Guam Flycatcher
Encyclopedia
The Guam Flycatcher or Guam Broadbill (Myiagra freycineti) was a species of bird
in the Monarchidae family. It was endemic to Guam
, where it was known locally as the chuguangguang. Today it is extinct
.
Although common on Guam as recently as the early 1970s, the Flycatcher's population went into a rapid decline due to predation by the brown tree snake
, Boiga irregularis, which was introduced to the island in the 1940s. The last sighting of the flycatcher was in 1983.
Given the small size of the island, the complete absence of recent sightings, and the universal presence of the brown tree snake in the bird's former habitat, the Guam Flycatcher must be considered extinct.
Bird
Birds are feathered, winged, bipedal, endothermic , egg-laying, vertebrate animals. Around 10,000 living species and 188 families makes them the most speciose class of tetrapod vertebrates. They inhabit ecosystems across the globe, from the Arctic to the Antarctic. Extant birds range in size from...
in the Monarchidae family. It was endemic to Guam
Guam
Guam is an organized, unincorporated territory of the United States located in the western Pacific Ocean. It is one of five U.S. territories with an established civilian government. Guam is listed as one of 16 Non-Self-Governing Territories by the Special Committee on Decolonization of the United...
, where it was known locally as the chuguangguang. Today it is extinct
Extinction
In biology and ecology, extinction is the end of an organism or of a group of organisms , normally a species. The moment of extinction is generally considered to be the death of the last individual of the species, although the capacity to breed and recover may have been lost before this point...
.
Although common on Guam as recently as the early 1970s, the Flycatcher's population went into a rapid decline due to predation by the brown tree snake
Brown tree snake
The brown tree snake is an arboreal rear-fanged colubrid snake native to eastern and northern coastal Australia, Papua New Guinea, and a large number of islands in northwestern Melanesia....
, Boiga irregularis, which was introduced to the island in the 1940s. The last sighting of the flycatcher was in 1983.
Given the small size of the island, the complete absence of recent sightings, and the universal presence of the brown tree snake in the bird's former habitat, the Guam Flycatcher must be considered extinct.
External links
- 3D view of specimen RMNH 110.008 at NaturalisNaturalisNaturalis is the national natural history museum of the Netherlands, based in Leiden. It originated from the merger of the Rijksmuseum van Natuurlijke Historie and the Rijksmuseum van Geologie en Mineralogie in 1984. In 1986 it was decided that the museum had to become a public museum and a new...
, Leiden (requires QuickTimeQuickTimeQuickTime is an extensible proprietary multimedia framework developed by Apple Inc., capable of handling various formats of digital video, picture, sound, panoramic images, and interactivity. The classic version of QuickTime is available for Windows XP and later, as well as Mac OS X Leopard and...
browser plugin).