Maui

The island of Maui (/ˈmaʊ.iː/; Hawaiian: [ˈmɐwwi]) is the second-largest of the Hawaiian Islands at 727.2 square miles (1,883 km²) and is the 17th largest island in the United States. Maui is part of the State of Hawaii and is the largest of Maui County's four islands, bigger than Molokaʻi, Lānaʻi, and unpopulated Kahoʻolawe. In 2010, Maui had a population of 144,444, third-highest of the Hawaiian Islands, behind that of Oʻahu and Hawaiʻi Island. Kahului is the largest census-designated place (CDP) on the island with a population of 26,337 as of 2010 and is the commercial and financial hub of the island.Wailuku is the seat of Maui County and is the third-largest CDP as of 2010. Other significant places include Kīhei (including Wailea and Makena in the Kihei Town CDP, which is the second-most-populated CDP in Maui); Lahaina (including Kāʻanapali and Kapalua in the Lahaina Town CDP); Makawao; Pāʻia; Kula; Haʻikū; and Hāna.

Name

Native Hawaiian tradition gives the origin of the island's name in the legend of Hawaiʻiloa, the navigator credited with discovery of the Hawaiian Islands. According to that legend, Hawaiʻiloa named the island of Maui after his son, who in turn was named for the demigod Māui. The earlier name of Maui was ʻIhikapalaumaewa. The Island of Maui is also called the "Valley Isle" for the large isthmus between its northwestern and southeastern volcanoes and the numerous large valleys carved into both mountains.

ʻĀmaui

The Oahu thrush or ʻāmaui (Myadestes woahensis) was a bird in the genus Myadestes. Endemic to the island of Oahu, it was the first of its genus to go extinct, c. 1850.

Its island name ʻāmaui is technically a corruption, as the Hawaiians considered all the thrushes from Maui, Molokai, Lanai and Oahu to be one species, the ʻāmaui. It was a large brownish songbird that lived in much of the highland forests on Oahu. It may have been mainly a fruit eater like many of the other Hawaiian thrushes. Due to its quick extinction, little is known about the ʻāmaui. It may have nested in trees like the ‘ōma’o or nested in crevices like the extinct kāmaʻo. Its song was reported to be similar to the Molokai olomaʻo as it may be its closest relative. It went extinct due to serious habitat degradation and destruction. Mosquitoes, introduced about thirty years earlier, caused the birds to evacuate what little good habitat was left in the low altitude areas of Oahu - and if the birds did not leave, they would have contracted malaria and perished. Birds that retreated to upper elevations would have been harassed by introduced rats, which attack the berries and steal chicks from nests. This species' extinction was not well recorded, as no one mentions a specific year when the ʻāmaui was last identified. Scientists believe that the species vanished between 1840 and 1860, most likely during the late 1850s. It is known from a single specimen taken in 1825 (now lost) and subfossil bones. The name derives from manu a Māui: "Māui's bird.

Māui (mythology)

Māui (Maui) is the great hero of Polynesian mythology. Stories about his exploits are told in nearly every Polynesian land. Maui in most cases is regarded as a demi-god, or as fully divine; in some places, he is regarded as merely human (Tregear 1891:233).

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