Slender-beaked grackel
| Slender-beaked grackel | ||||||||||||
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Slank- beaked grackel ( Quiscalus palustris ) |
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| Scientific name | ||||||||||||
| Quiscalus palustris | ||||||||||||
| ( Swainson , 1827) |
The slender- beaked grackel ( Quiscalus palustris ), also known as the marsh grackel , is an extinct songbird from the starling family . It was endemic to central Mexico.
description
The slender-beaked racket was closely related to the jackdaw racket ( Quiscalus mexicanus ). Some researchers doubt the species status and see the slender-billed racket only as a subspecies of the jackdaw racket. The males reached a length of 33 centimeters. The wing length was 17 centimeters and the tail length 18 centimeters. Their plumage was uniformly dark purple-black with a metallic sheen. The wings and tail were dark, glossy black. The thighs were brownish. The beak and feet were black. The females reached a length of 27 centimeters. The wing length was 13.2 centimeters and the tail length 11.2 centimeters. The head, neck, throat and chest were brown. The back, the wings, the flanks, the under tail-coverts and the tail were black. The lower abdomen was light brown. A light brown streak ran around the eyes. Both sexes were characterized by a slender, inwardly curved beak. There is no information about the way of life of the species.
die out
The slender-beaked grackel had a very limited distribution area in the swamps on the upper reaches of the Río Lerma in central Mexico. The habitat was severely damaged by draining the marshes and clearing the sedge and bulrush stocks. The slender-beaked grackel was detected for the last time in 1910.
literature
- Sclater, Philip Lutley (1888 / Reprint 2002): Catalog of the Passeriformes, or Perching Birds, in the Collection of the British Museum. Fringilliformes: Part 2. Containing the Families Cœrebidæ, Tanagridæ, and Icteridæ. ISBN 9781402136665
- Flannery, Tim & Schouten, Peter (2001): A Gap in Nature: Discovering the World's Extinct Animals , Atlantic Monthly Press, New York, ISBN 0-87113-797-6
- Powell, AFLA, FK Barker, and SM Lanyon. 2008. A complete species-level phylogeny of the grackles (Quiscalus spp.), Including the extinct Slender-billed Grackle, inferred from mitochondrial DNA. The Condor 110: pp. 718-728 PDF Online
Web links
- Quiscalus palustris in the endangered Red List species the IUCN 2008. Posted by: BirdLife International, 2008. Accessed January 31 of 2009.
- The juvenal plumage and distribution of Cassidix palustris (Swainson) (PDF, English; 192 kB)