When this bird was first discovered in 1917 scientists assumed it would be the final endemic Hawaiian bird species to be classified, hence the Latin name ultima - or last.  This wasn't the case but the name stuck.

  The population of the finches fluctuates between 1,000 and 5,000, usually due to local environmental conditions, especially rainfall.

  Like the closely-related Laysan Finch, the Nihoa Finch's diet is made up of seeds, insects, flowers and occasionally seabird eggs

  Adults usually are about 5.5 inches long

  A small number of Nihoa Finches were released on the French Frigate Shoals in 1967 to help protect this species.  This colony failed however.

Nihoa Finch Links
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• Bishop Museum's Hawaii Biological Survey page
  
  
• U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service page
  
  
• Virginia Tech page

Photo by Stewart Fefer, USFWS