ʻAkiapōlāʻau, Painting by Diana Miller

ʻAkiapōlāʻau, also known as the Hawaiian woodpecker, is a species of Hawaiian honeycreeper that is endemic to the island of Hawaii. Its natural habitats are dry and montane moist forests, and it is the only bird species on the island to occupy the woodpecker niche. The bird is 5.5 inches (14 cm) in length, and has an unusually curved beak. The ʻakiapōlāʻau occurs mainly in old-growth mesic and wet forests in Kaʻū, Hilo District, and Hamakua. Koa (Acacia koa) and ʻōhiʻa lehua (Metrosideros polymorpha) are dominant canopy species in its habitat. Disease-carrying mosquitoes have restricted it to elevations of between 1,300 and 2,100 metres (4,300 and 6,900 ft). It formerly inhabited māmane (Sophora chrysophylla) and naio (Myoporum sandwicense) dry forests at elevations of 1,900 to 2,900 metres (6,200 to 9,500 ft) on Mauna Kea, but this population was extirpated in 2002.