Until the end of the month, visitors to Bishop Museum have the rare opportunity to view two related exhibits: the splendid ahu ula and mahiole, the feathered cape and helmet given by Chief Kalaniopuu to the British explorer Capt. James Cook in 1779, and a comprehensive look at endemic Hawaiian forest birds.

Kalaniopuu’s cape alone contains an estimated 20,000 red and yellow feathers taken from members of some of the species displayed here.

Both exhibits are housed in the museum’s Hawaiian Hall, but while the cape and helmet, which are on loan from the national museum of New Zealand, will be displayed indefinitely, the bird exhibit, “Lele o na Manu,” closes July 31.

Presenting lifelike taxidermic specimens of these beautiful creatures, along with illustrations and interactive displays, “Lele o na Manu” ought not to be missed. About 30 specimens from the museum’s collection are on display, including birds of which only four specimens are left in the world, said Michael Wilson, an exhibit designer and interactive developer at the museum who organized “Lele o na Manu.”

“The exhibit has four parts: a natural history of where the birds came from and how they evolved, their importance in Hawaiian culture, causes of their extinction, and what’s being done currently to conserve the remaining birds,” Wilson said.

Asked whether being hunted for their bright yellow feathers might have contributed to the demise of the oo and mamo, Wilson said there is no evidence that is what caused them to go extinct.

The exhibit documents how the Hawaiians would catch the birds alive, pull out their side feathers and release them. “And then the feathers grew back,” Wilson said. However, he added, “Some ornithologists have said the whole experience was fairly traumatic (for the birds).”

There is little doubt, he added, the birds would still be thriving if it weren’t for human beings, who introduced the domestic fowl and mosquitoes that spread avian malaria, and destroyed much of the native birds’ natural habitat.

Among the goals of the exhibit, Wilson said, are alerting and informing the public as to the ongoing extinction crisis that envelopes Hawaii’s remaining forest birds, including the apapane and threatened iiwi, whose red plumage graces Hawaiian featherwork.

One wall is covered with images of all Hawaii’s forest birds and the dates of their past or projected future extinctions. The last surviving species are predicted to go extinct between 2020 and 2100.

However, according to the exhibit, this grim future can still be averted through timely action by scientists, legislators and the public.

The museum and its partners on the exhibit, including the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Kauai and Maui forest bird recovery projects, Hakalau Forest National Wildlife Refuge and others, hope to motivate actions to save the birds. “Any way that you help care for the watershed, the natural environment, will end up helping the birds,” Wilson said.

Happily, the exhibit’s interactive features help advance these goals by engaging rather than lecturing.

Put on virtual goggles and see through a bird’s eyes as it flies over the forest.

Help a little bird survive in “Elepaio: Circle of Life,” a Chutes and Ladders type of game.

Take a “Native or Not” quiz to see whether you can tell endemic from introduced species, and record your imitation of a bird call to be tested by a virtual kapilimanu (bird hunter).

Players can spin a giant “Wheel of Fortune” to answer the question, “What killed the last oo?”

You can also hear a 1987 tape of a male oo, likely the last of his species, singing his courtship aria on Kauai.