Kauai's council paid tribute to Pakele, the last known wild 'akikiki, marking a sad milestone for one of Hawaii's rarest native birds.

• Pakele, a honeycreeper hatched in 2019, was last seen in the wild a year ago.
• She was the only 'akikiki known to raise three broods of chicks, an unmatched record for the species.
• The 'akikiki is now considered functionally extinct in the wild, wiped out mainly by avian malaria spread by mosquitoes.
• Her offspring live on in a captive breeding program on Kauai.

Outlook: Conservationists hope the bred birds can one day be released back into Kauai's mountain forests, but only if the mosquito threat is brought under control.