The Juan Fernández firecrown (''Sephanoides fernandensis'') is a

critically endangered An IUCN Red List critically endangered (CR or sometimes CE) species is one that has been categorized by the International Union for Conservation of Nature as facing an extremely high risk of extinction in the wild. As of December 2023, of t ...

hummingbird Hummingbirds are birds native to the Americas and comprise the Family (biology), biological family Trochilidae. With approximately 366 species and 113 genus, genera, they occur from Alaska to Tierra del Fuego, but most species are found in Cen ...

in the "coquettes", tribe

Lesbiini Lesbiini is one of the two Tribe (biology), tribes that make up the subfamily Lesbiinae in the hummingbird family (biology), family Trochilidae. The other tribe is Heliantheini (brilliants). The informal name "coquettes" has been proposed for th ...

of subfamily

Lesbiinae Lesbiinae is one of the six subfamilies that make up the hummingbird family Trochilidae. The subfamily is divided into two tribes: Heliantheini ("brilliants") containing 14 genera and Lesbiini ("coquettes") containing 18 genera. Phylogeny A mol ...

. It is

endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found only in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also foun ...

to Isla Róbinson Crusoe, one of the three-island

Juan Fernández archipelago ''Juan'' is a given name, the Spanish and Manx versions of ''John''. The name is of Hebrew origin and has the meaning "God has been gracious." It is very common in Spain and in other Spanish-speaking countries around the world and in the Philippi ...

belonging to

Chile Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in western South America. It is the southernmost country in the world and the closest to Antarctica, stretching along a narrow strip of land between the Andes, Andes Mountains and the Paci ...

.HBW and BirdLife International (2020) ''Handbook of the Birds of the World and BirdLife International digital checklist of the birds of the world'' Version 5. Available at: http://datazone.birdlife.org/userfiles/file/Species/Taxonomy/HBW-BirdLife_Checklist_v5_Dec20.zip xls zipped 1 MBretrieved May 27, 2021

Taxonomy and systematics

The Juan Fernández firecrown shares genus ''Sephanoides'' with the

green-backed firecrown The green-backed firecrown (''Sephanoides sephaniodes'') is a hummingbird in the "coquettes", tribe Lesbiini of subfamily Lesbiinae. It is found in Argentina, mainland Chile, and the Juan Fernández Islands.HBW and BirdLife International (20 ...

(''S. sephaniodes''). It has one existing subspecies, the nominate ''S. f. fernandensis''. Most worldwide taxonomic systems attribute a second subspecies to it, the extinct ''S. f. leyboldi''. They list it as having occurred on another island in the Juan Fernández group,

Alejandro Selkirk Island Alejandro Selkirk Island (), previously known as Más Afuera (Farther Out (to Sea)) and renamed after the marooned sailor Alexander Selkirk, is the largest and most westerly island in the Juan Fernández Archipelago of the Valparaíso Region of ...

(also called Más Afuera).Clements, J. F., T. S. Schulenberg, M. J. Iliff, S. M. Billerman, T. A. Fredericks, J. A. Gerbracht, D. Lepage, B. L. Sullivan, and C. L. Wood. 2021. The eBird/Clements checklist of Birds of the World: v2021. Downloaded from https://www.birds.cornell.edu/clementschecklist/download/ Retrieved August 25, 2021 However, at least one author questions the two-subspecies treatment and whether a firecrown ever inhabited Selkirk.Johow, Federico. (2007). El picaflor de la Isla de Masafuera: ¿subspecie extinta, nunca existió o mistery bird? / The Hummingbird of the Masafuera Island: extinct subspecies, never existed or Mystery Bird? Boletín Chileno de Ornitología 13: 28-41. n Spanish with English summary/ref> Haeckel - Hylocharis Stokesii

Description

The Juan Fernández firecrown is among the most radically

sexually dimorphic Sexual dimorphism is the condition where sexes of the same species exhibit different Morphology (biology), morphological characteristics, including characteristics not directly involved in reproduction. The condition occurs in most dioecy, di ...

