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No other English name. Three distinct species are shown in this image: the Kauai Elepaio (Pachycephalidae Chasiempis sclateri), the Hawaii Elepaio (Pachycephalidae Chasiempis sandwichensis), and the Oahu Elepaio (Pachycephalidae Chasiempis ibidus). But which is which?
My book, The Birds of Hawaii and the Tropical pacific, states that "the Kauai sub-species, sclateri, is gray above, white below with an orange wash across the breast."
The book states that "the Oahu sub-species, gayi, is rusty-brown above, white below with a black throat, chin white."
Finally, the book states that "the Hawaii sub-species (of which there are three, bryani, sandwichensis, and ridgwayi, are the most boldly patterned. All have black throats marked with white spots (male) or white throats (female), rufous breasts, and prominent eyebrows."
But what best separates the subspecies for me is the Frohawk prints. I have included three prints Frohawk created of the Elepaio. The first shows Chasiempis sandvicensis from the Big Island, showing the male with black over the entire throat. I have to believe that, in Marian's painting, the pair in the middle on each side of the nest fit this description.
The second Frohawk print of Elepaio's, Chasiempis gayi, shows a male with a throat that is half black at the bottom, and half white at the top. In Marian's painting, I would believe that the closest is the Elepaio pair at the top left; but I am not certain.
Finally, the third Frowhawk print of Elepaio's, Chasiempis sclateri, shows a male with no black on the throat, and a generally overall plainer plummage. The very top bird (catching the bug), seems to fit the description; again I remain uncertain.
Subspecies can be difficult to identify!
From the series of thirty-three prints, Living Endemic Birds of Hawaii, by Marian Berger.
From the US Audubon Society website: "Active and feisty, these little wren-like flycatchers are found on three of the Hawaiian Islands-Hawaii, Kauai, and Oahu, where they are unusual among Hawaii's native birds in being able to persist in disturbed forests with introduced plants. Populations remain fairly healthy, except on Oahu where they have seriously declined in recent decades."
"The Elepaio is a Hawaiian flycatcher that eats only insects. Three different subspecies of Elepaio are found in the forested valleys of Kauai, Oahu, and Hawaii, and the Oahu subspecies is listed as endangered. The Elepaio is considered the guardian of the Hawaiian canoe makers, perhaps because if an Elepaio was foraging for insects in a tree, that tree was not healthy and would not provide solid wood for a canoe. Although the Hawaii and Kauai Elepaio populations are fairly stable, habitat protection will be needed to safeguard these birds in the future."
Copyright Marian Berger. All rights reserved; images are protected under US copyright laws and may not be copied or reproduced in any manner.