Scissor-billed koa finch Scissor-billed koa finch The scissor-billed koa finch, ("Rhodacanthis forfex") or scissor finch is an extinct species of Hawaiian honeycreeper. Of the four species in the genus "Rhodacanthis", the scissor-billed koa finch and the primitive koa finch became extinct before the arrival of the first Europeans to Hawaii in 1778. It was endemic to the islands of Maui and Kauai in the Hawaiian Islands. The scissor-billed koa finch was a granivore, that, like the other members of its genus, had a bill adapted to eat the hard seeds and pods of legumes. Pollen and fossil evidence indicates that "Ka palupalu o
Acacia koa arranged end-to-end in the pod, rather than side-by-side. The phyllodes are also usually straighter, though this character is variable in both species. The wood is denser, harder, and more finely grained than koa wood. Koaia has been much more heavily impacted by cattle and is now rare, but can be seen on ranch land in North Kohala. The koa population has suffered from grazing and logging. Many wet forest areas, where the largest koa grow, have been logged out, and it now comes largely from dead or dying trees or farms on private lands. Although formerly used for outrigger canoes,