[Illustration: ELEPAIO]
DESCRIPTION: 5½″. A brownish flycatcher with variegated black, white,
and gray markings. The dark bill is short (½ inch) and nearly straight.
The female has less black on the breast and throat, while immatures,
generally more brown, have a reddish instead of a white ruff around the
vent. Its friendly wrenlike actions combined with the above make it
unmistakable.
PARK DISTRIBUTION: Kilauea—Common in the more heavily vegetated areas
around Kilauea Crater and to the east. Look for it at Kipuka Puaulu.
Haleakala—Absent from Maui.
VOICE: A variety of short songs or calls. One is like a “wolf whistle”,
a clear _wheé-oo_ (or _elepaí-o_). Another is a nasal _yeékik_. A single
_wheek_ as well as short nasal chirps are also common.
The elepaio is probably the friendliest of our native birds. It is
easily overlooked, since it usually remains fairly quiet when you first
approach, but if you pause for a few moments in the wet fern jungle, one
or more of these birds are likely to appear. They seem very inquisitive
as they hop about in the low underbrush, often within a few feet of an
observer, and they cock their tails high whenever they alight. Like the
omao these birds often push their wings forward with a rapid shivering
motion when confronted by people, probably a type of aggressive action.
Being a member of the Old World flycatcher family, the elepaio is
adapted to an insect diet which it gleans from the tree tops to the
ground, but mostly in the understory. It often feeds like a creeper,
carefully working up or down the trunk of an ohia in search of insect
life. There seem to be no seasonal movements; individuals or family
groups of two to four birds apparently remain in the same general area
throughout the year.