General

Oahu Elepaio: Small monarch flycatcher. Crown and back are dark brown, white underparts with buff flanks and breast. White lores, dark ear patch, rufous forehead. Black throat feathers have white tips. Wingbars, rump are white, long brown tail is white-tipped. Sexes are similar, females may show more white on throat. Juvenile is buff colored with brown wings and tail and dirty white underparts. Outer tail feathers have white tips.

Range and Habitat

Oahu Elepaio: Endemic to Oahu. Several small and declining populations are found in wet mixed species forests in the Waianaes and Southern Ko'olau Mountain ranges. Most common from 650' to 2,600' on slopes and in valleys.

Breeding and Nesting

Oahu Elepaio: One to three white eggs with red-brown markings are laid in a woven cup-shaped nest built in ohia and other trees. Both sexes incubate the eggs for 18 days. Chicks fledge after 16 days but continue to be fed by their parents for more than a month.

Foraging and Feeding

Oahu Elepaio: Forages in trees and on the ground for a wide variety of arthropods, most commonly insects and spiders.

Vocalization

Oahu Elepaio: A loud whistled "el-e-pai-o" song, chattering contact calls, and a scolding "chit-chit" call.