Guadalupe Junco

The Guadalupe - Junko ( Junco hyemalis insularis ) is a subspecies of the juncos. He is often regarded as a separate species, but the American Ornithologists ' Union accepted him only as a subspecies. The Guadalupe Junko is endemic to the Mexican island of Guadalupe.

Description

The Guadalupe Junko reaches a length of 15 centimeters. The head is gray with black reins. The top is gray-brown and becomes the rump towards gray. The black wings are lined with yellow-brown. The tail is blackish. The outer tail feathers are white. The edges are burgundy. The underside is white. Characteristic is the voice of Guadalupe Junko. The call is a sharp sik. The song consists of a series of chip - tones that include frequent buzzing trill.

Habitat and behavior

The Guadalupe Junko inhabited forest fragments on Guadalupe, which of Guadalupe cypress (Cupressus guadalupensis var guadalupensis ), Guadalupe pines ( Pinus radiata var binata ) and oak trees of the species Quercus tomentella are dominated. Observations of individual birds in the blue-green tobacco (Nicotiana glauca ) show its adaptability to new habitats. It feeds on seeds of cypress and pine trees, and insects. The nest is built in a depression or low branches of cypress and pine trees. The breeding season is from February to June. The nest consists of three to four eggs.

Status

In the 19th century fishermen brought goats to Guadalupe that take place there so proliferated that four goats were counted per acre in the 1870s. Particularly devastating the goats invasion had an impact on the stocks of Guadalupe cypress. 1971 was a three-kilometer cypress forest strips in place and in 1988 it had shrunk to just one kilometers. 1971 began with the removal of goats on Guadalupe. 35,000 goats were killed in the years 1971 and 1972. In 2000, there were still 4,000 goats on Guadalupe. In a großanlegten campaign Grupo de Ecología y Conservación de Islas ( GECI ) in collaboration with the Mexican Protected Areas Commission ( CONANP ), the Mexican Navy and the Mexican Institute of Ecology between 2003 and 2006 almost all goats were eliminated in Guadalupe, with the effect that recovered the endemic flora and held for six extinct plant species were rediscovered. Furthermore, were discovered over 2,000 new seedlings of Guadalupe jaw. Due to the restoration measures of the stock of Guadalupe Junko rose from 50 to 100 individuals in 1988 to 5,700 copies in 2007. 2008 suffered the protection program for the Guadalupe Junko a setback after fires destroyed almost half of the primary cypress habitat. Also, feral cats and mice continue to pose a threat dar.