Colaptes oceanicus † (1 Viewer)

[Melanie]

Bermuda Flicker

Storrs L. Olson (2013) Fossil woodpeckers from Bermuda with the description of a new species of Colaptes (Aves: Picidae). Proceedings of the Biological Society of Washington: March 2013, Vol. 126, No. 1, pp. 17-24.

Might have survived until the 17th Century

http://pbsw.org/doi/abs/10.2988/0006-324X-126.1.17

 

[Melanie]

The article is online at Bioone.

http://www.bioone.org/doi/abs/10.29...y=&queryHash=64257ff54bc363f7d3c9744906b2a493

If you want a copy, please feel free and send me a personal message. By the way it seems that the Guadalupe Flicker is invalid. Olson wrote:

The only other ‘‘oceanic’’ woodpecker was the flicker of Guadalupe Island, off western Mexico, some 250 km from the mainland. Long considered an endemic subspecies, Colaptes auratus rufopileus, it
became extinct about 1906. Reanalysis of the specimens did not support subspecific validity, although the species had recolonized the island by 1996

See also: Sweet, P. R., G. F. Barrowclough, J. T. Klicka, L. Montanez-Godoy, & P. Escalante-Pliego. 2001. Recolonization of the flicker and other notes from Isla Guadalupe, Mexico. Western Birds 32:71–80. Online: http://digitalscholarship.unlv.edu/hrc_ornithology/34/

 

[Peter Kovalik]

Colaptes oceanicus

Bermuda Flicker

Storrs L. Olson (2013) Fossil woodpeckers from Bermuda with the description of a new species of Colaptes (Aves: Picidae). Proceedings of the Biological Society of Washington: March 2013, Vol. 126, No. 1, pp. 17-24.

Might have survived until the 17th Century

http://pbsw.org/doi/abs/10.2988/0006-324X-126.1.17

IOC Version 7.2 Species Updates

Bermuda Flicker - Colaptes oceanicus
Recently described from late Pleistocene and Holocene deposits. Likely survived into the historical period based on early traveler report. BLI Checklist, Ver. 9.

 

[Björn Bergenholtz]

Side-track to "Guadalupe Flicker" ...

See also: Sweet, P. R., G. F. Barrowclough, J. T. Klicka, L. Montanez-Godoy, & P. Escalante-Pliego. 2001. Recolonization of the flicker and other notes from Isla Guadalupe, Mexico. Western Birds 32:71–80. Online: http://digitalscholarship.unlv.edu/hrc_ornithology/34/

I think Paul Sweet et al might have missed out on following up on one detail, mentioned by themelves (in that 2001 Paper):

"Ridgway (1876) also mentioned a pink wash on the rump as a character for the island race, but we were unable to find a consistent difference in rump color and did not investigate that trait further." [OD here)]

Red pigments are the one pigment that fades (if exposed to sunlight) more rapidly than other. For exemple in Sweden we have a unique specimen of Bullfinch, described as a "Loxia Flamengo"* by Sparrman 1786, that was pinkish all over. Se the plate of it here. Today, the specimen, housed in the collection of the Natural History Museum in Stockholm, looks like a true albino!

Thereby I would´t assume there truly was a "pink wash on the rump" on Ridgway's female specimen of "rufopileus". Even if there´s no trace of it today. This would, of course, also apply on the reddish "bright tawny forehead".

For what it´s worth.

Björn
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*Leusistic specimen of a Bullfinch Pyrrhula pyrrhyla. Another example of a similar specimen is depicted on this plate, here.