[Jserapio]

Researchers find new population of rare bird
Thousands of red siskins, thought to be nearly extinct, are discovered in South America.

Friday, June 20, 2003
By RANDOLPH E. SCHMID
The Associated Press

Scientists have discovered a previously unknown population of red siskins, a bird feared to be nearing extinction in the wild.
Once widespread in the coastal mountains of Venezuela and Colombia, the bird was nearly wiped out by trapping after it became popular both in that region and in Europe in the 1800s.
The bird was particularly valued for its bright red feathers, and in Latin America it is known as el cardinalito, or little cardinal.
Breeders discovered that the red siskin could mate with the canary, Braun said Thursday, providing a bright color to the formerly drab songbird. Any canary today that has some red feathers has some siskin genes, said Michael J. Braun, a research scientist at the Smithsonian's National Museum of Natural History.
Braun said the research team was conducting a survey of birds in little-studied Guyana - which borders Venezuela - when they came across a population of several thousand red siskins.
That, he said, is several times the known population of the birds elsewhere in the wild.
The discovery was made in April of 2000, he said, but was kept under wraps until a conservation plan could be developed providing legal protection for the birds in Guyana.
It was just a matter of time before they were discovered, he said, because the region where they were found is increasingly being developed.
Red siskins have been protected in Venezuela since the 1940s.
The goal isn't to stop people from raising the birds in cages, he said, but to avoid damaging the wild population.
The American Federation of Aviculture is engaged in a red siskin recovery project, attempting to breed a large- enough captive population of the birds for the commercial market.
The discovery by Braun and Mark Robbins of the University of Kansas is being published in the June issue of The Auk, the journal of the American Ornithologists Union. The research is a collaboration between the Smithsonian, the University of Kansas and the University of Guyana.


Original source: http://www2.ocregister.com/ocrweb/oc...month=6&day=20

[Charles Harper]

Mil gracias, Jordi; I made a note in my Clements.

[Michael Frankis]

Good news! I'll make a note in my copy of Finches & Sparrows as well!

Michael

[Jacamar]

Could you tell me where in Guyana they were found?

[cuckooroller]

Originally Posted by Jacamar

Could you tell me where in Guyana they were found?

Chris,
Sssssssh!! It' a big secret. Somewhere in Southwest Guyana about 600km from the nearest known Venezuelan population. They are trying to protect the area before they let the cat out of the bag.