Lanaʻi Hookbill

Lana'i Hookbill
File:Dysmorodrepanis.svg
Conservation status
EX
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia Phylum: Chordata Class: Aves Order: Passeriformes Family: Fringillidae Genus: Dysmorodrepanis Perkins, 1919 Species: D. munroi
Binomial name
Dysmorodrepanis munroi Perkins, 1919

The Lana'i Hookbill (Dysmorodrepanis munroi) was a species of finch in the Fringillidae family. It was endemic to the island of Lana'i, Hawaii. Last seen in Kaiholeua Valley and Waiakeakua area of the island. It became extinct due to habitat loss. G.C. Munro collected a single specimen of this species on the island of Lanai in 1913. No specimens have been seen and or collected since. The specimen is housed in the Bishop Museum in Honolulu. Adults: Light gray with a tinge of green, the underparts were paler and almost white. A light band ran along the wing and there was a light mark over the eye. the mandibles curved towards each other and so the tip of the lower mandible was the only part that touched the upper, therefore leaving a gap in the middle. (6 inches) No one has ever weighed this bird so no one knows how much about weight.

Only seen a few times ever, and all between c. 1912 and 1918. Some naturalists consider that the Lana'i Hookbill was actually just a deformed individual of another species and because so few were ever seen (probably only three) there is some doubt as to the validity of these records.It was thought by some to be the same species as the O`u (Psittirostra psittacea), however, recent study by James et al., 1989 has shown that it is a species all of its own. Its preferred food is unknown because the birds were never seen feeding, though dissection of the stomach showed it had fed on native berries from the island. However, it is possible, based on its uniquely shaped bill and relatively weak jaw muscles, that it may have fed on endemic landsnails. The extinction of snails through human intervention no doubt then led to the reduction in numbers and ultimately, the extinction of this species. First seen alive February 22, 1913, when Munro collected a single specimen in the Kaiholena Valley of Lanai. Munro was the only person to see the species, so nearly everything known about it is in his book The Birds of Hawaii (1960). The only existing specimen (Munro's) is in Bishop Museum in Honolulu. After 1913, Munro saw the bird on March 16, 1916, in the Kaiholena Valley, and on August 12, 1918, at Waiakeakua. The 1918 sighting was the last, by that time most of the native akoko forest on Lanai had been replaced by pineapple plantations.

Lana'i Hookbill or Dysmorodrepanis munroi is now listed on the IUCN Red list as Extinct in 1996.