thumb|Illustration by [[Joseph Smit]]
The elepaio are three species of monarch flycatcher in the genus Chasiempis. They are endemic to the Hawaiian Islands, and were formerly considered conspecific. They measure 14 cm long and weigh 12–18 g. One species inhabits the Big Island, another Oahu and the third Kauai. Being one of the most adaptable native birds of Hawaii, no subspecies have yet become extinct, though two have become quite rare.
The elepaio is the first native bird to sing in the morning and the last to stop singing at night; apart from whistled and chattering contact and alarm calls, it is probably best known for its song, from which derives the common name: a pleasant and rather loud warble which sounds like e-le-PAI-o or ele-PAI-o. It nests between January and June.
Species
The genus Chasiempis contains three species:
{| class="wikitable"
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! Image !! Scientific name!! Common name !! Distribution
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|120px|| Chasiempis sclateri ||Kauai elepaio || Hawaiian Island of Kauai
|-
|120px|| Chasiempis ibidis ||Oahu elepaio ||Hawaiian Island of Oahu.
|-
|120px|| Chasiempis sandwichensis||Hawaii elepaio ||Hawaiian Island of Hawaii.
|-
|}
Distribution
right|thumb|The sequential colonization and [[speciation of the Chasiempis sandwichensis subspecies (denoted by the orange arrows) with their divergence times and island geological ages.]]
Uniquely among Hawaiian passerines, the distribution of the elepaio is peculiarly discontinuous. According to fossil remains, the birds did not occur on Maui Nui or its successor islands. Their current distribution is absent from the Maui Nui island group. If this assumption is correct, the reasons are unknown at present. However, the strange "flycatcher finches", extinct honeycreepers of the genus Vangulifer, are only known to have inhabited Maui and probably evolved on Maui Nui.
Further reading
- Elepaio on the Audubon watch list. Contains a photo of sclateri, which shows the distinctness of that taxon well.
- Elepaios - BirdLife International