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Bird name:

Hawaii Elepaio

Chasiempis sandwichensis sandwichensis

Order

PASSERIFORMES

Family

Finches (Fringillidae)

Code 4

ELEP

Code 6

CHASAN

ITIS

178677

ILLUSTRATION

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PHOTOS

CONSERVATION STATUS

Vulnerable-

VOTE: ILLUSTRATION

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SUMMARY

Overview

Hawaii Elepaio: Small monarch flycatcher. Crown and back are brown, may have white or rufous forehead and eyebrow. Black throat may show some white. Underparts are white with a brown-streaked breast. Wingbars and rump are white, brown tail may have white-tip. Black bill, dark gray legs and feet.


Range and Habitat

Hawaii Elepaio: Found on Hawaii in most forested areas above 2000'. More common in wet and mesic forests. Three subspecies are found on the big island, C. s. sandwichensis in mesic forest, C.s. ridgwayi in rainforest, and C. s. bryani in mamane-naio dry forest on the west slope of Mauna Kea.

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SONGS AND CALLS

Voice Text

"el-e-pai-o", "chit-chit", "whee-oo"

INTERESTING FACTS

  • The Elepaio was named by the ancient Hawaiians after the sound of its song.
  • It is the first native bird to sing in the morning. Its song was thought to warn night spirits that dawn was approaching and their work must end.
  • It is considered the guardian spirit of canoe makers, who noticed that koa trees frequented by these birds often harbored large insect populations that would make them unsuited for use as a canoe.
  • A group of flycatchers has many collective nouns, including an "outfield", "swatting", "zapper", and "zipper" of flycatchers.

RELATED BIRDS

RANGE MAP

Range Map for Hawaii Elepaio

FAMILY DESCRIPTION

TERMINOLOGY

CREDITS

Author

Crystal Adams

Artist

Yury Lisyak

BIRD PHOTO SHARING

BIRD PHOTOGRAPHY AND CAMERAS

BINOCULARS AND OPTICS FOR BIRDING

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UnderpartsX
Belly, undertail coverts, chest, flanks, and foreneck.
BreastX
The upper front part of a bird.
CrownX
The crown is the top part of the birds head.
EyebrowX
Also called the supercilicum or superciliary it is the arch of feathers over each eye.
RumpX
The area between the uppertail coverts and the back of the bird.
4 and 6 letter alpha codesX

The four letter common name alpha code is is derived from the first two letters of the common first name and the first two letters of common last name. The six letter species name alpha code is derived from the first three letters of the scientific name (genus) and the first three letters of the scientific name (species). See (1) below for the rules used to create the codes..

Four-letter (for English common names) and six-letter (for scientific names) species alpha codes were developed by Pyle and DeSante (2003, North American Bird-Bander 28:64-79) to reflect A.O.U. taxonomy and nomenclature (A.O.U. 1998) as modified by Supplements 42 (Auk 117:847-858, 2000) and 43 (Auk 119:897-906, 2002). The list has been updated by Pyle and DeSante to reflect changes reported by the A.O.U from 2003 through 2006.

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ITIS CodesX

The Integrated Taxonomic Information System (ITIS) was established in the mid-1990�s as a cooperative project among several federal agencies to improve and expand upon taxonomic data (known as the NODC Taxonomic Code) maintained by the National Oceanographic Data Center (NODC), National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).

To find the ITIS page for a bird species go to the ITIS web site advanced search and report page at http://www.itis.gov/advanced_search.html. You can enter the TSN or the common name of the bird. It will return the ITIS page for that bird. Another way to obtain the ITIS page is to use the Google search engine. Enter the string ITIS followed by the taxonomic ID, for example "ITIS 178041" will return the page for the Allen's Hummingbird.

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Parts of a Standing birdX
Head Feathers and MarkingsX
Parts of a Flying birdX