The ʻalalā is Hawaiʻi's largest surviving forest bird: a soft-black crow with brownish wings and stiff throat feathers it raises in display.Source 1
It speaks in at least 34 distinct calls — shrieks, howls, whoops, and cries that sound almost human.Source 1Source 2
It was the forest's gardener, carrying and planting the seeds of native trees.Source 3Source 1
In 2002 the last wild birds were gone, and the species was declared extinct in the wild.Source 1Source 4
It survived indoors: from fewer than twenty birds in the late 1990s, conservation breeding has grown the flock past one hundred and ten.Source 4
Wildness is harder to restore than numbers. Releases on Hawaiʻi Island struggled, in part because the ʻio — the Hawaiian hawk — was waiting.Source 1Source 5
So in late 2024 the project tried a new island: five juveniles flew free in East Maui, where no ʻio live.Source 5
They wear GPS backpacks and visit feeder boxes while they learn to be wild.Source 5
In Hawaiian culture the ʻalalā are ʻaumākua — spirit guardians. Like our ancestors, a recovery specialist says: the forest wouldn't be there without these birds.Source 5Source 6
To witness the ʻalalā is to hold a door open — e hoʻolāʻau hou ka ʻalalā: may it thrive in its forest once again.Source 3
