Bourbon Crested Starling
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| Fregilupus varius (Boddaert, 1783) |
The Bourbon Crested Starling (Fregilupus varius), sometimes regarded as Huppe, Crested Starling, or Réunion Starling is an extinct bird from the family of Sturnidae.
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[edit] Description
The Bourbon Crested Starling was discovered in 1669 and first described 1783 by Dutch naturalist Pieter Boddaert. It had reached a size of 30 cm. The wings, which were coloured grey-brown, were 14.7 cm. The tail had reached a length of 11.4 cm and had a rufous hue. It got its name for its conspicuous ash grey crest. It had long yellow legs with tarsi of about 3.9 cm. The nails were curved. The head, neck, and abdomen were white. There was sexual dimorphism between male and female. The male had a 4 cm long light-yellow coloured bill which was slightly downcurved. The bill of the female was smaller and straight. The crest of the male was directed forwards, the crest of the female backwards. Because of its crest and the form of its bill it was long regarded as relative of the hoopoes by science. Its French name Huppe was derived from that. Boddaert named it Hupupa varia when he first described it but naturalist René-Primevère Lesson put it in its own genus Fregilupus in 1831. First after analysis of the skeletons it was reclassified into the starling family in 1874. It is nothing known about its reproduction. It was endemic to the Island of La Réunion (which was named Bourbon until the 1790s). Its habitat were moistly swamp forests and mountainous coastal forests. Its diet consisted of insects, grain, and fruits.
[edit] Extinction
Its decline was recorded in letters by naturalists from 19th century. The main reason for its extinction were introduced rats. But also the introduction of invasive species like the Common Myna for the prevention of the locusts plague lead to a dramatic decline of the Crested Starlings. The hunting sealed the fate of this bird. Because it was feed on the coffee berries and it was a welcome dish this easy to hunt birds became increasingly rare during the 1830s. In 1837 the last specimen was shot. From 1848 on deforestation and forest fires in the course of emancipation of the people from the slave trade lead to a severely destruction of its habitat. Rumours told that this species might survived until 1868. But this was never confirmed. Today there are 19 specimens in museums (e.g. Italy, Netherlands, La Réunion, and the American Museum of Natural History)
[edit] Further reading
- Errol Fuller (2000). "Extinct Birds", ISBN 0-8160-1833-2
- 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.
- David Day (1981). "The Doomsday Book of Animals" , Ebury Press, London, ISBN 0-670-27987-0
[edit] References
- BirdLife International (2004). Fregilupus varius. 2006 IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. IUCN 2006. Retrieved on 10 May 2006. Database entry includes justification for why this species is listed as extinct
[edit] External links
- The Auk - Myology of Fregilupus varius in relation to its systematic position (engl.)
- 300 Pearls - Information on the website of the Museum for Natural History in Amsterdam (engl.)
- American Museum of Natural History - On the anatomy and relationships of Fregilupus varius, an extinct starling from the Mascarene Islands. Bulletin of the AMNH ; v. 113, article 3 Article by Andrew John Berger
