Critically Endangered Bird Believed Dead Spotted Alive in Hawaiian Islands

On the slopes of a Maui volcano last Wednesday, a golden, thick-billed bird assumed to have passed away more than 1.5 years prior was spotted alive. According to Newsweek, the discovery is providing scientists hope for the critically endangered species.

Then it sung 10 or more times while perched in some koa trees across a gulch. It descended into a group of kolea trees, where it remained for the following 20 minutes, calling and foraging busily among the berries, bark, and leaves. To get a better view, I descended down the gulch, Pezzillo stated in a statement made public by Newsweek. The agency described the re-discovery of this specific bird as "extraordinary" and stated that it "provides a ray of hope for conserving a species."