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Information about Eyles' Harrier

Eyles's Harrier
Conservation status
Prehistoric
Scientific classification
Kingdom:Animalia
Phylum:Chordata
Class:Aves
Order:Falconiformes
Family:Accipitridae
Genus:Circus
Species:C. eylesi
Binomial name
Circus eylesi
The Eyles' Harrier is an extinct bird of prey which lived in New Zealand.

It was an example of island gigantism, weighing over twice as much as a Swamp Harrier.[1] It was a generalist predator, taking prey of the same size as small eagle species do.

A noted explorer, Charles Douglas, claims in his journals that he had an encounter with two raptors of immense size in Landsborough River valley (probably in the 1870s), and shot and ate them.[2] These birds might have been a last remnant of the the mighty pouakai (Haast's Eagle), but this is very unlikely: there had not been sufficient numbers of suitable prey for a population of Haast's Eagle to maintain itself for about half a millennium at that time; furthermore 19th century Māori lore was quite adamant that the pouakai was a bird not seen in living memory. Still, Douglas' observations on wildlife are generally trustworthy; a more probable explanation, given that the alleged three-metre wingspan of Douglas' birds is unlikely to have been more than a rough estimate, is that the birds were Eyles' Harriers - modern estimates tend to assume that a 3-meter wingspan is decidedly large even for Haast's Eagle; that of Eyles' Harrier was probably somewhat short of 2 meters. Although the Eyles' Harrier is also assumed to have gone extinct in prehistoric times, its dietary habits alone make it a more likely candidate for late survival.

References

1. ^ Holdaway, Richard N.; Worthy, Trevor H. (1997). "A reappraisal of the late Quaternary fossil vertebrates of Pyramid Valley Swamp, North Canterbury, New Zealand". New Zealand Journal of Zoology 24: 69-121. Retrieved on 2007-03-13. 
2. ^ Worthy, T. H. and R. N. Holdaway. (2002): The lost world of the Moa: Prehistoric Life of New Zealand. Indiana University Press, Bloomington. ISBN 0-253-34034-9
conservation status of a species is an indicator of the likelihood of that species continuing to survive either in the present day or the future. Many factors are taken into account when assessing the conservation status of a species: not simply the number remaining, but the
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Scientific classification or biological classification is a method by which biologists group and categorize species of organisms. Scientific classification also can be called scientific taxonomy, but should be distinguished from folk taxonomy, which lacks scientific basis.
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Chordata
Bateson, 1885

Typical Classes

See below

Chordates (phylum Chordata) are a group of animals that includes the vertebrates, together with several closely related invertebrates.
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Aves
Linnaeus, 1758

Orders

About two dozen - see section below

Birds (class Aves) are bipedal, warm-blooded, egg-laying vertebrate animals.
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Falconiformes
Sharpe, 1874

Families

Accipitridae
Pandionidae
Falconidae
Sagittariidae

The order Falconiformes is a group of about 290 species of birds that include the diurnal birds of prey.
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Accipitridae
Vieillot, 1816

Subfamilies
  • Accipitrinae
  • Aegypiinae
  • Buteoninae
  • Circaetinae
  • Circinae
  • Elaninae
  • Milvinae
  • Perninae
but see text

The Accipitridae
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Circus
Lacepede, 1799

species

see text

Circus is the largest genus of the harriers, a group of diurnal birds of prey which fly low over meadows and marshes and hunt or harry small animals or birds.
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binomial nomenclature is the formal system of naming species. The system is also called binominal nomenclature (particularly in zoological circles), binary nomenclature (particularly in botanical circles), or the binomial classification system.
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extinction is the cessation of existence of a species or group of taxa, reducing biodiversity. The moment of extinction is generally considered to be the death of the last individual of that species (although the capacity to breed and recover may have been lost before this point).
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    Accipitriformes
  • Pandionidae
  • Accipitridae
  • Sagittariidae
  • Falconiformes
  • Falconidae


A
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Anthem
"God Defend New Zealand"
"God Save the Queen" 1


Capital Wellington

Largest city Auckland
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Island gigantism is a biological phenomenon where the size of animals isolated on an island increases dramatically over generations. It is a form of natural selection in which bigger size provides a survival advantage (see Bergmann's Rule).
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C. approximans

Binomial name
Circus approximans
Peale, 1848

The Swamp Harrier, Circus approximans
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Eagles are large birds of prey which mainly inhabit Eurasia and Africa. Outside this area, just two species (the Bald and Golden Eagles) are found in North America north of Mexico, with a few more species in Central and South America, and three in Australia.
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  • Charles Douglas (mayor), mayor of Vancouver.
  • Charles Douglas (admiral), a Royal Navy officer.
  • Charles Douglas (general), former Chief of the Imperial General Staff of the British Army.
  • Charles Douglas III.

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    Accipitriformes
  • Pandionidae
  • Accipitridae
  • Sagittariidae
  • Falconiformes
  • Falconidae


A
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The Landsborough River is located in New Zealand's South Island. A major tributary of the Haast River, it flows southwest, parallel with the Southern Alps, for 50 kilometres from its source five kilometres north of Mount Hopkins to meet the Haast 12 kilometres below the Haast Pass.
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Centuries: 18th century - 19th century - 20th century

1840s 1850s 1860s - 1870s - 1880s 1890s 1900s
1870 1871 1872 1873 1874
1875 1876 1877 1878 1879

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Events and Trends

Technology


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Harpagornis

Species: H. moorei

Binomial name
Harpagornis moorei
Haast, 1872

Haast's Eagle (Harpagornis moorei
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For the periodical, see .
The 19th Century (also written XIX century) lasted from 1801 through 1900 in the Gregorian calendar. It is often referred to as the "1800s.
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Indiana University, founded in 1820, is a nine-campus university system in the state of Indiana. The IU system includes the following campuses:
  • Indiana University in Bloomington, Indiana

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