To further raise awareness of the endangered honeycreepers, Mr. Uchiyama has created a special set of four sculptures that will be displayed as a long-term loan in United States Senator Mazie K. Hirono’s office in the Senate Hart Office Building next to the U.S. Capitol building in Washington, D.C. Senator Hirono is committed to helping preserve Hawaiʻi’s biodiversity, including the endemic forest birds whose populations have been decimated by introduced predators and diseases.

The four species represented in this set are the ʻakikiki (Oreomystis bairdi) and ʻakekeʻe (Loxops caeruleirostris) on Kauaʻi Island, and kiwikiu (Pseudonestor xanthophrys) and ʻākohekohe (Palmeria dolei) on Maui Island. According to a report published in 2022, the biologists that study these birds strongly agree that without a rapid conservation response to the threat of increasing disease mortality there is a high probability these species will go extinct in the coming decade. In response to these reports, efforts spanning local, state, and federal governments are underway to protect these remaining populations. Senator Hirono has supported more than $35 million in federal funding to protect these birds from invasive mosquitoes that transmit avian malaria to these birds. Additionally, Senator Hirono has supported federal efforts to address climate change, which has allowed these mosquitoes to access higher elevations in recent years where these forest birds have historically sought refuge, and plant native plants, which are critical to maintaining Hawaiʻi’s native ecosystems.