Dusky seaside sparrow
Dusky seaside sparrow | |
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Scientific classification | |
Domain: | Eukaryota |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Chordata |
Class: | Aves |
Order: | Passeriformes |
Family: | Passerellidae |
Genus: | Ammospiza |
Species: | |
Subspecies: | †A. m. nigrescens
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Trinomial name | |
†Ammospiza maritima nigrescens (Ridgway, 1873)
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The dusky seaside sparrow (Ammospiza maritima nigrescens) was a non-
Origin
The dusky seaside sparrow was first categorized as a species in 1873, after its discovery on March 17, 1872, by
Species divergence
Based on comparisons between
Causes for extinction
Dusky seaside sparrow populations probably declined during the 1940s, 1950s and 1960s, temporally linked to the applications of DDT pesticide on Merritt Island to control mosquitoes[2] and, after 1956, to the creation of mosquito impoundments that caused loss of salt marsh.[12]: 851–852 When Merritt Island was flooded with the goal of reducing the mosquito population around the Kennedy Space Center, the sparrows' nesting grounds were devastated, and their numbers plummeted. Later, the marshes surrounding the river were drained to facilitate highway construction along with the sugar and oil industries; this was a further blow. Eventually, pollution and pesticides took such a high toll that by 1979, only six dusky seaside sparrows were known to exist, all of whom were males; a female was last sighted in 1975. These last six birds would be named for the colors of the identification bands on their legs: "Blue Band", "Green Band", "Orange Band", "Red Band", "White Band" and "Yellow Band".[13]
Last specimens
"Orange Band" was left by himself on the St. Johns Unit of the St. Johns NWR[14] after a yellow-leg-banded dusky was captured in 1979. Field observations of color banded sparrows from 1975 to 1979 indicated that dusky seaside sparrows seldom traveled more than a mile or two in their lifetimes. In April 1980, "Orange Band" was again observed on the St. Johns Unit, but was surprisingly captured in June eight miles south on the Beeline Unit in the company of a dusky with a green leg band. Before finding "Green Band", "Orange Band" passed the general vicinity of the two unbanded dusky seaside sparrows.
With so few individuals left, a last-ditch effort captive breeding program was approved, wherein the remaining dusky seaside sparrows, all males, would be crossbred with females of the closely related Scott's seaside sparrow (A. m. peninsulae), from Florida's gulf coast. By 1980, five of the six duskies sighted in 1979 had been captured and were being housed at the Santa Fe College Teaching Zoo in Gainesville, Florida, as part of this program. "Green Band" proved elusive, and was never recaptured after having been banded. He was last seen on July 23, 1980.
In 1983, the last four living dusky seaside sparrows were moved to the
By March 31, 1986, further breeding attempts had failed, and of the four dusky seaside sparrows originally brought to Discovery Island, only "Orange Band" remained.
Despite being blind in one eye, "Orange Band" reached an extreme old age for a sparrow, living at least eight years, and possibly as many as thirteen, before being found dead on June 17, 1987.
After the death of the final "pure" dusky sparrow, the breeding program was discontinued due to the fact that it was thought the hybrids that existed could not reproduce to create dusky sparrows, since they did not share the proper
Footnotes
- ^ NatureServe (6 January 2023). "Ammospiza maritima nigrescens". NatureServe Network Biodiversity Location Data accessed through NatureServe Explorer. Arlington, Virginia: NatureServe. Retrieved 23 January 2023.
- ^ a b c Bentzien, Michael M.; Fish and Wildlife Service, Interior (12 December 1990). "Endangered and Threatened Wildlife and Plants; Final Rule to Delist the Dusky Seaside Sparrow and Remove its Critical Habitat Designation". Federal Register. 55 (239): 51112–51114. Retrieved 23 January 2023.
- ^ Newsweek, June 9, 2008 page 45
- ^ Sykes Jr, Paul W. "Decline and disappearance of the Dusky Seaside Sparrow from Merritt Island, Florida" American Birds, Vol. 34. No. 5, Sept 1980
- ^ ISBN 0-307-37002-X.
- ^ Hardy, J.W. (2023) [Originally published as the cassette audio tape Sounds of Florida's Birds in 1998]. "Florida Bird Sounds". Ornithology Collection. Florida Museum. Retrieved 23 January 2023.
- hdl:1834/19001. Technical Report Number 32.
- LCCN 84622797.
- ^ a b c (Hill 239)
- ^ The Endangered Species Act: What Do We Mean by Species?, from the Boston College Environmental Affairs Law Review, volume 20, issue 2, article 3; by Kevin D. Hill; published 1993; retrieved October 26, 2012
- ProQuest 213550432.
- . United States National Museum Bulletin 237.
- ^ a b c Jones, Matt (2019-04-23). "No Heart, No Moon". Longreads. Retrieved 2023-06-18.
- US Fish and Wildlife Service; retrieved October 26, 2012
- ^ "ECOS: Species Profile". ecos.fws.gov. Retrieved 2023-06-18.
- ^ Peterson, Cass (18 June 1987). "Goodbye, Dusky Seaside Sparrow". The Washington Post. Retrieved 23 January 2023.
- ^ "ESA001-00010". Joel Sartore. Retrieved 2023-06-18.
- .
References
- Walters, Mark Jerome (1992). A Shadow and A Song: The Struggle to Save Endangered Species. ISBN 9780930031589.
- Hill, Kevin (1992). "The Endangered Species Act: What Do We Mean by Species?". Boston College Environmental Affairs Law Review. 20 (2): 239–264.
- Avise, J. C.; Nelson, W. S. (1989). "Molecular Genetic Relationships of the Extinct Dusky Seaside Sparrow". Science. 243 (4891): 646–8. S2CID 46211230.
External links
- Earth Witness Community – dusky seaside sparrow
- History of the Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge
- Florida Bird Sounds – contains a sound of dusky seaside sparrow and other birds of Florida.