Barbudan Bullfinch (Pyrrhulagra sp.)

This form is known from at least two subfossil remains, a quadrate and a rostrum, found on the island of Barbuda, Antigua and Barbuda, in the Lesser Antilles.

The remains were compared to other closely related forms and most agree with the bones of the largest subspecies of the Greater Antillean Bullfinch (Pyrrhulagra violacea ssp. ruficollis (J. F. Gmelin)) from Jamaica, which is about the same size as the now extinct St. Kitts Bullfinch (Pyrrhulagra grandis (Lawrence)). [1]

The Barbudan Bullfinch may have been identical with the St. Kitts species or it might have been a distinct species, I personally like to refer to it as a distinct species. [2]

*********************

References:

[1] Gregory K. Pregill; David W. Steadman; David R. Watters: Late Quaternary vertebrate faunas of the Lesser Antilles: historical components of Caribbean biogeography. Bulletin of Carnegie Museum of Natural History 30: 1-51. 1994
[2] D. W. Steadman; R. L. Norton; M. R. Browning; W. J. Arendt: The birds of St Kitts, Lesser Antilles. Caribbean Journal of Science 33(1–2):S. 1–20. 1997

*********************

edited: 17.02.2020