Delacour Little Grebe
| Delacour Little Grebe | ||||||||||
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Delacour Little Grebe ( Tachybaptus rufolavatus ) |
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| Tachybaptus rufolavatus | ||||||||||
| ( Delacour , 1932) |
The Delacour Little Grebe ( Tachybaptus rufolavatus ) is an extinct species of grebes that was endemic to Lake Alaotra in northeast Madagascar .
He was a wicked little grebe similar, but was far less colorful in breeding plumage. The red parts of his neck were yellowish brown, the eyes pale yellow. Since the little grebe is also found in Madagascar, interspecific hybrids often occurred in the past .
The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) lists the Delacour Little Grebe in the 2016 Red List as extinct. The ornithologist Frank Hawkins emphasized as early as 2000 that the species was undoubtedly extinct. There was never a sighting outside of Lake Alaotra, all the alleged finds in other regions of Madagascar were apparently confused with the little grebe or the Madagascar little grebe . The very short wings allowed only short flights, which stood in the way of further expansion.
The Delacour little grebe was already a rarity in the middle of the 20th century. In 1960, 50 Delacour little grebes were counted on the lake, but a much larger number of common little grebes. In 1982 twelve were counted, in 1988 two. After this the species was not seen again.
There are many reasons why the Delacour Little Grebe became extinct. The forests around the lake were cut down and rice fields were created. The silting up of the banks and the introduction of manure into the lake brought about dramatic changes in the microfauna, which affected the food of the Delacour Little Grebe. Exotic fish were introduced, for example tilapia , which ate the water lilies and thus robbed the birds of nesting material, and largemouth bass , which ate both the divers and their young. According to Hawkins, the fatal blow was the introduction of predatory snakehead fish in the 1980s that the few surviving divers may have eaten. Other causes such as suffocation in fishing nets or displacement by the more adaptable common little grebe are conceivable.
literature
- Jon Fjeldså : The Grebes . Oxford University Press, 2004, ISBN 0-19-850064-5
- Frank Hawkins & al .: The sad story of Alaotra Little Grebe Tachybaptus rufolavatus . In: Bulletin of African Bird Club , No. 7, pp. 115-117.
Individual evidence
- ^ Evening paper May 26, 2010 - Little Grebe declared extinct
- ↑ Tachybaptus rufolavatus in the Red List of Threatened Species of the IUCN 2020.1. Listed by: BirdLife International, 2016. Retrieved April 24, 2020.
- ^ Wetland aliens cause bird extinction. Joint press release by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) and BirdLife International on May 26, 2010.