‘I’iwi feeding on ‘Ōhi’a Lehua tree in Maui

‘I’iwi distribution

The ‘I’iwi (pronounced ee-EE-vee) is an endemic Hawaiian honeycreeper. We recently photographed this spectacular scarlet colored bird on Maui. It was once widely distributed throughout the Hawaiian Islands. The big island of Hawai’i accounts for 90% of today’s their population. Most of the remaining population in Eastern Maui and Kaua’i. Very small groups of this bird are also present on the islands of Oahu and Moloka’i but their numbers are extremely low (below 50 birds). Continue reading →