This is bird note.

Hawaii is home to many birds found nowhere else. In a stunning example of natural selection, birds called honey creepers evolved to fill many different roles in Hawaiian ecosystems.

It's a process called adaptive radiation, says Colleen Cole, the program manager of the three mountain alliance.

The story of especially the adaptive radiation of honey creepers is one that should blow everybody away.

A small flock of some kind of Eurasian finch found their way to these emerging islands.

In the middle of the vast specific blown whale, of course, from somewhere. The small flock of finches found their way here and they stayed here.

And this is one species that radiated into dozens of species and they filled every niche available.

Tragically, many native Hawaiian birds have gone extinct, including over half of the honey creepers.

The threats they face include habitat loss, disease, and introduced mammal species that prey on them.

But some honey creepers, such as a bird called the Palila, hang on to survival.

I think this is a savable species, frankly.

This is Alex Wong, a wildlife biologist for the state. He says there are ways to protect Palila from danger.

Palila country up here would be a perfect place to build a predator-proof fence that will keep out cats, mongoose, and rats.

And then if we put that where the Palila breeding, I think they have a good chance to rebound.

Learn more about Hawaii's birds and the people working to save them on the threatened podcast.

Listen in your podcast app or at birdnote.org. I'm Ari Daniel.