Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 40, Number 12, 1 December 2023 — Pi'oloke ka Leo o ka Palila [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

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Pi'oloke ka Leo o ka Palila

V NA MANU HOA V ^ OUR BIRD FR I EN DS "

By Lisa KaponoMason

Polilo ore seriously messy eoters, ond this mole seems to be soving o morsel of mōmone mosh on his bill for loter. - Photo: Ann īonimoto Johnson/ LOHE Lah

High on the western slopes of Mauna Kea, nestled in the tangles of an old naio tree, a hidden puff of golden and gray feathers slowly emerges to the boisterous calls of the morning's dawn chorus. Here is Palila ( Loxioides hailleui), our last endemic finch-billed honeycreeper and a relatively late riser compared to their avian counterparts of Ka'ohe. Curiously gregarious, Palila eommonly forage in small family groups in search of the green seed pods of the māmane tree. Fortunately, evolution has granted Palila a unique tolerance to the toxic alkaloids of māmane. Palila

also reap nutritional benefits from māmane's nectar and the larvae of native Cydia moths laid within the seeds. One of Palila's namesakes is no other than the famous warrior, Palila, from the islands of Kaua'i and O'ahu. Palila is known by the people of Kohala for their clamorous olokē (clamorous, agitated) singing style and characteristic pah-lee-lah eall. ■ Lisa Kapono Mason was raised in Hilo and happily resides in Kea'au on the island of Hawai'i. She is a community educator, conservation researcher, and native bird enthusiast with a passion to help strengthen relationships between our manu and lāhui.

Palilū move ocross Mauno Kea olong an elevationol gradient in seorch of fresh green seed pods of the mōmane ( Sophora chrysophylla) tree. Onee aged, the pods harden and turn brown, releasing bright orange seeds about the size of a kemel of corn. - Photo: Lisa L.K. Mason/ LOHE Lab

Noio ( Myoporum sandwicense) is on alternate food source for Polila ond is obundont in the subalpine forests of Mauna Kea. Here we have a healthy naio tree with uncurled leaves, flowers, ond fruit, seemingly unaffected by naio thrips ( Klambothrips myopori) whieh constitute a significant threat to naio ocross Hawai'i. - Photo: Lisa L.K. Mason