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Ridge-billed finch
Xestospiza fastigialis


EXTINCT

Pictured above is Melamprosops phaeosoma;
the extremely rare Poouli

Storrs Olson and Helen James have described a new Genus of birds, Xestospiza, based on fossils recovered from Barbers Point, Oahu and other locations in the Hawaiian Islands. One of the two new species in this Genus, Xestospiza fastigialis, once occurred on Oahu. According to Olson and James," Members of this genus are set apart from the other finch-billed drepanidines by their cone-shaped rather than arched bills. The genus most closely resembles Melamprosops."

In Description of Thirty-Two New Species of Birds From the Hawaiian Islands: Part II Passeriformes, they note: " In general bill shape, X. fastigialis has an icterid-like aspect that is particularly reminiscent of cowbirds (Molothrus)..." " Fossils of X. fastigialis occur commonly on the three adjacent islands of Oahu, Molokai, and Maui, making this the most widely-distributed of the new fossil species." This species possibly occurred on all six major Hawaiian islands. Storrs Olson and Helen James conclude this new species description by writing: " The disappearance of X. fastigialis throughout its entire range serves as a reminder that extinction affected broadly distributed species along with the more restricted ones."

Please do what you can to save the native Hawaiian forest bird species that remain.

Aloha,
Michael Walther