Madeira finch
The Madeira finch (Goniaphea leucocephala) is a
Discovery
The only known account is the 1823 description and illustration of a bird by
Description
Bowdich's original text and footnote read:
I saw another and more curious bird, but I doubt if it is a native of the island. The outline of the beak most resembles that of the widow-bird, (
The upper mandible closes over the lower, and the middle toe is longer than the others; the whole bird is black, with the exception of the head, which is azure. G. leucocephala.[1]
Taxonomy
Bowdich's concern that G. leucocephala might not be native to Madeira was echoed by other authors that placed it on the
Extinction
No similar bird was seen or described again, so the species must have disappeared before Richard Thomas Lowe surveyed Madeira and Porto Santo in 1853. It could have disappeared due to human alteration of its habitat or introduced predators.[1] The natural vegetation of the islands was considerably altered after settlement began in 1420, particularly in the lowlands, which caused the extinction of several bird species including flightless rails and quails. By 1859, Charles Darwin noted that the islands were strangely devoid of endemic species.[2] Pieper, who studied pre-settlement bird remains from Madeira and Porto Santo in the 1980s, found that many actually belonged to extinct endemics, while songbirds presently common in Madeira like the common linnet and European goldfinch were absent. This supports the idea that the native avifauna of the islands largely became extinct as a result of human activity and was replaced by species from the continent.[2]