Biologists to try to catch
rare native birds on MauiThe three poouli birds are considered
to be the last in the world
WAILUKU >> A team of biologists are on Maui this week to capture what they believe to be the last three poouli birds in the world and breed them in captivity.
The first of four week-long trips began Tuesday, with the final trip scheduled for mid-December. Similar efforts to capture the rare Hawaiian forest bird was unsuccessful.
"We're hoping for better luck this time," said Eric VanderWerf, a biologist with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
The poouli may be the rarest bird on Earth. The brown forest bird has a partial black face described as a bandit's mask, and its Hawaiian name means "black-faced." It was first identified in 1973 in the upper rain forest of East Maui.
"We believe that bringing the three poouli in from the wild is the best and last chance we have to save this unique bird from extinction," said Paul Conry, of the state Department of Land & Natural Resources. "Despite our efforts to protect habitat, control weeds and predators, translocate one of the females into the male's territory, we have not been able to form a breeding pair in the wild."
After sighting the birds, wildlife officials will set up fine-mesh nets. If captured, the birds will be examined and taken to the Maui Bird Conservation Center in Olinda, operated by the Zoological Society of San Diego.
"As a safety measure for the birds, we don't deploy our mist-nets to capture the birds during inclement weather," VanderWerf said. "Not only is it dangerous for the birds, which could become hypothermic if they get too wet, but helicopter transport also isn't available under poor visibility conditions."
The poouli is part of the Hawaiian honeycreeper family. It is the only Hawaiian forest bird to rely heavily on native tree snails as its food.
"We had hoped these birds could be recovered in the wild," Zoological Society coordinator Alan Lieberman said. "But now we're running out of time, and we're committed to this last-ditch effort to prevent their extinction."
