| Aldabra brush warbler | |
|---|---|
Scientific classification  | |
| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Aves |
| Order: | Passeriformes |
| Family: | Acrocephalidae |
| Genus: | Nesillas |
| Species: | †N. aldabrana |
| Binomial name | |
| †Nesillas aldabrana | |
| Synonyms | |
Nesillas aldabranus (lapsus) | |
The Aldabra brush warbler (Nesillas aldabrana) is an extinct bird in the acrocephalid warbler family. It was endemic to the atoll of Aldabra in the Seychelles and an individual was last seen in 1983.
The Aldabra brush warbler was a slender bird with relatively short wings and a long, pointed tail. It reached a total length of 18 to 20 cm (7.1 to 7.9 in). The upper parts were dun and the underparts a rather paler hue. The song was never recorded but the call was a nasal, three-syllable chirrup. [2]
The Aldabra brush warbler was a shy and retiring bird, difficult to observe in the dense undergrowth in which it lived. It was most readily located by its chirruping call. [2]
The Aldabra brush warbler was discovered by British ornithologists Constantine Walter Benson, Malcolm Penny and Tony Diamond in 1967 and described in 1968 by Benson and Penny on the basis of a male, a female and a nest with 3 eggs. Juveniles were never found. [3]
After the discovery the brush warbler was not seen until a survey by Robert Prys-Jones of the British Museum of Natural History from 1974 to 1976. At the end of 1975 he found six further birds which were all males. The birds were ringed and photographed. [3] In 1983, only one male was observed and the Aldabra brush warbler was considered as the rarest and (in its occurrence) most restricted bird in the world. It was confined to a 10 ha large coastal strip on the Aldabran island of Malabar. Following intensive surveys, the extinction of this bird was confirmed in 1986. It has been listed as officially extinct by the IUCN since 1994. [1]
The possible reasons for its extinction could be attributed to the presence of rats, cats and goats introduced to the atoll many years previously. [1]
Aldabra, the world's second-largest coral atoll, is located east of the continent of Africa. It is part of the Aldabra Group of islands in the Indian Ocean that are part of the Outer Islands of the Seychelles, with a distance of 1,120 km (700 mi) southwest of the capital, Victoria on Mahé Island. Initially named by Arab seafarers for its harsh environment, Aldabra became a French colony dependency in the 18th century, leading to the exploitation of its natural resources, particularly giant tortoises. After passing through British hands, Aldabra faced potential military use in the 1960s, but international protests resulted in its protection. The atoll boasts unique geography, featuring the world's largest raised coral reef and a large shallow lagoon. Aldabra's history involves human impact, including failed agricultural ventures.
Giant tortoises are any of several species of various large land tortoises, which include a number of extinct species, as well as two extant species with multiple subspecies formerly common on the islands of the western Indian Ocean and on the Galápagos Islands.
Bachman's warbler is a possibly extinct passerine migratory bird. This warbler was a migrant, breeding in swampy blackberry and cane thickets of the Southeastern and Midwestern United States and wintering in Cuba. There are some reports of the bird from the twenty-first century, but none are widely accepted. Some authorities accept a Louisiana sighting in August 1988 as confirmed, but the last uncontroversial sightings date to the 1960s.
The Aldabra giant tortoise is a species of tortoise in the family Testudinidae and genus Aldabrachelys. The species is endemic to the Seychelles, with the nominate subspecies, A. g. gigantea native to Aldabra atoll. It is one of the largest tortoises in the world. Historically, giant tortoises were found on many of the western Indian Ocean islands, as well as Madagascar, and the fossil record indicates giant tortoises once occurred on every continent and many islands with the exception of Australia and Antarctica.
This article is one of a series providing information about endemism among birds in the world's various zoogeographic zones. For an overview of this subject see Endemism in birds.
The Seychelles warbler, also known as Seychelles brush warbler, is a small songbird found on five granitic and corraline islands in the Seychelles. It is a greenish-brown bird with long legs and a long slender bill. It is primarily found in forested areas on the islands. The Seychelles warbler is a rarity in that it exhibits cooperative breeding, or alloparenting, which means that the monogamous pair is assisted by nonbreeding female helpers.
