Kiwikiu (Maui parrotbill)

How it was counted

The figure is an estimate of birds (not pairs, nests or area) that covers every kiwikiu in the wild, published by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service without a range. The 2 birds in captivity, which do not breed, are counted separately and are not part of it.

This is an estimate that the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service published without a range, so read it as about 135 birds rather than exactly that many.

What moves it

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service names avian malaria, which eventually killed every bird moved to Nakula Natural Area Reserve, and a climate increasingly favourable to mosquitoes, which has confined the kiwikiu to higher forest. The agency also names people and feral pigs destroying habitat, and introduced predators such as rats, feral cats and mongooses.

• avian malaria: every bird moved to Nakula Natural Area Reserve in 2019 eventually died of it. all released birds eventually succumbed to avian malaria Source: U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
• a climate increasingly favourable to mosquitoes, which has confined kiwikiu to higher forest. Increases in climate favorable to mosquitoes has restricted kiwikiu to higher elevation habitats Source: U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
• habitat destruction by people and feral pigs. Source: Maui Forest Bird Recovery Project.
• introduced predators: rats, feral cats and mongooses. Source: Maui Forest Bird Recovery Project.

The next count

Counts of the kiwikiu come at irregular intervals, and no date is known for the next (checked 12 November 2026).

Sources

• U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Last checked 12 November 2026.
• Maui Forest Bird Recovery ProjectKiwikiu Last checked 12 November 2026.

What changed

• 12 November 2026 Added to Live Species, on the wall (1,000 or fewer): About 135 (Estimate, no range, 2021).

Every change on the site