Chatham fernbird

Chatham fernbird
Chatham fernbird below
Conservation status
Extinct (1900)  (IUCN 3.1)[1]
Scientific classification
Domain:	Eukaryota
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Aves
Order:	Passeriformes
Family:	Locustellidae
Genus:	Poodytes
Species:	†P. rufescens
Binomial name
†Poodytes rufescens (Buller, 1869)
Synonyms
Bowdleria rufescens Megalurus rufescens

The Chatham fernbird (Poodytes rufescens) is an extinct bird species that was endemic to the Chatham Islands. It was historically known only from Mangere Island, but fossils have been found on Pitt Island and Chatham Island as well. Its closest living relative is the New Zealand fernbird or matata (Poodytes punctatus). It was formerly treated as a subspecies of the New Zealand fernbird, but is now widely recognized as its own species. Both fernbirds were formerly placed in their own genus Bowdleria; they were later moved to Megalurus and most recently Poodytes.

Description

The Chatham fernbird reached a length of 18 cm. Its wings were 5.9 to 6.7 cm. In contrast to the New Zealand fernbird, it had unspotted white underparts, a chestnut-brown crown, a distinct white loral spot, and a dark red-brown back. It was insectivorous but nothing more is known about its ecology.^[2]

Extinction

The first individual known to science was collected in 1868 by New Zealand naturalist Charles Traill on Mangere Island by "knocking it over with a stone". He sent it to Sir

• 
  Chatham fernbird (above)
• 
  Chatham fernbird mount from the collection of Auckland Museum

References