The San Cristóbal flycatcher (''Pyrocephalus dubius''), also known as San Cristóbal vermilion flycatcher or least vermilion flycatcher, is an extinct species of flycatcher, closely related to the

vermilion flycatcher The vermilion flycatcher (''Pyrocephalus obscurus'') is a small passerine bird in the tyrant flycatcher family found throughout South America and southern North America. It is a striking exception among the generally drab Tyrannidae due to its v ...

. It was endemic to

San Cristóbal Island San Cristóbal Island ( es, Isla San Cristóbal) and named previously by the English as ''Chatham Island'', is the easternmost island in the Galápagos archipelago, as well as one of the oldest geologically. It is administratively part ...

in the

Galápagos Islands The Galápagos Islands (Spanish: , , ) are an archipelago of volcanic islands. They are distributed on each side of the equator in the Pacific Ocean, surrounding the centre of the Western Hemisphere, and are part of the Republic of Ecuador ...

. The taxon was discovered during

Charles Darwin Charles Robert Darwin ( ; 12 February 1809 – 19 April 1882) was an English naturalist, geologist, and biologist, widely known for his contributions to evolutionary biology. His proposition that all species of life have descended fr ...

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

John Gould John Gould (; 14 September 1804 – 3 February 1881) was an English ornithologist. He published a number of monographs on birds, illustrated by plates produced by his wife, Elizabeth Gould, and several other artists, including Edward Lear, ...

in 1839.

Taxonomy

The San Cristóbal flycatcher was described as full species ''Pyrocephalus dubius'' in 1839 by John Gould. In 1890, Robert Ridgway suggested the new combination ''Pyrocephalus minimus''. Subsequently, it was reclassified as subspecies ''Pyrocephalus rubinus dubius'' of the

which is widespread in North America and South America. A 2016 study suggests to reinstate the specific status for both ''Pyrocephalus dubius'' and the other Galápagos taxon ''Pyrocephalus nanus'' because of genetic divergence. It is recognized as a species by some taxonomic authorities, including the

International Ornithologists' Union The International Ornithologists' Union, formerly known as the International Ornithological Committee, is a group of about 200 international ornithologists, and is responsible for the International Ornithological Congress and other international ...

. Others still consider it to be a subspecies of the vermilion flycatcher.

Description

The San Cristóbal 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 Albert Kenrick Fisher (21 March 1856 – 12 June 1948) was an American ornithologist, known for his 1893 boo''The Hawks and Owls of the United States in Their Relation to Agriculture'' Fisher was born in Sing Sing, New York (now Ossining), where ...

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 dependent 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. The last reliable sighting was in 1987. 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 ''Avipoxvirus'' (avian pox) is a genus of viruses within the family ''Poxviridae''. ''Poxviridae'' is the family of viruses which cause the afflicted organism to have poxes as a symptom. Poxviruses have generally large genomes, and other such ex ...

, and the

avian malaria Avian malaria is a parasitic disease of birds, caused by parasite species belonging to the genera '' Plasmodium'' and '' Hemoproteus'' (phylum Apicomplexa, class Haemosporidia, family Plasmoiidae). The disease is transmitted by a dipteran vecto ...

. After a long-term-study since 2012, the

Durrell Wildlife Conservation Trust Durrell Wildlife Conservation Trust is a conservation organization with a mission to save species from extinction. Gerald Durrell founded the Jersey Wildlife Preservation Trust as a charitable institution in 1963 with the dodo as its symbol. T ...

described it as "first bird extinction in Galapagos" in June 2016.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:San Cristobal Flycatcher Pyrocephalus Bird extinctions since 1500 Birds described in 1839 Taxa named by George Robert Gray Extinct birds of Oceania