Black Mamo
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

[Photo] Drepanis funerea (Black Mamo) by John Gerrard Keulemans (1842-1912)

The Black Mamo (Drepanis funerea) is an extinct species of finch that once inhabited the Hawaiian island of Moloka'i. It was about 8 inches and length and appeared similar to the Hawai'i Mamo but was entirely black except for the white primary shafts on the wings. The bill was more sharply decurved than the former species and had a small yellowy spot near the base (on the operculum).

When the bird fed the forehead would often become covered in pollen, making the forehead appear pale. The species fed in flowers of lobelias and ohi'a-lehua at lower levels than the Hawai'i Mamo. The bird was apparently curious and would approach observers. Its call was a clear flute-like whistle and a five or six note rollicking whistle.

The Black Mamo was endemic to Moloka'i and was last observed in 1907 by a collector, one Alanson Bryan, who had shot three birds. Tim Flannery quoted him as having wrote, "To my joy I found the mangled remains hanging in the tree in a thick bunch of leaves, six feet or more beyond where it had been sitting."

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_Mamo

The text in this page is based on the copyrighted Wikipedia article shown in above URL. It is used under the GNU Free Documentation License. You may redistribute it, verbatim or modified, providing that you comply with the terms of the GFDL.