[2][3] There are two recognized subspecies: C. v. wilsoni on Maui, Molokaʻi, and (formerly) Lānaʻi, and C. v. virens on the Big Island of Hawaiʻi.

It has a tubular tongue, which it uses to drink nectar from flowers such as those of the ʻōhiʻa lehua (Metrosideros polymorpha), ʻākala (Rubus hawaiensis), and māmane (Sophora chrysophylla).

[4] Hawaiʻi ʻamakihi are a productive species with a long breeding season, lasting about 9 months.

They often are able to have two broods within a breeding season; having two rounds of chicks enables their population to increase more rapidly than slow growing species like the endangered Kiwikiu.

Of all the forest birds native to Hawaii, the Hawaiʻi ʻamakihi has been affected the least by habitat changes.