ʻIʻiwi
A long curved bill and brilliant scarlet body identify this endemic honeycreeper, now pushed upslope as mosquitoes carry avian malaria.
Artwork inspired by Jean Charlot
ʻIʻiwi move through native forest following flowering ʻōhiʻa and other nectar sources, also taking insects along the way. Their flight calls can reveal birds before the scarlet body flashes between leaves, and bill curvature helps reach tubular flowers while transferring pollen.
Avian malaria transmitted by introduced mosquitoes has removed ʻiʻiwi from much low-elevation habitat. Cooler high forests remain refuges, but warming temperatures let mosquitoes climb. Visitors should clean footwear and gear, obey forest closures, and never use playback to pull a threatened bird toward an observer.
- Color
- Scarlet body, black wings
- Bill
- Long and strongly curved
- Threat
- Mosquito-borne avian malaria
Quick guide
- Listen
- Paired squeaky flight notes may come first.
- Protect
- Clean gear before entering native forest.
Find a honeycreeper without drawing it closer
- Body
- Adults are brilliant scarlet with sharply black wings and tail.
- Bill
- The long salmon bill curves downward much more than an ʻapapane’s.
- Flower
- Watch flowering ʻōhiʻa crowns and connecting flight paths.
- Altitude
- Most dependable populations now persist in cooler higher forest.
Good to know
A red honeycreeper is not automatically ʻiʻiwi. ʻApapane have shorter, less curved bills and different facial proportions; distance and canopy light can hide the key features.
Notice these
- Scarlet plumage
- Black wings
- Long curved bill