Moho braccatus

Common name: Kaua‘i ‘O‘o
Classification: Aves → Passeriformes → Mohoidae
Extinction date: Officially declared extinct in 2000 (last confirmed sighting in 1987)

This collage depicts the extinction of Moho braccatus. Bright feathers against bare skulls show the thin line between life and death. The fly symbolizes disease, while the ship marks human arrival and disruption. The dark backdrop evokes the silence of vanished Kaua‘i forests, a reminder of nature’s fragility and loss.

Scientific and Historical Significance

One of the last representatives of the Mohoidae family, a unique Hawaiian bird lineage.
Its extinction symbolizes the vulnerability of island ecosystems to human disturbance and introduced species.
The haunting audio recording of a male Kaua‘i ‘O‘o singing alone has become an iconic symbol of lost biodiversity.

Invasive species (rats, mosquitoes, avian malaria)

Sever hurricanes in Hawail destroying lowland forests.

Hawai land loss

Habitat loss due to deforestation

Climate change (rising temperatures, changing rainfall)

Endemic to the island of Kaua‘i, Hawai

Endemic to the island of Kaua‘i, Hawai‘i, this bird once lived in the misty rainforests of the Alaka‘i Plateau, where native ʻōhiʻa trees and lobelia blossoms shaped a fragile ecosystem

But after the era of European exploration, foreign ships brought with them stowaway rats, pigs, and mosquitoes. These invasive species preyed on eggs, damaged the undergrowth, and spread avian malaria through the forests. The delicate balance of Kaua‘i’s ecosystem began to unravel: native vegetation was outcompeted, food chains collapsed, and the highland refuges once safe from disease were no longer secure.

In time, these disruptions silenced the calls of the island’s endemic birds, marking the disappearance of one of Hawai‘i’s unique voices.

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