Last week, conservationists with the San Diego Zoo released seven palila birds on the slopes of what's left of the birds' native habitat: the upper reaches of Mauna Kea.

The yellow-and-green honeycreeper is among the 31 Hawaiian bird species listed as endangered — more than any other place in the country and one-third of all the nation's endangered birds.

This is troubling enough. But it gets worse.

A comprehensive new report, issued Thursday by the Interior Department, warns that without immediate action, nearly all of the state's native birds are in danger of becoming extinct within our lifetimes.

Interior Secretary Ken Salazar described the report — which identified nearly a third of 800 U.S. bird species as at risk — as a "clarion call" for action, with more investment needed to conserve and protect native natural habitats.

He's right. But more of that action needs to be where it's needed most, in Hawai'i.

That's why it's hard to understand why most of the money used for saving endangered bird species goes elsewhere. Between 1996 and 2004, only 4.1 percent, or $31 million, of recovery funds from state and federal sources went to Hawai'i, according to a recent study by David Leonard of the Hawai'i division of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

That balance of funding needs to change; because with adequate resources, efforts to save Hawai'i's unique avian wildlife can succeed. The report noted that controlling invasive species and feral animals has helped endangered birds in the Hakalau Forest National Wildlife Refuge, home to the Hawai'i creeper and 'akaipola'au. Laysan ducks and puaiohi (small Kaua'i thrush) have also benefited from focused intervention.

In these tough economic times it may seem quixotic to worry about rare birds. But the economy will recover. The birds, unless protected, won't.