The ʻāmaui (''Myadestes woahensis'') or Oahu thrush is an

extinct Extinction is the termination of an organism by the death of its Endling, last member. A taxon may become Functional extinction, functionally extinct before the death of its last member if it loses the capacity to Reproduction, reproduce and ...

species of thrush in the family

Turdidae The thrushes are a passerine bird family, Turdidae, with a worldwide distribution. The family was once much larger before biologists reclassified the former subfamily Saxicolinae, which includes the chats and European robins, as Old World flyca ...

that was endemic to the island of

Oahu Oahu (, , sometimes written Oahu) is the third-largest and most populated island of the Hawaiian Islands and of the U.S. state of Hawaii. The state capital, Honolulu, is on Oahu's southeast coast. The island of Oahu and the uninhabited Northwe ...

. It was the first member of its genus to become extinct, c. 1850. It has sometimes been considered a

subspecies In Taxonomy (biology), biological classification, subspecies (: subspecies) is a rank below species, used for populations that live in different areas and vary in size, shape, or other physical characteristics (Morphology (biology), morpholog ...

of the Olomaʻo (''Myadestes lanaiensis''). Its island name ʻāmaui is technically a corruption, as the Hawaiians considered all the thrushes from Maui, Molokai, Lanai and Oahu to be one species, the ʻāmaui. It was a large brownish

songbird A songbird is a bird belonging to the suborder Passeri of the perching birds (Passeriformes). Another name that is sometimes seen as the scientific or vernacular name is Oscines, from Latin ''oscen'', "songbird". The Passeriformes contains 5,00 ...

that lived in much of the highland forests on Oahu. It may have been mainly a fruit eater like many of the other Hawaiian thrushes. Due to its quick extinction, little is known about the ʻāmaui. It may have nested in trees like the ‘ōma’o or nested in crevices like the extinct kāmaʻo. Its song was reported to be similar to the Molokai olomaʻo, which may be its closest relative. It became extinct due to serious habitat degradation and destruction. Mosquitoes, introduced about thirty years earlier, caused the birds to evacuate what little good habitat was left in the low altitude areas of Oahu - and if the birds did not leave, they would have contracted malaria and perished. Birds that retreated to upper elevations would have been harassed by introduced rats, which attack the berries and steal chicks from nests. This species' extinction was not well recorded, as no one mentions a specific year when the ʻāmaui was last identified. Scientists believe that the species vanished between 1840 and 1860, most likely during the late 1850s. It is known from a single specimen taken in 1825 (now lost) and

subfossil A fossil (from Classical Latin , ) is any preserved remains, impression, or trace of any once-living thing from a past geological age. Examples include bones, shells, exoskeletons, stone imprints of animals or microbes, objects preserved ...

bones. The name derives from ''manu a Māui'': "

Māui Māui or Maui is the great culture hero and trickster in Polynesian mythology. Very rarely was Māui actually worshipped, being less of a deity ( demigod) and more of a folk hero. His origins vary from culture to culture, but many of his main expl ...

's bird.

References

External links

Species factsheet
- BirdLife International Extinct birds of Hawaii Myadestes Bird extinctions since 1500 Birds described in 1899 {{Hawaii-stub