Mosquitos delivered to Hawaii to protect endangered birds

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July 28, 2025
3 min read

Mosquitos delivered to Hawaii to protect endangered birds

Around a thousand mosquitos were dropped from biodegradable pods over the forests of Hawaii. The insects were non-biting, lab-reared males carrying a common bacterium that results in eggs that don’t hatch. The goal is to control the invasive mosquito population which is threatening Hawaii’s native bird species.

The birds, including Hawaiian honeycreepers are key pollinators and seed dispersers. They also play a crucial role in the state’s native culture. There were once over 50 known honeycreeper species but today, only 17 are left, the majority of which are endangered.

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Last year, a small grey bird called the akikiki, went functionally extinct in the wild, and fewer than 100 of the yellow-green ‘akeke’e are believed to remain. Deforestation as well as development have had an impact but Dr Chris Farmer, Hawaii program director for the American Bird Conservancy (ABC) says the “existential threat” comes from avian malaria, spread by mosquitos.

The insects are not native to the state but were reported first in 1826. They were likely brought over by whaling vessels and “caused waves of extinction,” Farmer says. This is because many of the native bird species, including honeycreepers, had no natural resistance to the disease.

Some birds found refuge high in the mountains of Hawaii but due to climate change, mosquitos are following them up there.

In some places, Farmer says, they are “watching the populations of birds there just completely plummet.”

“It’s a constant march of mosquitoes moving up as the temperatures allow them and the birds getting pushed further and further up until there’s no habitat left that they can survive in. If we don’t break that cycle, we’re going to lose our honeycreepers,” he adds.

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