{"id":209548,"date":"2025-01-21T11:00:43","date_gmt":"2025-01-21T21:00:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/?p=209548"},"modified":"2025-01-21T11:01:28","modified_gmt":"2025-01-21T21:01:28","slug":"endangered-native-bird-mural","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/2025\/01\/21\/endangered-native-bird-mural\/","title":{"rendered":"New mural at UH<\/abbr> Hilo honors endangered native bird"},"content":{"rendered":"Reading time: <\/span> 2<\/span> minutes<\/span><\/span>
\"bird
New mural located on the Sciences and Technology Building. (Photo credit: Kenneth Jackson)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

A new mural on the Sciences and Technology Building at the University of Â鶹´«Ã½<\/span> at Hilo tells the inspiring conservation success story of an endangered endemic manu (bird).<\/p>\n

\"person
Artist Andrea Holmes. (Photo credit: Kenneth Jackson)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The artwork showcases the Hawaiian honeycreeper ʻakiapōlāʻau<\/span> and was brought to life in just five days during November\u2019s Thanksgiving break by Texas-based muralist Andrea Holmes. Holmes, who recently launched an ambitious global project to create 100 bird murals, depicted an ʻakiapōlāʻau<\/span> perched on a koa tree with red ōhiʻa<\/span> lehua blossoms below.<\/p>\n

“Decades of koa restoration efforts at Hakalau have resulted in an increase in these birds, as koa is their favorite tree to forage in,” said Patrick Hart, a UH<\/abbr> Hilo biology<\/a> professor who specializes in endemic bird research<\/a> on Â鶹´«Ã½<\/span> Island. “A rare success story in Â鶹´«Ã½<\/span> conservation!”<\/p>\n