Stephenschlüpfer

Stephenschlüpfer
	Stephenschlüpfer ( Traversia lyalli ) ; illustration by John Gerrard Keulemans , from A History of the Birds of New Zealand, 1905
Systematics
Subclass :	New-jawed birds (Neognathae)
Order :	Passerines (Passeriformes)
Subordination :	Acanthisitti
Family :	Stub tail (Acanthisittidae)
Genre :	Traversia
Type :	Stephenschlüpfer
Scientific name of the genus
	Traversia
	Rothschild , 1894
Scientific name of the species
	Traversia lyalli
	Rothschild, 1894

The Stephenschlüpfer ( Traversia lyalli ) was a species of bird from the family of the stubby tail (Acanthisittidae). Historically, it only occurred on Stephens Island (New Zealand) , located between New Zealand's North and South Island, and died out at the end of the 19th century.

Description and way of life

Like all Maori panties, the Stephenschlüpfer resembled the wrens without being closely related to them. It was a small, stocky bird, its plumage was dyed olive-green with brown speckles. He couldn't fly, so he mostly stayed on the ground. It must have been active at twilight and fed on insects.

The extermination

Originally the species was widespread in large parts of New Zealand, but due to the introduction of the Pacific rat it disappeared from the larger islands of this country before the arrival of the Europeans and only stayed on Stephens Island. Ultimate extinction is often cited as the fault of a single animal, namely Tibbles', lighthouse keeper's cat David Lyall. With an interest in ornithology, Mr. Lyall noticed that the prey his cat proudly brought him was a species of bird in its own right. Rather, it was probably the fault of several feral cats on the island that completely eradicated the species in the winter of 1895. Eleven of the loot from Lyall's cat are today - "torn and disheveled" as they were - in various museums.

Web links

Commons : Xenicus lyalli - collection of images, videos and audio files

Further information

Traversia lyalli inthe IUCN 2016 Red List of Threatened Species . 3. Posted by: BirdLife International, 2016. Retrieved January 20, 2017.

Individual evidence

^ The Obituary of the Stephens Island Wren . All About Birds , January 11, 2017, accessed May 16, 2019 .

[All_About_Birds_2017_01_11-1] The Obituary of the Stephens Island Wren . All About Birds , January 11, 2017, accessed May 16, 2019 .