San Cristóbal Vermilion Flycatcher
The San Cristóbal Vermilion Flycatcher ( Pyrocephalus rubinus dubius ) is an extremely rare or already extinct subspecies of the Ruby bully ( Pyrocephalus rubinus ). It is endemic to the island of San Cristobal in the Galapagos Archipelago, where he during Charles Darwin's Galapagos expedition was discovered in 1835. John Gould described the taxon in 1839 as an independent art
Description
The San Cristóbal Vermilion Flycatcher reaches a length of 10.8 to 11 centimeters. In the adult male of the top of the head is shiny dark vermilion. The underside is light red, the coloring on the breast is a little more intense and a little lighter on the throat. The chin is reddish white. The reins, the ear covers and the top are generally dark brown. The tips of the elytra, the hems of the secondaries and the outer tail feathers are pale gray-brown. In the adult females are forehead and top ocher - streaked tan and dark brown. An ocher - tan eye-streak extends from the nostrils to the back of the head. Ear covers, back neck, back, scapulars, small wing-coverts are uniformly dark brown. The rump, the upper tail-coverts and the broad peaks of the large and middle wing-coverts are bright with a yellow-brown tint. The coverts are light beige gray and edged wide beige-white gray at the tips. The cheek region, the chin and throat are light tan. The rest of the underside is dark tan.
Status
During a visit to San Cristóbal in 1929 the San Cristóbal Vermilion Flycatcher the ornithologist Albert Kenrick Fisher still found frequently along the arid west coast up to the village of Progreso in the highlands. Over the next 60 years, much of the original vegetation has been replaced by invasive plant species. The insects, of which the San Cristóbal Vermilion Flycatcher malnourished, disappeared, so it was already in 1988 as a great rarity. In a six -month expedition in 1998 no copy could be detected. Another reason for his disappearance researchers suspect entrained bird diseases such as avian pox and avian malaria.