Previous intensive surveys on Floreana, the smallest inhabited island of the Galápagos archipelago, in 2015 and 2016, produced reliable population estimates for all landbirds but failed to find 4 species that formerly occurred on the island: Gray Warbler Finch (Certhidea fusca), Vegetarian Finch (Platyspiza crassirostris), Little Vermilion Flycatcher (Pyrocephalus nanus), and Galápagos Rail (Laterallus spilonota). We revisited the island in February 2018 to extend our search to additional areas but again found none of the 4 lost species. As there is no longer any suitable habitat, we are certain that Galápagos Rail is now extinct on Floreana. It is possible that the remaining 3 species still survive in pockets of habitat that have not yet been surveyed. The very distinct subspecies of Gray Warbler-Finch (C. f. ridgwayi) especially merits further investigation.
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22 March 2022
More extinctions on the Galápagos Islands? An unsuccessful search for 4 landbirds on Floreana
Michael Dvorak,
Erwin Nemeth,
Beate Wendelin,
Birgit Fessl
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Certhidea fusca ridgwayi
Laterallus spilonota
monitoring
Platyspiza crassirostris
Pyrocephalus nanus
survey