Paroreomyza maculata Cabanis, 1851
O'ahu 'alauahio, Oahu alauahio, Oahu creeper
Taxonomy & Nomenclature
Synonym/s: Paroreomyza maculate Cabanis, 1850
Conservation Status
Missing (BirdLife International, 2025; NatureServe, 2026)
Last record (disputed): 1968; 12 December 1985; 1985 (Martin et al., 2023; Kittelberger et al., 2024; BirdLife International, 2025; NatureServe, 2026); 1990 (Suckling et al. 2004)
IUCN RedList status: Critically Endangered (Possibly Extinct)
Distribution & Habitat
O'ahu, Hawaiian Islands, USA
Biology & Ecology
Hypodigm
[url=http://nlbif.eti.uva.nl/naturalis/detail.php?lang=uk&id=9]RMNH 110.005[/url] (male)
[url=http://nlbif.eti.uva.nl/naturalis/detail.php?lang=uk&id=9]RMNH 110.006[/url] (male)
[url=http://nlbif.eti.uva.nl/naturalis/detail.php?lang=uk&id=9]RMNH 110.007[/url] (female)
Media
References
Original scientific description:
Cabanis. (1851). Mus. Hein. 1 p.100.
Other references:
American Ornithologists' Union (AOU). 1983. Check-list of North American Birds, 6th edition. Allen Press, Inc., Lawrence, Kansas. 877 pp.
American Ornithologists' Union (AOU). 1998. Check-list of North American birds. Seventh edition. American Ornithologists' Union, Washington, D.C.
Baker, P. E., and Baker, H. (2000). Kakawahie (Paroreomyza flammea) and O`ahu 'Alauahio (Paroreomyza maculata). No. 503. In: A. Poole and F. Gill (eds.), The Birds of North America. The Birds of North America, Inc., Philadelphia, PA. 24 pp.
Banko, W. E. (1979). History of endemic Hawaiian birds. Museum collections. Avian history report 2. Cooperative National Park Resources Study Unit, University of Hawaii at Manoa, Honolulu, Hawaii.
Banko, W. E. (1984). History of endemic Hawaiian birds. Part I. Population histories—species accounts forest birds: `Amakihi, Creeper, `Akepa and Po`o Uli. Avian history report 8A & 8B. Cooperative National Park Resources Study Unit, University of Hawaii at Manoa, Honolulu, Hawaii.
Berger, A. J. (1972). Hawaiian birdlife. University Press of Hawaii, Honolulu.
Berger, A. J. 1981. Hawaiian Birdlife. Second Edition. University Press of Hawaii, Honolulu, Hawaii. xv + 260 pp.
Bremer, D. (1986). Waipio, O'ahu, Christmas bird count. Elepaio 46: 132-135.
BirdLife International. (2012). Paroreomyza maculata. In: IUCN 2012. IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Version 2012.1. (http://www.iucnredlist.org). Downloaded on 08 September 2012.
BirdLife International. (2025). Paroreomyza maculata. The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2025: e.T22720827A213097888. https://dx.doi.org/10.2305/IUCN.UK.2025-2.RLTS.T22720827A213097888.en. Accessed on 06 August 2026.
Butchart, Stuart H. M., Lowe, Stephen, Martin, Rob W., Symes, Andy, Westrip, James R. S. and Wheatley, Hannah. (2018a). Which bird species have gone extinct? A novel quantitative classification approach. Biological Conservation 227: 9-18. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biocon.2018.08.014
Butchart, Stuart H. M., Stattersfield, A. J. and Brooks, T. M. (2006). Going or gone: defining ‘Possibly Extinct’ species to give a truer picture of recent extinctions. Bulletin of the British Ornithologists' Club 126A: 7-24.
Butchart, Stuart H. M., Wheatley, Hannah, Lowe, Stephen, Westrip, James R. S., Symes, Andy and Martin, Rob W. (2018b). Data for: Which bird species have gone extinct? A novel quantitative classification approach. Mendeley Data, V1, doi: 10.17632/vvjhpmyxb4.1
del Hoyo, J., Collar, Nigel J., Christie, D. A., Elliott, A., Fishpool, L. D. C., Boesman, P. and Kirwan, G. M. (2016). HBW and BirdLife International Illustrated Checklist of the Birds of the World. Volume 2: Passerines. Lynx Edicions and BirdLife International, Barcelona, Spain and Cambridge, UK.
Ehrlich, P. R., D. S. Dobkin, and D. Wheye. 1992. Birds in Jeopardy: the Imperiled and Extinct Birds of the United States and Canada, Including Hawaii and Puerto Rico. Stanford University Press, Stanford, California. 259 pp.
Elphick, Chris S., Roberts, David L. and Reed, J. Michael. (2010). Estimated dates of recent extinctions for North American and Hawaiian birds. Biological Conservation 143: 617-624.
