Guadalupe Junko
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Guadalupe Junko ( Junco insularis ) |
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| Scientific name | ||||||||||||
| Junco insularis | ||||||||||||
| Ridgway , 1876 |
The Guadalupe Junko ( Junco insularis ), also known as the Guadalupe Ammer, is a species of passerine bird from the New World Chamber family (Passerellidae). It was at times considered as a subspecies of the winter bunting ( Junco hiemalis ), but more recent systematics accept it as an independent species. The Guadalupe Junko is endemic to the Mexican island of Guadalupe .
description
The Guadalupe Junko reaches a length of 15 centimeters. The head is gray with black reins. The top is gray-brown and becomes grayer towards the rump. The black wings are lined with yellowish brown. The tail is blackish. The outer control springs are white. The flanks are wine red. The underside is white. The voice of the Guadalupe junkos is characteristic. The call is a sharp sik . The singing consists of a series of chip tones, often including humming trills.
Habitat and way of life
The Guadalupe Junko inhabits forest fragments on Guadalupe, which are dominated by Guadalupe cypresses ( Cupressus guadalupensis var. Guadalupensis ), Guadalupe pines ( Pinus radiata var. Binata ) and oaks of the Quercus tomentella species . Observations of individual birds on blue-green tobacco ( Nicotiana glauca ) show its ability to adapt to new habitats. It feeds on cypress and pine seeds and insects. The nest is built in a depression or on low branches of cypress and pine trees. The breeding season is between February and June. The clutch consists of three to four eggs.
status
In the 19th century, fishermen brought goats to Guadalupe, which reproduced so rapidly that in the 1870s there were 4 goats per hectare. The goat invasion had a particularly devastating effect on the Guadalupe cypress population . In 1971 there was still a three-kilometer long cypress forest strip and by 1988 it had shrunk to just one kilometer. In 1971, the goats on Guadalupe began to be disposed of. 35,000 goats were killed in 1971 and 1972. In 2000 there were still 4,000 goats living on Guadalupe. In a large-scale campaign by the Grupo de Ecología y Conservación de Islas (GECI) in collaboration with the Mexican Commission for Protected Areas (CONANP), the Mexican Navy and the Mexican Institute of Ecology, almost all goats on Guadalupe were eliminated between 2003 and 2006, with the Effect that the endemic flora recovered and six plant species believed to be extinct were rediscovered. Furthermore, 2000 new seedlings of the Guadalupe pine were discovered. As a result of the renaturation measures, the population of the Guadalupe junkos rose from 50 to 100 individuals in 1988 to 5700 specimens in 2007. In 2008, the protection program for the Guadalupe junkos suffered a setback after fires destroyed almost half of the primary cypress habitat. Feral cats and mice are also still a threat.
literature
- Estatus Poblacional del Junco de Guadalupe (Junco insularis) en la Reserva de la Biósfera Isla Guadalupe, México . PDF; 0.98 MB, full text , p. 55 (span.)
- Anthony, AW (1901): The Guadalupe Wren. Condor 3 (3): 73rd PDF; 87 kB, full text About the devastating goat invasion on Guadalupe.
- Edward N. Mirsky (Summer, 1976): Song Divergence in Hummingbird and Junco Populations on Guadalupe Island . The Condor, Vol. 78, No. 2 pp. 230-235 PDF; 536 kB, full text
Web links
- Junco insularis inthe IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2017.1. Posted by: BirdLife International, 2016. Retrieved September 10, 2017.
- BirdLife International: Species Factsheet - Junco insularis