São Tomé Grosbeak

The Einfarbgimpel ( Neospiza concolor), also known as Einfarbgirlitz, Einfarbweber or Thomas - Thick-billed Weaver, is an extremely rare bird from the monotypic genus Neospiza within the finch family. It is endemic to the island of São Tomé in the Gulf of Guinea in the Atlantic Ocean and has a very small distribution area, which covers 16 km ². He was discovered in 1888 by Portuguese naturalist Francisco Newton from the Museum in Lisbon, who studied the flora and fauna of the Gulf of Guinea over ten years.

Description

This 18 -inch-long, stocky bird has a massive beak, which has a grayish, yellowish-brown tint. Upper and lower body are evenly colored reddish brown. Head, wings and tail have a slightly darker color.

Habitat and behavior

Of his life little is known. He is a lowland inhabitants and comes in the primary forest with a closed forest roof before. Observations are very difficult because he usually quiet and staying hidden in the dense foliage of the treetops.

Endangering

The Einfarbgimpel was thought to be extinct in 1900 and has long been known only from three specimens. A museum example is in the Natural History Museum in London and the other two have been destroyed in 1978 during a fire museum in Lisbon.

Only in 1991 it was rediscovered in a forest fragment on the river Xufexufe in the southwest of the island. 1997 adult birds and a young bird observed for the first time and he was photographed for the first time in 2001. Its decline began when the Portuguese established cocoa and coffee plantations on the island. Wide forest areas up to an altitude of 1500 meters above the sea level had to give way to the plantations. Today, the privatization of land and the consequent establishment of small farms, the road and introduced animal species such as the black rat, the Mona monkey, the African civet cat and the weasel could lead to a renewed disappearance of this species, of which there now less than 50 copies there.