It has been speculated that this species' visits to lower elevations was its undoing due to contact with avian diseases and pests.
Other Hawaiian honeycreepers are known to have become extinct or very rare due to habitat loss, introduced predators and avian diseases.
Bird flu is what the name implies: mostly an avian disease.
Habitat loss and avian disease are thought to have had the greatest effect on endemic bird species in Hawaii.
It became extinct due to introduced avian disease and habitat loss.
Many people believe that the birds frequent ventures to lower elevations were its undoing, it was probably caused by low elevation avian diseases.
Many avian diseases and parasites also pose a major threat to Hawai'i's forest birds.
If so, he said, avian diseases were probably a major factor.
Inspections, tests and analyses of avian diseases should be carried out, and restrictions imposed on international travel.
This duck's population is affected by predators, parasites and avian diseases.