San Benedicto Rock Wren

The San Benedicto Rock Wren ( Salpinctes exsul obsoletus ) is an extinct subspecies of the rock wren ( Salpinctes obsoletus ). In addition to the Raven Corvus corax subspecies clarionensis he was the only land bird on the belonging to the Revillagigedo Islands San Benedicto. Apart from the fact that the breeding season was in May, nothing is known about his life.

Features

The San Benedicto Rock Wren reached a length of 12 cm. He resembled the nominate of the rock wren, the lateral tail feathers, however, were close to cinnamon brown banded. The wings were on average shorter, the tail, beak and feet were longer. The general plumage coloration was gray brown. The rump was wine - cinnamon. The largest part of the top was covered with wedge-shaped dark spots. About The eye-streak was bright, the bottom was dull white. The flanks were bright cinnamon - buff.

Extinction

The San Benedicto Rock Wren is one of the few documented cases of a species / subspecies, their extinction is due to a natural disaster. On August 1, 1952, the volcano erupted Barcena. Only two weeks later, the entire island and the coastal rocks were covered to a depth of 3 m with ash and pumice. More eruptions followed in November and December 1952. March 9, 1953, the volcano came to rest. In the meantime, however, a new, 300 -meter-high crater had destroyed the entire habitat of the San Benedicto Rock Wren. In the following years the race has not been rediscovered.