shingle,...

s, and water storage areas. The bird is was federally listed in October 1970 as an endangered species and is considered both endemic and endangered by the state of Hawaii.
It is threatened by habitat loss and introduced predators such as the small Asian mongoose.
The Makalawena Marsh on the Big Island of Hawaii

Hawaii (island)

The Island of Hawaii, also called the Big Island or Hawaii Island , is a volcanic island in the North Pacific Ocean...

 has been listed as a National Natural Landmark

National Natural Landmark

The National Natural Landmark program recognizes and encourages the conservation of outstanding examples of the natural history of the United States. It is the only natural areas program of national scope that identifies and recognizes the best examples of biological and geological features in...

 to preserve one of its last nesting areas.

Endangered Species Listing

The Hawaiian coot was federally listed in October 1970 as an endangered species and is considered both endemic and endangered by the state of Hawaii . The United States Fish and Wildlife Service's 5-year review, conducted in 2010, found that none of the four criteria established for delisting or downlisting of the species had been meet . The delisting/downlisting criteria include protection and management of core and supporting wetlands, a population size greater than 2000 birds for five consecutive years, and multiple self sustaining populations throughout the Hawaiian Islands.

Taxonomy

The first reference to a coot in the Hawaiian Islands

Hawaiian Islands

The Hawaiian Islands are an archipelago of eight major islands, several atolls, numerous smaller islets, and undersea seamounts in the North Pacific Ocean, extending some 1,500 miles from the island of Hawaii in the south to northernmost Kure Atoll...

 was by Andrew Bloxam

Andrew Bloxam

Andrew Bloxam was an English clergyman and naturalist; in his later life he had a particular interest in botany. He was the naturalist on board during its voyage around South America and the Pacific in 1824–26, where he collected mainly birds...

, who saw it, although he did not collect a specimen, while in the islands in 1825 as the naturalist on board HMS Blonde

HMS Blonde (1819)

HMS Blonde was a 46-gun modified Apollo-class fifth-rate frigate of 1,103 tons burthen. She undertook an important voyage to the Pacific in 1824...

. He mistook it for the Eurasian Coot

Eurasian Coot

The Eurasian Coot, Fulica atra, also known as Coot, is a member of the rail and crake bird family, the Rallidae. The Australian subspecies is known as the Australian Coot.-Distribution:...

, Fulica atra. It is now considered either to be a separate species, Fulica alai, or a subspecies of the American Coot

American Coot

The American Coot is a bird of the family Rallidae, inhabiting wetlands and open water bodies. Measuring in length and across the wings, adults have a short thick white bill and white frontal shield, which usually has a reddish-brown spot near the top of the bill between the eyes...

, Fulica americana alai.

Population size

On Oahu, Maui, Molokai and Kaua’i, the Hawaiian coot was previously abundant in coastal brackish and fresh-water ponds, streams, and marshes ; however, the first censuses conducted in the 1950s and 1960s detected fewer than 1,000 birds statewide . Since the 1960s, the interannual population size has fluctuated from less than 1,000 birds to over 3,000, and appears to be gradually increasing. Biannual surveys conducted by the Hawaiian Department of Land and Natural Resource’s Division of Forestry and Wildlife (DOFAW) found that between 1998 and 2003 the inter-island coot population averaged 2,100 birds, ranging between 1,500 and 3,000 birds . Recent surveys estimated winter populations fluctuating around 1,500 birds and a summer population fluctuating around 2,000 birds .

External links

• BirdLife Species Factsheet.