Kauaʻi Finch

Taxobox
name = Kaua'i Finch
status = Extinct
regnum = Animalia
phylum = Chordata
classis = Aves
ordo = Passeriformes
familia = Drepanididae
genus = " Telespiza "
species = " T. persecutrix "
binomial = " Telespiza persecutrix "
binomial_authority = James & Olson, 1991
synonyms =

General Information

The Kauai Finch ("Telespiza persecutrix") is an extinct member of the genus "Telespiza" in the family Fringillidae. It was endemic to the Hawaiian islands of Kauai and Oahu. It is only known from fossil remains and likely became extinct before the first Europeans visited Hawaii in 1778.

Description

The Kauai Finch was about 5½ inch in lengthFact|date=November 2007 and had a very blunt bill that possibly could crack nuts and flowers (e.g., ‘ōhi‘a lehua blossoms) to digest the cellulose easily. It has also been speculated that insects perhaps formed part of its dietFact|date=November 2007. The Kauai Finch was believed to have once survive in highland forest, but its fossils have been found frequently at the lower elevations of the islandFact|date=November 2007.

Extinction

Due to its early extinction, very little is known about this species. It is only known from a few bones found in caves. It appears that this species began to go extinct when the first Polynesians settlers came to the islands. They cleared some of the land for farming and introduced species for which the native birds had no defence. Five hundred years before Europeans made landfall to Hawaii, the bird was probably extinctFact|date=November 2007. According to fossil records, their numbers declined rapidly in the early 1500sFact|date=November 2007. It has been speculated that this species' visits to lower elevations was its undoing due to contact with avian diseases and pestsFact|date=November 2007. Finches were once known on all of the other larger Hawaiian islands, but the Highland Finch seems to have outlived the Oaho Finch. Today, only about sixty percent of Hawaii have not been drastically alteredFact|date=November 2007. Many avian diseases and parasites also pose a major threat to Hawai`i's native forest birds.

References

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