Culebra Amazon
| Culebra Amazon | ||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Systematics | ||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||
| Scientific name | ||||||||||||
| Amazona vittata gracilipes | ||||||||||||
| Ridgway , 1915 |
The Culebra Amazon ( Amazona vittata gracilipes ) is an extinct subspecies of the Puerto Rican Amazon ( Amazona vittata ). It was endemic to the island of Culebra .
features
At 25 centimeters, the Culebra Amazon was smaller than the Puerto Rico Amazon. The wing length was 175 mm, the tail length 95 mm, the ridge length 26.5 mm and the tarsus length 21 mm. The plumage was predominantly emerald green. The feathers were lined with black. A narrow ruby-red band ran across his forehead. The large hand covers, the corner wings and the outer flags of the wings were light blue. The tail feathers showed red inside flags and were lined with golden yellow. The outermost tail feathers were blue on the outer flag. The legs were lighter and thinner, and the feet were smaller than the nominate shape . A white eye ring ran around the iris.
die out
The last record of the Culebra Amazon was in 1899 when zoologist Arthur Benoni Baker collected three specimens. During an expedition in 1912, the ornithologist Alexander Wetmore found no more specimens. The main causes of their extinction are considered to be habitat destruction, shooting for food, persecution as a supposed pest in the banana plantations and the trapping of caged birds.
literature
- Dieter Luther: The extinct birds of the world . 4th edition (Die neue Brehm-Bücherei 424). Westarp Sciences, Magdeburg; Spectrum, Heidelberg, 1996. ISBN 3-89432-213-6
- David Day: The Doomsday Book of Animals. Ebury Press, London 1981. ISBN 0670279870
- James Greenway: Extinct and Vanishing Birds of the World. Dover Publications Inc. New York 1967. ISBN 0-486-21869-4
- Walton Beacham: World Wildlife Fund Guide to Extinct Species of Modern Times . 1997. ISBN 0933833407