Fisher, Diana O. and Humphreys, Aelys M. (2024). Evidence for modern extinction in plants and animals. Biological Conservation 298: 110772. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biocon.2024.110772
Greenwald, Noah, Suckling, Kieran F., Hartl, Brett and Mehrhoff, L. A. (2019). Extinction and the U.S. Endangered Species Act. PeerJ 7: e6803 https://doi.org/10.7717/peerj.6803 [Supplemental Information (Extinct or possibly extinct listed species)]
Hawaii Audubon Society. 1993. Hawaii's birds. Hawaii Audubon Society.
James, Helen F. (1987). A late Pleistocene avifauna from the island of Oahu, Hawaiian Islands. L’Évolution des oiseaux d’après le témoignage des fossiles. Table Ronde internationale de CNRS, Lyon-Villeurbanne, 18-21 Sept. 1985. Documents des Laboratoires de Géologie de Lyon, no. 99 (ed. by C. Mourer-Chauviré), pp. 121-128.
Kittelberger, Kyle D., Tanner, Colby J., Buxton, Amy N., Prewett, Amira and Şekercioğlu, Çağan Hakkı. (2024). Correlates of avian extinction timing around the world since 1500 CE. Avian Research 15: 100213. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.avrs.2024.100213 [Supplementary data (List of 216 taxa)]
Knox, Alan G. and Walters, Michael P. (1994). Extinct and endangered birds in the collections of The Natural History Museum. British Ornithologists' Club Occasional Publications 1: 1-292. [p. 241]
Martin, Thomas E., Bennett, Gareth C., Fairbairn, Andrew J. and Mooers, A. Ø. (2023). ‘Lost’ taxa and their conservation implications. Animal Conservation 26(1): 14-24. https://doi.org/10.1111/acv.12788 [Appendix S2 (1617 taxa not seen >10 years); Appendix S3 (562 taxa not seen >50 years)]
NatureServe. (2026). Paroreomyza maculata: O'ahu 'alauahio. NatureServe Network Biodiversity Location Data accessed through NatureServe Explorer [web application]. NatureServe, Arlington, Virginia. Available at: https://explorer.natureserve.org/ [Accessed on 1 October 2026]
Pratt, H. D. 1992. Systematics of the Hawaiian "creepers" OREOMYSTIS and PAROREOMYZA. Condor 94: 836-846.
Pratt, H.D., P.L. Bruner, and D.G. Berrett. 1987. A Field Guide to the Birds of Hawaii and the Tropical Pacific. Princeton University Press, Princeton, New Jersey. 409 pp. + 45 plates.
Reynolds, M., and T. J. Snetsinger. (2001). The Hawaii rare bird search 1994–1996. Pages 133–142 in J. M. Scott, S. Conant, and C. Van Riper III, editors. Evolution, ecology, conservation, and management of Hawaiian birds: a vanishing avifauna. Studies in avian biology no. 22. Cooper Ornithological Society, Camarillo, California.
Roberts, David L., Elphick, Chris S. and Reed, J. Michael. (2009). Identifying Anomalous Reports of Putatively Extinct Species and Why It Matters. Conservation Biology 24(1): 189-196.
Roberts, D. L. and Jarić, I. (2016). Inferring extinction in North American and Hawaiian birds in the presence of sighting uncertainty. PeerJ 4: e2426.
Scott, J. M., C. B. Kepler, C. van Riper, and S. I. Fefer. 1988. Conservation of Hawaii's vanishing avifauna. BioScience 38:238-253. Scott, J. M., et al. 1988. Conservation of Hawaii's vanishing avifauna. BioScience 38:238-253.
Shallenberger, R. J., and H. D. Pratt. 1978. Recent observations and field identification of the Oahu creeper (Loxops maculata). 'Elepaio 38:135-140.
Suckling, Kieran, Slack, Rhiwena and Nowicki, Brian. (2004). Extinct and the Endangered Species Act. Centre For Biological Diversity. 63 pp.
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS). 1990. Endangered and threatened species recovery program: report to Congress. 406 pp.
USFWS (U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service). (2006). Revised recovery plan for Hawaiian forest birds. USFWS, Region 1, Portland, Oregon.
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. (2013). 5-Year Review: Short Form Summary, Paroreomyza maculata (O’ahu creeper). https://ecos.fws.gov/docs/five_year_review/doc4246.pdf
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS). 2022. Initiation of 5-Year Status Reviews for 167 Species in Oregon, Washington, Idaho, Montana, California, Hawaii, Guam, and the Northern Mariana Islands. Notice of initiation of reviews; request for information. Federal Register 87(90): 28031-28034.
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS). 2023. Endangered and Threatened Wildlife and Plants; Technical Corrections for 62 Wildlife and Plant Species on the Lists of Endangered and Threatened Wildlife and Plants. Federal Register 88(22):7134-7177.
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