Greater koa finch below. It had a thick black bill which allowed it to break open seed pods that were found in the trees. In historical times, its range was largely confined to the Kona District of the island of Hawaii, although it was observed in the Kīlauea area in 1895. It was much more widespread prior to the arrival of humans in Hawaii, and related species lived on other islands. In Kona, it co-occurred with the closely related lesser koa finch ("Rhodocanthis flaviceps"), and the Kona grosbeak. The lesser and greater koa finches were once thought by scientists to be the minimum
Koa Kannon Koa Kannon The refers to a statue of Kannon, the bodhisattva of compassion, located atop Mount Izu in Atami, Shizuoka Prefecture, as well as to the temple, formally a religious corporation called the Reihaizan Koa Kannon, which is dedicated to it. Koa Kannon is from the same lineage as the Hokke Shu Jin-Monryu, a breakaway sect of Nichiren Buddhism based in Sanjo in Niigata Prefecture, but it is not formally affiliated with them and is the only independent Buddhist temple in Japan with its own unique history and rites. The temple admits all worshipers regardless of their religion. The temple