Chatham tomtit

Chatham tomtit

Nationally Endangered (NZ TCS)[1]
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Aves
Order: Passeriformes
Family: Petroicidae
Genus: Petroica
Species: P. macrocephala
Subspecies: P. m. chathamensis
Trinomial name
Petroica macrocephala chathamensis
(CA Fleming, 1950)

The Chatham tomtit (Petroica macrocephala chathamensis) is a subspecies of tomtit found on some of the smaller islands of New Zealand. It is most similar in plumage to the South Island tomtit, the nominate subspecies.[2] The New Zealand government is implementing a plan to help this species and other bird species recover.[3] The holotype is in the collection of the Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa.[4]

Distribution

The Chatham tomtit has been extinct on Chatham Island since the 1970s. This subspecies now has a population of about 1,000 birds and is currently restricted to the rat-free islands of Rangatira, Mangere and Pitt.[5]

References

  1. Terranature.org
  2. Govt.nz
  3. Govt.nz
  4. "Petroica macrocephala chathamensis; holotype". Collections Online. Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa. Retrieved 17 July 2010.
  5. chathams.co.nz

External links

This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the Wednesday, April 15, 2015. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.