Study Debunks Myth of Native Hawaiians Brutishly Causing Bird Extinctions

An Ae‘o (Hawaiian Stilt) at the He‘eia National Estuarine Research Reserve – credit, Melissa Price UH Manoa. Challenging a 50-year-old narrative about Hawaii’s native birds, a new study from the University of Hawaii at Mānoa found no scientific evidence that indigenous people hunted waterbird species to extinction. Published in the journal Ecosphere, the research debunks this long-held myth and offers a new, integrated theory to explain the disappearances. It’s not the first time that modern science has put forward new explanations for dramatic island declines, ones often attributed to native peoples. Indeed in 2024, GNN reported that scientists at the University of Copenhagen had brought to bear genetic testing to prove that the natives of Easter Island did not, in fact, chop down all the trees on their island to build their giant stone heads, leading to a population collapse. In this new instance, the U of H authors suggest a new theory: the native Hawaiian birds died out because of a combination of climate change, invasive species, and changes in how the land was used—most of which happened either prior to Polynesian arrival, or after Europeans took over ownership of wild areas. The study also noted that now-endangered waterbirds
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