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Landbirds Two species of land birds no longer found on the island of St. Kitts are known from historical records: Burrowing Owl and St. Kitts Bullfinch (but see discussion below on the possibility that this species may be extant). Furthermore, Steadman et al. (1997) point out that other species have “almost certainly been lost on St. Kitts, an island that lacks records of, for example, species of parrots, barn owls, mockingbirds, or resident thrushes” (all of which occur, or used to occur, elsewhere in the Lesser Antilles). The St. Kitts Bullfinch deserves special mention. This relative of the Lesser Antillean Bullfinch is believed to be either a separate species or a subspecies of the Puerto Rican Bullfinch (Loxigilla portoricensis grandis). Last collected in 1929, it had been considered rare since the turn of the century (Bond and Danforth, searching independently in the 1920s and 1930s, failed to locate any). Bond (1935, 1956) attributed the presumed extinction to predation by green monkeys. This is questioned by Greenway (1958; cited in Steadman et al., 1997) and Raffaele (1977), who note that the birds co-existed with the monkeys for several hundred years before their demise; and furthermore, a related congener, the Lesser Antillean Bullfinch, coexists with monkeys in St. Kitts-Nevis and Barbados. Raffaele (1977) suggests that a devastating hurricane on August 7, 1899, followed by another hurricane later that month, may have eliminated L. p. grandis. Steadman et al. (1997) offer a further clarification that seems most likely: the demise of the bullfinch was due to a combination of factors, including habitat loss, exacerbated by forest-damaging hurricanes, and predation by non-native mammals, especially monkeys, mongoose, cats and rats. However, even though the scientific community has labeled the St. Kitts Bullfinch as extinct for over half a century, a possible sighting was reported this decade. The report comes from St. Kitts' eminent naturalist, Campbell Evelyn, who has hunted and traversed the country for over 60 years (Campbell boasts of being able to identify many birds by taste, as well as by more traditional means). Campbell and his wife, Joyce, saw the bird while hiking in the forest in Stonefort Ghaut. They described the bird, which they saw clearly from a distance of 30-35 feet, as almost entirely black with red on top of the head and on the throat below the chin. It was larger than the Lesser Antillean Bullfinch, a species with which they are quite familiar. Other interesting local reports of species of birds that may have been extirpated include an owl, the Broad-winged Hawk and the Lesser Antillean Pewee. There are at least three separate accounts of owls from St. Kitts. Peter Mallelieu recounts the story of an owl killed in the village of Sandy Point about 90 years ago. The story is repeated that three boys crept up into the church steeple to smoke cigarettes and drink liquor, only to be startled by two piercing yellow eyes. The boys quickly abandoned the steeple and reported what they saw to their families. The owl was promptly destroyed. Mallelieu says his uncle described the owl as having a greyish color with brown spots on the underside. Campbell Evelyn and “Benjie” Farrell recount stories from older family members of owls that lived in the avenue of cedar trees that once existed along the road to Canada Estate. These accounts suggest that some owls, most probably the Barn Owl (Tyto alba), were members of the St. Kitts avifauna. There are several accounts of the Broad-winged Hawk (Buteo platypterus), although no records appear in the scientific literature (P. Mallelieu and C. Evelyn, pers. comm.). These reports are substantiated by the sighting of a broad-tailed hawk in 1994 by Nathan Gricks, a researcher who became very familiar with the species during his residence in Antigua in the 1990s, and John Wilson during his fieldwork in St. Kitts from 1997 to 1999. The Lesser Antillean Pewee remains an enigma. Ronald Bruce Todd, a naturalist and hunter who frequented the mountains of the interior of St. Kitts in the early part of the century, reports it in his notes (papers now on file at the St. Christopher Heritage Society). Bond, who was familiar with Todd’s notes, seems to have believed that Todd was referring to the Lesser Antillean Flycatcher. However, Morris and Lemon (1982) state they observed the species in their research, and Gricks, an ornithologist familiar with the species, reported a “possible” sighting (or audio identification) in 1993/94. If it does exist on St. Kitts, the island would have the most northerly population recorded for the species
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