Hawai'i 'amakihi are the second most common endemic honeycreeper on the island, and do well in a wide variety of habitats and elevations. They're particularly abundant in dry forests on the slopes of Mauna Kea. They're also the bird you're most likely to see on the open lava fields and montane parkland of the saddle. Each of the major islands has (or had) its own subspecies of 'amakihi.

The 'amakihis are the smallest and most abundant of the various hemignathus species, which include 'akiapola'au, 'akialoa (extinct), nukupu'u (extinct?), and greater 'amakihi (extinct).