[Illustration: APAPANE
(immature and adult)]
DESCRIPTION: 5½″. Crimson red with black wings and tail, _white
abdomen_, and slightly down-curved _black bill_. Only similar species,
the iiwi, has a red abdomen and a long orange bill. Immatures are
confusing, as the red is mostly lacking. However, grayish birds having a
touch of rusty red on the sides and white under the tail, and feeding in
ohia tops, are surely this species. The throat and face of young
apapanes may appear yellow-orange.
PARK DISTRIBUTION: Kilauea—Common to abundant throughout the wet ohia
forest; much less common in the drier forests. Haleakala—Common locally
in forested areas such as Hosmer Grove or Paliku.
VOICE: You will hear a constant chorus of short songs and notes from the
highest ohia tops whenever apapanes are about. The quality varies from
sweet whistled notes to harsh chips and buzzes, usually intermixed.
Probably the most varied songster in the park.
The apapane is likely to be your first introduction to the endemic
Hawaiian honeycreepers. While most of Hawaii’s native birds have either
become extinct or are greatly reduced in numbers, this species seems to
have held its own wherever there are ohia trees to provide a supply of
lehua nectar. Examine a cluster of red ohia blossoms. You will find that
each tiny cup which bears long bright stamens is filled with honey. A
single ohia in full bloom with countless thousands of these nectar-cups
must produce many pounds of honey. No wonder one blossoming tree will
attract so many honeycreepers.
You will see the birds high in the trees, flitting about from flower to
flower, often stopping to pick up insects along the way. Although a few
trees are in bloom throughout the year in any given area, there are
definite “flowering periods” for the ohia when more than half of the
trees may be in full blossom. The season for these flowering periods
will vary among localities, and tremendous flocks of apapanes and other
honeycreepers follow the bloom from one area to another. They can often
be seen flying high overhead in small groups, all going in the same
direction. But even during times when the ohias are out of bloom a few
apapanes will remain in the forest.
The breeding season is an extended one, and you may see immature
apapanes with almost no sign of red plumage from February to October.
[Illustration: _Ohia blossom nectar is the staple food for the
apapane and iiwi_]