Meet Hawai’i’s Honeycreepers

Millions of years ago, a single rosefinch species arrived on the Hawai’ian islands and evolved into over 50 species of honeycreepers — a phenomenon known as adaptive radiation, similar to how Darwin’s finches evolved in the Galápagos.

Now, the honeycreepers of today are threatened by new invaders to the islands: both by invasive predators like cats and rats, but also by a new outbreak of avian malaria spread by mosquitos. Conservationists are battling these threats and restoring native forests with the hope to protect these endemic, beautiful birds, and to save them from the brink of extinction.