The San Cristóbal Vermilion Flycatcher (Pyrocephalus rubinus dubius) is an extremely rare or possibly extinct subspecies of the Vermilion Flycatcher

Vermilion Flycatcher

The Vermilion Flycatcher is a small passerine bird in the Tyrannidae, or tyrant flycatcher family. Most flycatchers are rather drab, but the Vermilion Flycatcher is a striking exception...

. It is or was endemic to San Cristóbal Island

San Cristóbal Island

San Cristóbal is the easternmost island in the Galápagos archipelago, and one of the oldest geologically.Its Spanish name "San Cristóbal" comes from the patron saint of seafarers, St. Christopher...

 in the Galápagos Islands

Galápagos Islands

The Galápagos Islands are an archipelago of volcanic islands distributed around the equator in the Pacific Ocean, west of continental Ecuador, of which they are a part.The Galápagos Islands and its surrounding waters form an Ecuadorian province, a national park, and a...

. The taxon was discovered during Charles Darwin

Charles Darwin

Charles Robert Darwin FRS was an English naturalist. He established that all species of life have descended over time from common ancestry, and proposed the scientific theory that this branching pattern of evolution resulted from a process that he called natural selection.He published his theory...

's Galapagos voyage in 1835 and described as full species Pyrocephalus dubius by John Gould

John Gould

John Gould was an English ornithologist and bird artist. The Gould League in Australia was named after him. His identification of the birds now nicknamed "Darwin's finches" played a role in the inception of Darwin's theory of evolution by natural selection...

 in 1839.

Description

The San Cristóbal Vermilion Flycatcher reaches a length between 10.8 and 11 cm. The crown of the male is glossy dark vermilion red. The underparts are pale red shading to a brighter hue at the throat and a more intensive red at the breast. The chin is reddish shading to white. The lores, the ear coverts and the upperparts are generally dark brown.

Status

During a survey in 1929 ornithologist Albert Kenrick Fisher found this bird rather abundant all along the arid western coast to the settlement of Progreso in the highlands. During the next sixty years invasive plants replaced a large part of the endemic vegetation which led to the decline of the insects which were depended on the endemic plants. When David and Lee Steadman visited San Cristobal Island in the 1980s they described the San Cristóbal Vermilion Flycatcher as extremely rare. Finally, a six-month expedition in 1998, failed to find any birds. Reasons for the decline of the San Cristóbal Vermilion Flycatcher might have been the vanishing of the food insects, avian pox, and the avian malaria

Avian malaria

Avian malaria is a parasitic disease of birds.-Etiology:Avian malaria is most notably caused by Plasmodium relictum, a protist that infects birds in tropical regions...

.