Study debunks myth of Native Hawaiians causing bird extinctions

by the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa
January 13, 2026

Challenging a 50-year-old narrative about Hawaiʻi’s native birds, a new study from the University of Hawaiʻi 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.

Researchers found no evidence that Indigenous People over-hunted birds to extinction. Instead, the authors suggest a new theory: the 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 the suppression of Indigenous stewardship. The study also noted that now-endangered waterbirds were probably most abundant just before Europeans arrived, when wetland management was a core aspect of Kānaka ʻŌiwi (Native Hawaiian) society.

Keep reading: https://www.hawaii.edu/news/2026/01/13/bird-extinctions-debunk/

Read the Ecosphere paper: https://esajournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/ecs2.70445