The Malagasy kestrel, also known as the Madagascar kestrel, Malagasy spotted kestrel, Newton's kestrel, Madagascar spotted kestrel, katiti (Creole) or hitsikitsika (Malagasy), is a small bird of prey of the genus Falco. It is named after British ornithologist Edward Newton. It occurs in two subspecies on Madagascar and at Aldabra. The race from Aldabra is also called Aldabra kestrel. Its closest living relative is the Seychelles kestrel; they were at one time considered conspecific. Their common ancestors appear to have diverged very recently, probably less than 1 million years ago during the Early or Middle Pleistocene. The Mauritius kestrel is more distantly related.(Groombridge et al. 2002)
The souimanga sunbird is a small passerine bird of the sunbird family, Nectariniidae. It is native to the islands of the western Indian Ocean where it occurs on Madagascar, the Aldabra Group and the Glorioso Islands.
The Acrocephalidae are a family of oscine passerine birds, in the superfamily Sylvioidea.
Nesillas is a genus of Old World warbler in the family Acrocephalidae. Established by Harry Church Oberholser in 1899, it contains the following species:
The Malagasy brush warbler, also known as the Madagascar brush warbler, is a species of Old World warbler in the family Acrocephalidae.. The Malagasy brush warbler is a widespread species of forest undergrowth and is found primarily in both Madagascar and the Comoro Islands. The bird is typically found alone or in pairs of 2 and flies short distances due to a small wingspan. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical dry forests, subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests, and subtropical or tropical moist shrubland.
The white-throated rail or Cuvier's rail, is a species of bird in the family Rallidae.
The Aldabra drongo is a species of bird in the drongo family Dicruridae. It is endemic to Seychelles, where it occurs only on the island of Aldabra. It has a small population of only around 1000 birds.
The celestial monarch is a species of bird in the family Monarchidae, and one of the most attractive of all the monarch flycatchers. It is identified as a turquoise blue bird with a long and spectacular cerulean blue crest and large greenish-yellow wattle. It is endemic to the Philippines with its extant range being in Luzon, Samar, Mindanao Tawi-Tawi and Basilan and it being possibly extinct on Negros and Sibuyan Island.Its natural habitat is tropical moist lowland forests up to 750 masl. There is an unverified report of this bird in 2024 in Leyte. It is one of the most sought after birds by birdwatchers in the Philippines and in the world.
The Reunion giant tortoise is an extinct species of giant tortoise in the family Testudinidae. It was endemic to Réunion Island in the Indian Ocean.
Malcolm J. Penny is a British zoologist who is known for his ornithological field work on Aldabra and the Seychelles. In 1964 he graduated in zoology at the University of Bristol. From 1964 to 1965 he led the Bristol University Seychelles Expedition in the Indian Ocean, visited Aldabra and worked on Cousin Island. Due to Penny's efforts the ICPB bought that island in 1968 and made it a protected wildlife refuge. Back in England, Penny became a conservationist with the Wildfowl and Wetlands Trust. He further made travels to Africa, India and the Arctic. Together with Constantine Walter Benson he wrote the scientific description of the Aldabra brush-warbler in 1968. Since 1994 he has worked as freelance writer for television companies like the BBC, the ZDF, or the ORF and he has also contributed to the Discovering Nature and Animal Kingdom wildlife book series for children.
The wildlife of Seychelles comprises the flora and fauna of the Seychelles islands off the eastern coast of Africa in the western Indian Ocean.
The Nauru reed warbler is a passerine bird endemic to the island of Nauru in the Pacific Ocean. It is one of only two native breeding land-birds on Nauru and it is the only passerine found on the island. It is related to other Micronesian reed warblers, all of which evolved from one of several radiations of the genus across the Pacific. Related warblers on nearby islands include the Caroline reed warbler, with which the Nauru species was initially confused, and the nightingale reed warbler, which was formerly sometimes considered the same species.
The Aldabra fody is a passerine bird in the family Ploceidae. It is endemic to Aldabra, an atoll northwest of Madagascar, part of Seychelles. Regarded as conspecific with the Comoros fody in the past, it is now recognized as a distinct species by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN). Both sexes are yellow in color across much of the body, with breeding males orange-scarlet on the head and neck. The species has a large and powerful bill, used to compete with other birds of Aldabra for food. Nesting occurs over several months, often in introduced coconut palms and Casuarina trees. The Aldabra fody is considered endangered by the IUCN, threatened by predation of nests and drought. Hybridization with the related Madagascar fody has occurred in the past, but is not currently considered a danger to the species.
