Wood Harrier

Wood Harrier
Wood Harrier
Conservation status
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Aves
Order: Falconiformes (or Accipitriformes, q.v.)
Family: Accipitridae
Genus: Circus
Species: C. dossenus
Binomial name
Circus dossenus
Olson & James 1991

The Wood Harrier or Mime Harrier (Circus dossenus) is an extinct bird of prey which lived in Hawaii during the Holocene. This rather small species of harrier with short wings which inhabited the forests of Molokai and Oahu where it presumably hunted for small birds and insects.

Contents

Description

The Wood Harrier was a small harrier, compared to the recent species of the genus Circus. It had rather short wings but long legs and was even outsized by the small Pied Harrier and Montagu's Harrier.[1][2]

Distribution

The Wood Harrier was presumably restricted to the islands of Ohau and Molokai, since there are no records from other Hawaiian islands. It probably became extinct due to habitat degradation and the introduction of the Pacific Rat by early Polynesians. Since the Wood Harrier was most likely a ground breeder and it preyed upon small birds, it might have been affected severely by the colonization of Hawaii.[3]

Discovery and taxonomy

In 1981, Helen F. James and her husband Storrs L. Olson first discovered remains of a bird they believed to be an Accipiter because of its proportions. This misidentification was also due to the poor material, consisting only of a few bones. They finally rejected their identification in 1991 after they had examined several other subfossil records of the bird and finally placed it in the genus Circus. They named it dossenus, explaining the name as follows: “Latin, dossenus, a clown or jester, without which one cannot have a circus; especially applicable here because the species initially fooled us as to its generic placement.” They noted that the wide global extension of Circus would support this placement and added that there had been sightings of Northern Harriers in Hawaii so that the evolution of a Hawaiian species of Harrier would indeed seem plausible.[3]

Literature

  • Storrs L. Olson, Helen F. James: Descriptions of thirty-two new Species of Birds from the Hawaiian Islands. In: Ornithological Monographs 45, 1991. ISBN 0-935868-54-2, pp. 65−85 PDF
  • Harold Douglas Pratt: The Hawaiian honeycreepers: Drepanidinae. Oxford University Press, 2005. ISBN 019854653X
  • Alan C. Ziegler: Hawaiian natural history, ecology, and evolution. University of Hawaii Press, 2002. ISBN 0824821904

References

  1. ^ Olson & James 1991, p. 67
  2. ^ Pratt 2005, p. 233
  3. ^ a b Olson & James 1991, p. 85

Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.

Игры ⚽ Нужно решить контрольную?

Look at other dictionaries:

  • Harrier (bird) — Harriers Montagu s Harrier Scientific classification Kingdom: Animalia Phylum …   Wikipedia

  • Wood River (Oregon) — Infobox River river name = Wood River caption = Kayaking on Wood River origin = Crater Lake watershed length mi = 18 mouth = Agency Lake mouth elevation ft = 4144 elevation ft = 4211 discharge cuft/s = watershed sqmi =220The Wood River is a short …   Wikipedia

  • HMS Harrier — Seven ships of the Royal Navy have borne the name HMS Harrier :*HMS Harrier (1804), an 18 gun Cruizer class brig sloop launched in 1804 and sunk in 1809 *HMS Harrier (1813), an 18 gun Cruizer class brig sloop launched in 1813, sold in 1829 *HMS… …   Wikipedia

  • USS Belleau Wood (LHA-3) — USS|Belleau Wood|LHA 3, nicknamed Devil Dog , was the second ship named after the battle of Belleau Wood in World War I. The latter of the two ships serves as the backdrop for a military tribunal in James W. Huston s novel Secret Justice.Her keel …   Wikipedia

  • USS Belleau Wood (LHA-3) — Belleau Wood bereitet die Aufnahme eines Landungsbootes vor Geschichte Bestellung 15. November 1969 …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • USS Belleau Wood (LHA-3) — Para otros buques con el mismo nombre, véase USS Belleau Wood. USS Belleau Wood (LHA 3) El USS Belleau Wood preparado para recibir una lancha de desembarco de los marines …   Wikipedia Español

  • List of Asian birds — This list of Asian birds is a listing of all the bird species known from the continent of Asia.NotesThe taxonomy of this list adheres to James Clements Birds of the World: A Checklist , and reflects all changes to that work until July, 2005.… …   Wikipedia

  • List of African birds — This list of African birds is a listing of all the bird species known from the continent of Africa. TOCrightNotesThere are over 45 billion different species of birds in Africa.The taxonomy of this list adheres to James Clitorus Birds of the World …   Wikipedia

  • Lexus RX — Infobox Automobile name=Lexus RX manufacturer=Lexus parent company=Toyota Motor Corporation production=1997 ndash;present class=Mid size crossover SUV aka=Toyota Harrier body style=4 door SUV related=Lexus ES Toyota Camry Toyota Highlander layout …   Wikipedia

  • Liste Des Classes De Porte-Avions En Service — Porte avions et porte aéronefs Vue d artiste de l USS Gerald R. Ford (CVN 78), tête de sa classe, le plus gros porte avions en service à l horizon 2015 …   Wikipédia en Français

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”