King clothes bird
| King clothes bird | ||||||||||||
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King's clothes bird ( Drepanis pacifica ) |
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| Scientific name | ||||||||||||
| Drepanis pacifica | ||||||||||||
| ( Gmelin , 1788) |
The royal clothes bird ( Drepanis pacifica ), also known as Mamo , is an extinct species of bird from the tribe of clothes birds . It was endemic to the island of Hawaii .
features
The king's clothes bird reached a size of 23 centimeters. The large beak was curved into a sickle shape. There are no known differences between the sexes. The plumage was mostly shiny black. The rear back, the rump, the upper tail-covers, the upper flanks and the thighs were shiny golden yellow. The marginal covers formed a yellowish leading edge above and below the wings. The remaining under wing-coverts were yellowish-white. The large upper hand covers were white. The alula was black with a white center. The wings, the wings and the umbrella feathers were brownish-black. On the outside of the outside flags, the color turned gray. All but the four outer tail feathers were brownish-black with whitish spots near the tip. The beak and legs were dark brownish black.
die out
The royal clothes bird was in great demand because of its magnificent yellow feathers and was hunted down heavily. The birds were caught with snares, bird glue, or with the bare hand. The hunters mimicked the voice of the clothes birds and could thus easily attract and catch the trusting birds. It is not known whether the honeydew birds were killed or released after the yellow feathers were plucked. Presumably the king's clothes bird was also used for food purposes. By 1880, twelve specimens were shot with the shotgun in a single day. The last live specimen was caught in 1892 for bird collector Henry Palmer. The last sighting was in 1898 by Henry W. Henshaw .
literature
- Dieter Luther: The extinct birds of the world. (= Die Neue Brehm-Bücherei. Volume 424). 4th edition. Westarp Sciences, Magdeburg; Spectrum, Heidelberg 1996, ISBN 3-89432-213-6 .
- Harold Douglas Pratt : The Hawaiian Honeycreepers. Oxford University Press, 2005, ISBN 0-19-854653-X .
Web links
- 3D view of the copy RMNH 110.030 in the Museum Naturalis , Leiden (requires the QuickTime plug-in).
- Drepanis pacifica onthe IUCN Red List of Threatened Species .