biology

Oʻahu ʻamakihi

Oʻahu ʻamakihi is a biology topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Oʻahu ʻamakihi rather than just read about it. In short: The Oʻahu ʻamakihi (Chlorodrepanis flava) is a species of Hawaiian honeycreeper in the family Fringillidae. The male is rich yellow below, sharply contrasted with greenish upper parts.

Key takeaways

Oʻahu ʻamakihi belongs to biology; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Oʻahu ʻamakihi to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Oʻahu ʻamakihi from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

The Oʻahu ʻamakihi (Chlorodrepanis flava) is a species of Hawaiian honeycreeper in the family Fringillidae. The male is rich yellow below, sharply contrasted with greenish upper parts. Females are duller and have two prominent wing-bars. It has a total length of approximately 4.5 inches (11 cm). It is endemic to the island of Oʻahu in Hawaiʻi, and is likely the only surviving honeycreeper endemic to the island.

Taxonomy The Oʻahu ʻamakihi was first named by Andrew Bloxam (as Nectarina flava). He saw it and collected specimens from Oʻahu while in the Hawaiian Islands in 1825 as the naturalist on board HMS Blonde. The species was formerly placed in the genus Hemignathus but was assigned to Chlorodrepanis based on the phylogenetic analysis of mitochondrial and nuclear DNA sequences.

Habitat It tends to stay in the wetter southern area of Oʻahu, and in the valley near Wahiawa and Mililani. It can easily be spotted in two major parks, the Honouliuli Preserve, and the Wa'ahila Ridge State Recreation Area. It tends to stay in forest, but has - at least to some extent - adapted to non-native forest types. It will nest and forage in wooded urban areas, but prefers native habitats where koa (Acacia koa) dominates. It mainly occurs at altitudes above 1,650 feet (500 m), but in some valleys in parts of its range it occurs lower.

Diet Due to its bill shape, it is able to scrape off pieces of bark and reach insects that make up all of the protein in its diet. It drinks nectar from ʻōhiʻa lehua (Metrosideros polymorpha) trees and in rare cases it will use sugar feeders.

Breeding

The birds pair off during the breeding season, which occurs from mid-December to early March. The small nest is 2–4 inches (5.1–10.2 cm) wide. The female lays one to two eggs. In two weeks the eggs hatch, with the hatchlings covered in brown down feathers. The birds are ready leave the nest three weeks later.

Threats It is threatened by habitat loss, introduced predators and avian malaria. Some populations, however, appear to have developed a level of resistance to avian malaria, which might explain its recent expansion into lowland areas where mosquitoes - the vector of this disease - are more common. Overall, it appears far less threatened than several other Hawaiian honeycreeper, as also reflected by its status as vulnerable.

References

External links Species factsheet - BirdLife International Videos, photos, and sounds - Internet Bird Collection

Illustrations

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Oʻahu ʻamakihi

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Oʻahu ʻamakihi claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In biology, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Oʻahu ʻamakihi before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Oʻahu ʻamakihi ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Oʻahu ʻamakihi

In research: Oʻahu ʻamakihi appears in biology research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Oʻahu ʻamakihi in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Oʻahu ʻamakihi is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics Biota of Oahu, Birds described in 1827, Chlorodrepanis, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Oʻahu ʻamakihi outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study Oʻahu ʻamakihi in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Oʻahu ʻamakihi means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Oʻahu ʻamakihi out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Oʻahu ʻamakihi in simple terms?

The Oʻahu ʻamakihi (Chlorodrepanis flava) is a species of Hawaiian honeycreeper in the family Fringillidae. The male is rich yellow below, sharply contrasted with greenish upper parts.

Why does Oʻahu ʻamakihi matter?

Because it connects several biology ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Oʻahu ʻamakihi?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Oʻahu ʻamakihi.