We’re talking about the progress and plans to help save the kiwikiu — a critically endangered Maui forest bird that eats insects from the bark of Native Hawaiian trees, like Koa and Oʻhia. The Maui Forest Bird Recovery Project has led a decade-long effort, with multiple partners to regrow native forest, breed the kiwikiu in captivity, and re-establish a wild population of kiwikiu in the newly grown forest of Nakula, on the leeward slopes of Haleaklā.

In October 2019, biologists attempted to relocate 13 kiwikiu to Nakula. The birds took well to the new habitat, but the move was unsuccessful because of avian malaria, which is transmitted by non-native, introduced mosquitoes. Experts are now reinvigorating their work to reduce threats facing the kiwikiu and ensure its future—including mosquito control plans that could save not only the kiwikiu but also many species of native forest birds threatened by invasive species, disease, and climate change.

PC: Cover photo by Zach Pezillo.

Watch part 1, from season 6, in the episode “Saving the Kiwikiu.”