Colorful songbirds called honeycreepers once filled Hawaii’s forests with their cheerful songs and bright feathers. But today, these native birds are in serious danger—mainly because of avian malaria, a deadly disease spread by invasive mosquitoes.
Hawaii used to be home to over 50 species of honeycreepers, but now only 17 remain.
To help save them, scientists have launched an innovative new effort. They’re releasing lab-raised, non-biting male mosquitoes that carry a special bacteria strain. When these males mate with wild females, the eggs they produce don’t hatch. Over time, this should shrink the mosquito population and reduce the spread of the disease—giving honeycreepers a fighting chance.
The project is led by “Birds, Not Mosquitoes,” a coalition of state, federal, private, and nonprofit groups working to protect Hawaii’s native birds. Since November 2023, they’ve released more than 40 million of these modified male mosquitoes into honeycreeper habitats on Maui and Kauai.
Most of the mosquitoes have been released using helicopters. But recently, the team began testing eight-foot-long drones. While drones can only carry about 23,000 mosquitoes per trip (compared to 250,000 by helicopter), they offer big advantages: they’re safer—no pilot required—and more flexible, especially in Hawaii’s unpredictable weather. Basically they can get to places that helicopters can’t more easily, which could be the difference between birds getting the benefit or not.
The mosquitoes are transported in biodegradable pods made of sterilized paper pulp. Each pod holds about 1,000 mosquitoes, kept alive in a temperature-controlled box attached to the drone. It is dropped to the floor and then the mosquitos are able to fly away when they are ready.
The honeycreepers still face other threats, like habitat loss and predators such as rats. But mosquito-borne diseases are by far the most dangerous—some birds can die from just one infected mosquito bite.
