These birds have a breeding season in spring. The Hawaii ākepa is the only obligate cavity-nester in Hawaii. There are no cavity-making birds in Hawaii (another honeycreeper, the
akiapōlāau, drills small holes and excavates bark, but does not make holes large enough for ākepa nests). Thus, the ākepa must find naturally occurring cavities in the trunks and branches. Such cavities are generally found only in very large, old trees, making the ākepa an old-growth obligate. Large courtship groups have been observed during the breeding season, which is curious because this species makes permanent bonds. Another anomaly is the fact that for such a small bird, it does not lay many eggs—usually one or two, instead of the three to five of other similarly sized species.
Disease Surviving ākepa live only in old growth forest above elevation. This is a sign that
avian malaria and
avian pox have played a role in killing off populations of ākepa at lower elevations. These introduced diseases are implicated in more than 20 bird extinctions in Hawaii since 1826, when the first
mosquito species (southern house mosquito,
Culex quinquefasciatus) was introduced to the islands. Disease continues to be a threat and could result in extinction of the ākepa if Hawaiian climate continues to warm (or if new bird diseases or mosquito species are allowed to invade the islands).
Old growth deterioration Due to their need for tree cavities, ākepa rely on old-growth ōhia and koa forests for nesting. Although the largest populations of ākepa live within protected lands, large trees appear to be falling faster than they are replaced. It is unclear how management can deal with this in the medium-term, except by use of artificial nest boxes. Past experiments with nest boxes (Freed
et al., 1987) have shown that birds will occasionally use them, with high nesting success. There is no ongoing research or use of nest boxes for ākepa as of 2010. ==References==