hummingbirds. The male and female plumages are so different, and even the female has a male-like iridescent crown, that in the 19th century they were thought to be different species until a nest was discovered with one of each sex. Males are long and weigh about . Females are about long and weigh about . Both sexes have a straight black bill.Roy, M.S., G. M. Kirwan, and P. F. D. Boesman (2020). Juan Fernandez Firecrown (''Sephanoides fernandensis''), version 1.0. In Birds of the World (J. del Hoyo, A. Elliott, J. Sargatal, D. A. Christie, and E. de Juana, Editors). Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Ithaca, NY, USA. https://doi.org/10.2173/bow.juffir1.01 retrieved July 25, 2022 The male is almost entirely cinnamon-orange. Its forehead and crown are iridescent fiery reddish yellow and the wings dark coppery gray. The female's upperparts are bluish green with an iridescent bluish purple crown. Its underparts are pure white with black and green disks and the wings slaty green. The central tail feathers and the inner webs of the others are blue-green and the outer webs white. Sephanoides fernandensis leyboldi

Distribution and habitat

The nominate subspecies of Juan Fernández firecrown is found only on Isla Róbinson Crusoe. The putative extinct subspecies ''S. f. leyboldi'' is attributed to Alejandro Selkirk Island. The species inhabits forests, thickets, and gardens, favoring shady areas. In summer, males are frequently seen in the island's only town, San Juan Bautista, feeding on the flowers of trees in ''Sonchus'' subgenus ''Dendroseris'' which are endemic to the island chain, and many of which are themselves critically endangered species. All of the breeding records are at elevations between .

Behavior

Movement

The Juan Fernández firecrown moves around the island, presumably in search of flowering plants, but is otherwise sedentary.

Feeding

The Juan Fernández firecrown forages for nectar at the flowers of native plants, especially '' Rhaphithamnus venustus'' and '' Sonchus brassicifolius''. It may also feed on introduced ''

Eucalyptus ''Eucalyptus'' () is a genus of more than 700 species of flowering plants in the family Myrtaceae. Most species of ''Eucalyptus'' are trees, often Mallee (habit), mallees, and a few are shrubs. Along with several other genera in the tribe Eucalyp ...

'' and ''

Abutilon ''Abutilon'' is a large genus of flowering plants in the mallow family, Malvaceae. It is distributed throughout the tropics and subtropics Myrceugenia fernandeziana ''Nothomyrcia'' is a genus of flowering plants in the family Myrtaceae. The sole species in the genus is ''Nothomyrcia fernandeziana''. It is a tree endemic to Robinson Crusoe Island in the Juan Fernández Islands of Chile. It is a dominant spec ...

'' trees. The clutch size is two eggs. The incubation period and time to fledging are not known.

Vocalization

The Juan Fernández firecrown's song is "a medley of high-pitched squeaky notes, dry gravelly trills and descending chatters."

Status and conservation

The

IUCN The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) is an international organization working in the field of nature conservation and sustainable use of natural resources. Founded in 1948, IUCN has become the global authority on the status ...

has assessed the Juan Fernández firecrown as Critically Endangered. The species inhabits only one small island. It has an estimated population of 1500 to 3500 mature birds or 3000 to 5200 total individuals and the number is believed to be decreasing. The destruction of native trees, which the species depends on for nest sites, is a major cause of the decline. Also contributing are the spread of exotic zarzamora blackberry (''

Rubus ulmifolius ''Rubus ulmifolius'' is a species of wild blackberry known by the English common name elmleaf blackberry or thornless blackberry and the Spanish common name ''zarzamora''. It is native to Europe and North Africa, and has also become naturalize ...

'') and maqui wineberry (''

Aristotelia chilensis ''Aristotelia chilensis'', known as maqui or Chilean wineberry, is a tree species in the Elaeocarpaceae family native to South America in the Valdivian temperate forests of Chile and adjacent regions of southern Argentina. Limited numbers of thes ...

''), predation by domestic and feral cats, and destruction by introduced rabbits and goats. It may also suffer from competition for food from the more numerous green-backed firecrown. A conservation effort was begun in 2004 by a partnership of several organizations ( The Hummingbird Society,

American Bird Conservancy American Bird Conservancy (ABC) is a non-profit organization, non-profit membership organization with the mission of conserving wild birds and their habitats throughout the Americas. ABC is the second BirdLife International partner in the United ...

, and Juan Fernández Islands Conservancy, Oikonos - Ecosystem Knowledge) with the aim of preventing extinction of the species. Their efforts include planting native species, removing non-native plants, and reducing non-native predators and competitors. Island residents have been hired as project coordinators and workers.

References

External links

Conservation research on the Juan Fernandez Islands.Island Conservation Restoration Project
{{Taxonbar, from=Q1271772 Juan Fernández firecrown Endemic birds of the Juan Fernández Islands Robinson Crusoe Island Critically endangered animals Critically endangered biota of South America Juan Fernández firecrown