Animalia > Chordata > Aves > Passeriformes > Fringillidae > Telespiza > Telespiza ultima

Telespiza ultima (Nihoa Finch)

Synonyms: Psittirostra ultima; Telespyza ultima; Telespyza ultima ultima

Wikipedia Abstract

The Nihoa finch (Telespiza ultima) is one of the two endemic bird species of the tiny Hawaiian island Nihoa, the other being the Nihoa millerbird. When it was classified in 1917, scientists thought that it would be the last endemic species named. This was later found untrue. The island's population is 1000–3000 birds. The Nihoa finch was added to the Endangered Species List by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service on March 11, 1967. An attempt to protect the species against extinction was made by starting a colony on French Frigate Shoals, another leeward island. This would ensure its continued existence in the event that the Nihoa population was wiped out. This attempt, however, failed. Nihoa is part of a group of islands that make up the Hawaiian Islands National Wildlife Refuge which provi
View Wikipedia Record: Telespiza ultima

Endangered Species

Status: Critically Endangered
View IUCN Record: Telespiza ultima

EDGE Analysis

Uniqueness Scale: Similiar (0) 
1
 Unique (100)
Uniqueness & Vulnerability Scale: Similiar & Secure (0) 
56
 Unique & Vulnerable (100)
ED Score: 3.83434
EDGE Score: 4.34833
Learn more at EDGE of Existence programme

Attributes

Adult Weight [1]  25 grams
Diet [2]  Carnivore (Invertebrates), Carnivore (Vertebrates), Frugivore, Granivore, Herbivore
Diet - Endothermic [2]  10 %
Diet - Fruit [2]  20 %
Diet - Invertibrates [2]  20 %
Diet - Plants [2]  20 %
Diet - Seeds [2]  30 %
Forages - Mid-High [2]  10 %
Forages - Understory [2]  30 %
Forages - Ground [2]  60 %
Clutch Size [1]  3
Incubation [1]  15 days
Maximum Longevity [1]  12 years

Ecoregions

Name Countries Ecozone Biome Species Report Climate Land
Use
Northwestern Hawaii scrub United States Oceania Tropical and Subtropical Grasslands, Savannas, and Shrublands    

Protected Areas

Name IUCN Category Area acres Location Species Website Climate Land Use
Hawaiian Islands National Wildlife Refuge 611912 Hawaii, United States      
Papahānaumokuākea Marine National Monument 89458061 Hawaii, United States      

Alliance for Zero Extinction (AZE) Sites

Name  Location   Map   Climate   Land Use 
Nihoa Island United States    

Biodiversity Hotspots

Name Location Endemic Species Website
Polynesia-Micronesia Fiji, Micronesia, Polynesia, Samoa, Tonga, United States Yes

Prey / Diet

Chenopodium oahuense (aweoweo)[3]
Panicum torridum (torrid panicgrass)[3]
Portulaca pilosa villosa (hairy purslane)[3]
Sesbania tomentosa (Oahu riverhemp)[3]
Sida fallax (yellow llima)[3]

External References

NatureServe Explorer

Citations

Attributes / relations provided by
♦ 1de Magalhaes, J. P., and Costa, J. (2009) A database of vertebrate longevity records and their relation to other life-history traits. Journal of Evolutionary Biology 22(8):1770-1774
♦ 2Hamish Wilman, Jonathan Belmaker, Jennifer Simpson, Carolina de la Rosa, Marcelo M. Rivadeneira, and Walter Jetz. 2014. EltonTraits 1.0: Species-level foraging attributes of the world's birds and mammals. Ecology 95:2027
♦ 3del Hoyo, J., Elliott, A., Sargatal, J., Christie, D.A. & de Juana, E. (eds.). Handbook of the Birds of the World Alive. Lynx Edicions, Barcelona.
Ecoregions provided by World Wide Fund For Nature (WWF). WildFinder: Online database of species distributions, ver. 01.06 Wildfinder Database
Biodiversity Hotspots provided by Critical Ecosystem Partnership Fund
AZE sites provided by Alliance for Zero Extinction (2010). 2010 AZE Update.
Abstract provided by DBpedia licensed under a Creative Commons License
Species taxanomy provided by GBIF Secretariat (2022). GBIF Backbone Taxonomy. Checklist dataset https://doi.org/10.15468/39omei accessed via GBIF.org on 2023-06-13; License: CC BY 4.0