Remember the passenger pigeon? Me neither. The last one died in captivity in 1914.
It’s happened again; In Hawaii, Po’o-uli — a type of honeycreeper — died in captivity of avian malaria. It was discovered only 31 years ago, and seems to have been the last of its kind. Two other birds known to be living in the wild have disappeared.
“This species was a unique part of Earth’s history,” said Eric VanderWerf, of the US Fish and Wildlife Service. “We’ll never have another one like it if it disappears.
As well as habitat loss, Hawaii’s massive bird losses are blamed on introduced mosquitoes, which carry diseases like avian malaria.
POLLENATRIX 