Tag Archives: Corvidae

Corvus sp. ‘Bermudas’

Bermudas Islands Crow (Corvus sp.)

“Birds.         

Neither hath the aire for her part been wanting with due supplies of many sorts of Fowles, as the gray and white Hearne, the gray and greene Plover, some wilde Ducks and Malards, Coots and Red-shankes, Sea-wigions, Gray-bitterns, Cormorants, numbers of small Birds like Sparrowes and Robins, which have lately beene destroyed by the wilde Cats, Wood-pickars, very many Crowes, which since this Plantation are kild, the rest fled or seldome seene except in the most uninhabited places, from whence they are observed to take their flight about sun set, directing their course towards the North-west, which makes many coniecture there are some more Ilands not far off that way.” [1]

This is a part of an account from 1623 that reports some of the bird life inhabiting the Bermudas Islands at that time.

Given the remote location of the islands, the crows mentioned here very likely were of an endemic form, may it have been a species or a subspecies; the text even tells us how these crow population went extinct, they were killed by the British settlers because they were considered a pest for their crops.

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References:

[1] John Smith: The Generall Historie of Virginia, New-England, and the Summer Isles: with the Names of the Adventurers, Planters, and Governours from their first beginning, An: 1584. to this present 1624. With the Procedings of Those Severall Colonies and the Accidents that befell them in all their Journyes and Discoveries. Also the Maps and Descriptions of all those Countryes, their Commodities, people, Government, Customes, and Religion yet knowne. Divided into Sixe Bookes. By Captaine Iohn Smith, sometymes Governour in those Countryes & Admirall of New England. London: printed by I. D. and I. H. for Michael Sparkes 1624

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edited: 05.11.2020

Corvus pumilis Wetmore

Puerto Rican Crow (Corvus pumilis)

The Puerto Rican Crow, described in 1920, is known only from subfossil remains that were found on Puerto Rico, where it lived sympatrically with the White-necked Crow (Corvus leucognaphalus Daudin) (see photo below), as well as on St. Croix in the United States Virgin Islands.

The reasons for its extinction are not known and it appears to have disappeared already before the islands were settled by humans.

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Photo: ZankaM
https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/

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References:

[1] Alexander Wetmore: Ancient records of birds from the island of St. Croix with observations on extinct and living birds of Puerto Rico”. The Journal of Agricultural of the University of Puerto Rico 21(1): 5-16. 1937

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edited: 10.01.2024

Corvus moriorum (Forbes)

Chatham Islands Crow (Corvus moriorum)

The Chatham Islands Crow was described in 1892; it is known from subfossil remains.

The species was very large, almost the size of an European Raven (Corvus corax L.).

It seems that this species was mainly living along the shores, inhabiting the colonies of sea birds, penguins and the now extinct Chatham Islands Fur Seals (Arctocephalus sp.), since most of the remains were found just there.

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References:

[1] Trevor H. Worthy, Richard N. Holdaway: The Lost World of the Moa, Prehistoric Life of New Zealand. Indiana University Press, Bloomington 2002

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edited: 10.01.2024

Corvus sp. ‘New Ireland’

New Ireland Crow (Corvus sp.)  

This probable species is known exclusively from well-preserved subfossil bones excavated from deposits on the island of New Ireland in the Bismarck Archipelago off the northeastern coast of New Guinea.  

The remains point towards a bird that was larger than the Torresian Crow (Corvus orru Bonaparte), the only crow now living on the island. They may represent the Grey Crow (Corvus tristis Lesson & Garnot), which is confined to mainland New Guinea, or a closely related form. [1]  

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[1] David W. Steadman; J. Peter White; Jim Allen: Prehistoric birds from New Ireland, Papua New Guinea: Extinctions on a large Melanesian island. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences USA 96: 2563-2568. 1999  

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edited: 01.10.2017

Corvus viriosus Olson & James

Robust Crow (Corvus viriosus)

The Robust Crow, described in 1991, is known exclusively from subfossil remains, these were found on the islands of Moloka’i and O’ahu, Hawaiian Islands.

This species was apparently an inhabitant of the lowlands and might have fed on fruits, thus might have been somewhat an Hawaiian equivalent to the pigeons and doves on other Polynesian islands – a seed disperser of large-fruited plant species.

The bird disappeared quite shortly after the arrival of the first human settlers.

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References:

[1] S. L. Olson; H. F. James: Descriptions of thirty-two new species of birds from the Hawaiian Islands: Part II. Passeriformes. Ornithological Monographs 45: 1-91. 1991

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edited: 10.01.2024

Corvus sp. ‘Hawai’i’ 2

Slender-billed Crow (Corvus sp.)  

The subfossil remains of this form were recovered from the lava tubes at the Pu’u Wa’awa’a cinder cone in the northern Kona district, Hawai’i.  

This species was characterized by its long slender bill adapted for probing. [1]  

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The Slender-billed Crow was very likely a distinct species, closely related to – but not identical with the likewise extirpated Robust Crow (Corvus viriosus Olson & James).  

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References:  

[1] Jon G. Griffin: Pu’u Wa’awa’a Biological Assessment. Pu’u Wa’awa’a, North Kona, Hawaii 2003 
[2] Susan Culliney; Liba Pechar; Richard Switzer; Viviana Ruiz-Gutierrez: Seed dispersal by a captive corvid: the role of the ‘Alala (Corvus hawaiiensis) in shaping Hawai’i’s plant communities. Ecological Applications 22(6): 1718-1732. 2012  

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edited: 19.05.2019

Corvus sp. ‘Hawai’i’ 1

Woodpecker-like Crow (Corvus sp.)  

This very unique crow species, which still has not been described, is known from subfossil remains that were recovered from the lava tubes at the Pu’u Wa’awa’a cinder cone in the northern Kona district, Hawai’i.  

The Woodpecker-like Crow was characterized by its skull and beak modified for hammering on hard surfaces, probably very much like a woodpecker.  

The species inhabited lowland areas and obviously disappeared shortly after the arrival of the first Polynesian settlers. [1]  

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The only crow species surviving in the whole Polynesian region today is the Hawaiian Crow or ‘alala (Corvus hawaiiensis Peale), which, however, is extinct in the wild. It is now bred in captivity, but unfortunately all efforts to translocate captive-bred birds into the wild have failed so far.  

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References:  

[1] Jon G. Griffin: Pu’u Wa’awa’a Biological Assessment; Pu’u Wa’awa’a, North Kona, Hawaii 2003 
[2] Susan Culliney; Liba Pechar; Richard Switzer; Viviana Ruiz-Gutierrez: Seed dispersal by a captive corvid: the role of the ‘Alala (Corvus hawaiiensis) in shaping Hawai’i’s plant communities. Ecological Applications 22(6): 1718-1732. 2012  

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edited: 19.05.2019