Hawaiian Creeper
Hawaiian Creeper
Birds of A Feather - Hawaiian Birds
Hawaiian Creeper.
Among those birds most likely to be spotted are the
more abundant honeycreepers (Drepanididae). Many honeycreepers
have curved bills such as the brilliant orange-red i‘iwis
with salmon-colored beaks, or the crimson ‘apapanes,
or the common, smaller, olive-colored amakihis. In early
Hawai‘i, the red feathers from the ‘apapane
and ‘i‘iwi were often plucked to be used in
feather capes, kahilis, and helmets. The birds were
captured by an expert called a poe hahai manu, who mixed
an adhesive paste made from the sap of the breadfruit
tree, smeared it on tree limbs, then caught the stuck
birds with fiber nets, nooses or bare hands. If only
a feather or two was taken (from a bird like an ‘o‘o
or mamo) and the bird was too small to eat, it was released
so the feathers could grow again.
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