As regular CFZ-watchers will know, for some time Corinna has been doing a column for Animals & Men and a regular segment on On The Track... particularly about out-of-place birds and rare vagrants. There seem to be more and more bird stories from all over the world hitting the news these days so, to make room for them all - and to give them all equal and worthy coverage - she has set up this new blog to cover all things feathery and Fortean.

Thursday 21 April 2016

Extinct status as black-throated finch no longer takes flight in NSW

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.


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