Posted Fri at 11:05pm
A little bird is no longer taking
flight in New South Wales, with scientific officials now declaring it extinct.
The southern species of the
black-throated finch has been given the status, while a different species of
the bird is still seen in Queensland.
The bird weighs about 15 grams
and has a large head and a short, thick, black conical bill.
It also has a black bib, black
rump and white upper tail.
Some of these birds that are
reliant on grasses, like the black-throated finch, do find it hard to compete
(with mining and agriculture).
The New
South Wales Scientific Committee said the southern
sub-species used to be widespread and abundant in the Northern Tableland and
Northwest Slopes regions, from the Queensland border south to the Upper Hunter
Valley.
There have only been three
sightings of the bird since 1990.
Hunter
Bird Observers Club president Allan Richardson said its
extinction status was devastating.
"It's very, very sad; many
of our threatened species are declining in their ranges," he said.
"There are not very many of
our threatened species that are doing very well, so it is inevitable that as
things continue, we may see some of those birds not exist in some areas."
Grazing, cropping, mining and
wild rabbits have been blamed for the bird's extinction in New South Wales.
No comments:
Post a Comment