Biology Reference
In-Depth Information
Map of Big Island (Hawaii) and its position within the Hawaiian archipelago
We picked our way over treacherous crumbles of hardened lava to reach the forest edge.
Within moments we saw what at first glance looked like a vermilion-colored 'ōhi'a flower.
Suddenly the flower started to move. The dense flowers and foliage only partially concealed
the scarlet and black plumage of the gorgeous bird that, once fully exposed, was ignited by
the bright mountain sunlight like a flare—an 'i'iwi. 'I'iwis also occur in native forests on
Maui, Kauai, and Molokai, but they are now almost extinct on Oahu; today fewer than five
are left. A visitor could spend a day, as I once did in the early 1990s, driving around the low-
lands of Oahu, unsuccessfully trying to spot a single honeycreeper or native plant. Had I read
