Bird Symbiotic Relationship: The 'I'iwi
The Hawaiian 'I'iwi
The ‘i’iwi, or vestiaria coccinea, is yet another spectacular Hawaiian bird. It, like the apeka, stands out with the adult’s bright red color with black wings and a very long, curved beak. The intermediate bird is more yellow colored with black streaks all over. The population of the ‘i’iwi is 350,000 birds, who all live in Hawaii. The i’iwi lives in ‘ohia’ and koa trees in wet forests. They are most commonly found at altitudes of at least 1,250 meters of elevation, though where the climate is drier, they go down to around 300 meters. The ‘i’iwi species is is threatened by many things that other native Hawaiian birds are threatened by. This includes predation from alien species, deforestation, avian disease, and also mosquitos. Mosquitos that develop an adaptation to tolerate high elevations could be deadly to the ‘i’iwi.
The Hawaiian Lobeliad
The lobeliad is a small flowering herb most commonly seen in your average window box. It was brought to Hawaii by colonizers, and it has since evolved. A lot. The small flowering herb has turned into beautiful, flowering bushes and trees.Not only that, but it’s flowers have been adapted to perfectly fit the ‘i’iwis long, curved beak. This amazing adaptation has been part of a bird/plant symbiotic relationship for a long long time.
Bird and Plant Mutualism
You see, this ‘i’iwi/lobeliad relationship is an example of mutualism. Both species benefit. The bird’s beak slips easily into the flower for access to sweet nectar for food. The ‘i’iwi benefits because it gets something to eat. But as the ‘i’iwi reaches deep into the flower, it collects a bit of pollen on it’s forehead. When it goes to the next flower, the pollen rubs off onto the flower. In this way, the flower gets pollinated. The lobeliad benefits, too, because it gets pollinated. This ancient symbiotic relationship between ‘i’iwi and lobeliad is an example of mutualism because both species benefit.