Corvus hawaiiensis

Peale, 1848 · species

image placeholder — illustration coming later

Animalia/Chordata/Aves/Passeriformes/Corvidae/Corvus

At a glance

Occurrence records94

Data sources11

Biological traits36

DNA specimens21

eDNA detections10

Sources11 archives

Databases and archives Corvus hawaiiensis's data was compiled from.

WikipediaWikimedia Foundation16 languages↗

BioWikiNetmultilingual Wikipediamultilingual↗

GBIFGlobal Biodiversity Information Facility94 records↗

ENAEuropean Nucleotide Archive · EMBL-EBI10 eDNA detections↗

BOLD SystemsCentre for Biodiversity Genomics21 specimens↗

Open Tree of LifeOpenTreephylogeny backbone↗

GoaTGenomes on a Tree · Sangergenome & karyotype↗

NCBIUS National Library of Medicinegenome & karyotype↗

WikidataWikimedia Foundationstructured facts↗

IOC World Bird ListIOCbird checklist↗

GLoBIGlobal Biotic Interactionsbiotic interactions↗

On this page6 sections

Every layer below draws on the sources above — open one to explore it, or use ← → to move between tabs.

NarrativeWikipediaarticle

Traits & measurements4 literature sources36 traits

Occurrence & distributionGBIF94 records

Environmental DNA1 datasets · 1 countries10 detections

DNA & barcodingBOLD21 specimens

Genome at a glanceGoaT · NCBI≈1.2 Gbp

01Narrative

The Hawaiian crow or alalā (Corvus hawaiiensis) is a species of bird in the crow family, Corvidae, that is currently extinct in the wild, though reintroduction programs are underway. It is about the size of the carrion crow at 48 – in length, but with more rounded wings and a much thicker bill. It has soft, brownish-black plumage and long, bristly throat feathers; the feet, legs and bill are black. Today, the Hawaiian crow is considered the most endangered of the family Corvidae. They are recorded to have lived up to 18 years in the wild, and 28 years in captivity. Some Native Hawaiians consider the Hawaiian crow an aumakua (family god). The species is known for strong flying ability and resourcefulness, and the reasons for its extirpation are not fully understood. It is thought that introduced diseases, such as Toxoplasma gondii, avian malaria (Plasmodium relictum), and fowlpox, were probably a significant factor in the species' decline., 16 MB file. Pages are largely unnumbered but entry for "Alalā or Hawaiian Crow" is roughly on page 189.

No narrative description available for this taxon yet.

02Traits & measurements

SourcesAmnioteDBAnAgeAVONETEltonTraits

Size & morphology14

Beak depth24.7 mm

Beak length (culmen)59.3 mm

Beak length (nares)38.3 mm

Beak width18.8 mm

Body mass520 g

Body mass (female)485 g

Body mass (male)555 g

Hand-wing index30.5

Kipp's distance96.4 mm

SVL49 cm

Secondary length219 mm

Tail length195 mm

Tarsus length66.6 mm

Wing length315 mm

Life cycle & reproduction8

Age at maturity (male)1 460 days

Age at sexual maturity730 days

Egg mass20.6 g

Gestation20 days

Incubation20 days

Litter size3

⚠ sources differ — AnAge: 3 · AmnioteDB: 4

Litters per year1 /year

Max. longevity300 months

Diet & foraging11

Canopy20 %

Fruit40 %

Ground50 %

Invertebrate30 %

Midhigh20 %

Nectar10 %

Seed10 %

Trophic levelomnivore

Trophic nicheOmnivore

Understory10 %

Vertebrate endotherm10 %

Habitat & environment3

HabitatForest

Migration1.0

Primary lifestyleInsessorial

05DNA & barcoding21 specimens

A DNA barcode is a short, standardised stretch of genes that works like a fingerprint — enough to tell one species from another. Below is the molecular trace Corvus hawaiiensis has left across the world's sequence archives.

At a glance

DNA specimens21

BINs1

Marker genes12

eDNA detections10

Countries1

Marker genes sequenced

★ the standard DNA barcode for this group — the short region actually read to tell this species apart. The rest are extra genes sequenced along the way.

★COI-5P18S-5PCOIICOXIIICYTBND1ND2ND3ND4ND4LND5-0ND6

animal barcoderibosomalmitochondrial

06Genome at a glanceGoaT · NCBI

The complete instruction manual Corvus hawaiiensis carries — its genome. We read it from three angles — how big it is, how the DNA is packed into chromosomes, and how completely it has been sequenced — and explain how to read each value as you go.

