The expulsion from Paradise: The Hawaiian honeycreepers and conservation biology

This article written by Carles Pedros-Alió, a biologist from the Institute of Marine Sciences, was published in the journal Omniscellula (Catalan Society of Biology). It explains the spectacular cases of adaptive radiation of the Hawaiian honeycreepers and its problems of conservation as a result of human activity, especially by habitat degradation and the introduction of species such as rats, cats, pigs or a mosquito native to Mexico, vector of malaria and avian pox. There is also a compilation table with some Hawaiian honeycreepers, the common name, scientific name, beak type, staple food, feeding mechanism and birds that occupy similar niches elsewhere. The article includes nice illustrations of the late nineteenth century by John Gerrard Keulemans. You can download the article in pdf here.