Hawaiian Birds – Amakihi Breeding

The ‘Amakihi is a Hawaiian honeycreeper found in native forests on the islands of Hawai‘i, Maui, Kaua‘i, and O‘ahu. Courtship behavior for pair bonds takes place during late winter and early spring with courtship displays, flitting, singing, chases, and courtship feeding.

Flitting displays begin with the male singing and flitting rapidly up and down in branches just below female. This is repeated 15 to 20 times in rapid succession. The male then flies to another tree… followed by female. Once pairs copulate, they select a nest site and begin nest-building. Their open-cupped nests are usually constructed in ‘ohi‘a trees with the female assuming a more active role, and the male territorially singing in trees adjacent to nest site.

The female solicits courtship feeding by depressing and fluttering wings and giving calls similar to those of begging fledglings. ‘Amakihi (Hemignatus kauaiensis) feed on predominately on nectar from the flowers of ‘ohi‘a with their fully tubular tongue and decurved bill adapted for taking nectar. They are also generalized foragers that glean arthropods, insects, grubs, caterpillars from the leaves, blossoms, twigs, branches, and trunks of a variety of trees, ferns, and shrubs.

A clutch is two or three eggs, with just the female incubating the eggs, and the male delivering food to the female who then feeds the nestlings. ‘Amakihi usually raise two broods in a season.

All ‘Amakihi have two songs – the primary song given by the male, and the second an extended subsong given by either sex. The primary male trill is used for advertisement, territorial claim, and mate defense, and sounds like a ‘chee’ or ‘twee’ uttered a number of times in rapid succession. The subsong is a complex, extended song composed of variations of rapid trills and warbles, frequently uttered softly.

Hear the ‘Amakihi (produced by SoundsHawaiian)

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