Maui Nui Finch
Encyclopedia
The Maui Nui Finch is an extinct member of the genus Telespiza
in the family Fringillidae. It was endemic to the Hawaii
an islands of Molokai
and Maui
. It is only known from fossil
remains and likely became extinct before the first Europeans visited Hawaii in 1778.
settlers came to the islands. They cleared some of the land for farming and introduced species
for which the native birds had no defence. According to fossil records, their numbers declined rapidly in the early 12th century. It has been speculated that this species' visits to lower elevations was its undoing due to contact with avian diseases and pests. Today, only about sixty percent of Hawaii has not been drastically altered. Many avian diseases and parasites also pose a major threat to Hawai'i's native forest birds.
Telespiza
Telespiza is a genus of finches in the Hawaiian honeycreeper subfamily, Drepanididae. All species in it are or were endemic to the Hawaiian Islands.-Species:* Telespiza cantans Wilson, 1890 - Laysan Finch...
in the family Fringillidae. It was endemic to the 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...
an islands of Molokai
Molokai
Molokai or Molokai is an island in the Hawaiian archipelago. It is 38 by 10 miles in size with a land area of , making it the fifth largest of the main Hawaiian Islands and the 27th largest island in the United States. It lies east of Oahu across the 25-mile wide Kaiwi Channel and north of...
and Maui
Maui
The island of Maui is the second-largest of the Hawaiian Islands at and is the 17th largest island in the United States. Maui is part of the state of Hawaii and is the largest of Maui County's four islands, bigger than Lānai, Kahoolawe, and Molokai. In 2010, Maui had a population of 144,444,...
. It is only known from fossil
Fossil
Fossils are the preserved remains or traces of animals , plants, and other organisms from the remote past...
remains and likely became extinct before the first Europeans visited Hawaii in 1778.
Extinction
Due to its early extinction, very little is known about this species. It is only known from a few bones found in caves. It appears that this species began to go extinct when the first PolynesiansPolynesians
The Polynesian peoples is a grouping of various ethnic groups that speak Polynesian languages, a branch of the Oceanic languages within the Austronesian languages, and inhabit Polynesia. They number approximately 1,500,000 people...
settlers came to the islands. They cleared some of the land for farming and introduced species
Introduced species
An introduced species — or neozoon, alien, exotic, non-indigenous, or non-native species, or simply an introduction, is a species living outside its indigenous or native distributional range, and has arrived in an ecosystem or plant community by human activity, either deliberate or accidental...
for which the native birds had no defence. According to fossil records, their numbers declined rapidly in the early 12th century. It has been speculated that this species' visits to lower elevations was its undoing due to contact with avian diseases and pests. Today, only about sixty percent of Hawaii has not been drastically altered. Many avian diseases and parasites also pose a major threat to Hawai'i's native forest birds.