Genome sizehow big the whole instruction manual is

Genome size≈1 151 594 481 bp assembly estimate

Measured in base pairs (bp) — the individual letters of DNA (human ≈ 3.2 Gb, a bacterium a few million). The chart places this genome on a logarithmic scale — each step to the right is ten times bigger — among reference organisms. Across species a bigger genome loosely tracks with larger cells, slower growth and lower-energy lifestyles (powered flight favours small genomes) — yet it does not imply more genes or a more advanced organism (the long-standing C-value paradox).

BACTERIUM Carsonella ruddii0.00016 Gb

FUNGUS0.04 Gb

INSECT0.25 Gb

THIS GENOME Corvus hawaiiensis1.15 Gb

HUMAN3.2 Gb

WHEAT17 Gb

FERN Tmesipteris160.45 Gb

Sequencing statusassembly quality — how far to trust these numbers

Assembly level tells you how finished the sequence is — from fragmented contigs, through scaffolds, up to a full chromosome-level assembly. BUSCO % estimates completeness: the share of genes expected to be present that were actually found. These describe the data quality, not the organism.

Assembly levelChromosome

07Deep time~5.16 Ma lineage

How far back this lineage goes — and how we know. Everything here is measured in Ma, short for “mega-annum”: millions of years ago. The chart reads left to right like a calendar of the Earth, from the deep past on the left to today at the right edgetop to bottom like a core drilled through the Earth, from the deep past at the top down to today at the bottom.

At a glance

DNA clock origin5.16 Ma TimeTree

When this lineage existed

How to read this: the coloured strip along the bottomdown the left is the geological calendar — the standard epochs (Pliocene, Pleistocene…) every museum uses, shown so you can see which chapter of Earth's history this lineage lived in. This lineage is a young one, so the strip is zoomed in to epochs — the finer subdivisions inside a period. The orange marker is the DNA clock: DNA accumulates mutations at a roughly steady rate, so comparing this species' DNA with its relatives estimates when the lineage split off — independently of any fossil.

DNA clock origin

08Occurrence & distribution

Record type94 records

Wild obs. + sensor15

Museum / vouchered79

Origin

Native14

Range

Area of Occupancy AOO68 km²

Wildobservation + sensor

Human sightings and records, or camera-trap / sensor detections — someone (or a device) saw or captured the species in the wild.

Coordinate accuracy0% within 1 km

>10 km 1

1 georeferenced · 14 without coordinates

Open the mapobservation + sensor15

Museum / Voucheredphysical evidence

Backed by a physical specimen — a herbarium sheet, sample or voucher held in a collection. “Vouchered” means supported by material evidence, not just an observation.

Coordinate accuracy0% within 1 km

≤10 km 1

1 georeferenced · 78 without coordinates

Open the institutions mapphysical evidence79

Wildobservation + sensor

Human sightings and records, or camera-trap / sensor detections — someone (or a device) saw or captured the species in the wild.

10Collections & institutions

Holding institutions3 of 4 geolocated

Institutions and collections holding physical, vouchered specimens of this species — click a row to fly to it on the map.

Institution	Specimens
Honolulu, US	66
Philadelphia, US	2
SNSDlocation not on record	2
New Haven, US	1

4 institutions · 71 of 79 vouchered records shown · 8 without an institution code

09Environmental DNA10 detections

Where the DNA of Corvus hawaiiensis was picked up in samples of water, soil or air — nobody saw the organism, only its DNA left behind. A trace is a clue that the species was near, not a confirmed sighting.

Signal

Detections DNA found10

Studies independent surveys1

Countries1

Signal confidence: weakweighed across independent studies, places & mapped detections

Where its DNA was found

0 of 10 detections have coordinates

Open the map1 country0

How strong is each trace?

DNA read depthRead counts were not reported for this species — the map shows presence only, not how strong each trace was.

Modelled climatemodelled

−15°Ctemperature across detection sites+40°C

Temperature median25.6 °C 25.6–25.6

Seasonal swing summer↔winter3.30 °C

Max temp (day)26.8 °C

Min temp (night)24.6 °C

Precipitation36.3 mm/mo

Air humidity59.1 %

Moisture balance-189 mm/mo

Vapour deficit1,334 Pa

Wind speed5.90 m/s

Cloud cover20.2 %

CHELSA 1981–2010, ~9 km grid, at location & month of 8 detection points · median with p10–p90 · reflects where sampling happened, not only the true niche

How to read this: each dot is one detection of this species' DNA in an environmental sample. The confidence meter weighs how many independent studies and places back up the signal — one detection in one study is a hint; many across several studies is solid. Records dated before 2008 (when eDNA methods began) are treated as likely mislabeled and left off the map.

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