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Information about Laysan Millerbird

Laysan Millerbird

Conservation status

Extinct  (late 1910s)
Scientific classification
Kingdom:Animalia
Phylum:Chordata
Class:Aves
Order:Passeriformes
Family:Sylviidae
Genus:Acrocephalus
Species:A. familiaris
Subspecies:A. f. familiaris
Trinomial name
Acrocephalus familiaris familiaris
(Rothschild, 1892)
Synonyms


Tartare familiaris Rothschild, 1892


The Laysan Millerbird (Acrocephalus familiaris familiaris) was a subspecies of the Millerbird, similar in appearance to the remaining subspecies, the Nihoa Millerbird. Its dorsal side was brown, and its belly was grayish. Its name derives from its favorite food, several species of moths of the genus Agrotis (such as the endemic and likewise extinct Agrotis laysanensis) commonly referred to as "millers" (Butler & Usinger, 1963).

Extinction

Very tame, it was abundant on Laysan, where it was endemic, in the 1890s (Udvardy, 1996). After the fateful introduction of rabbits in 1903 which nearly denuded the island of vegetation in the next few years, the birds probably declined rapidly. Supposedly, there were 1500 still alive in April 1915 as reported by the USCGC Thetis expedition (Clapp et al., 1996), but a thorough 1911 census by the Iowa State College expedition had found only "a few" (Dill & Bryan, 1912), as did a brief visit in February 1916. As land bird populations on Laysan fluctuate heavily and because there was considerable poaching for the Japanese millinery trade in the 1910s, the supposed 1915 figure cannot be discounted, but it seems highly improbable. At any rate, the 1923 Tanager expedition reported only one unconfirmed sighting which seems to have been erroneous (Olson, 1996). Thus, it can be concluded that the bird disappeared at some time in the late 1910s.

As the vegetation disappeared, the bird suffered increased predation, chiefly on its eggs (by Laysan Finches, Ruddy Turnstones and Bristle-thighed Curlews), and increased competition for food and nesting habitat: a small patch of tree tobacco was the only locality left where the millerbird, the Laysan Rail and the Laysan ʻApapane could nest with a reasonable chance of success. Additionally, the moths which formed its main food source became likewise extinct or exceedingly rare as their food plants were eaten by the rabbits, and thus the only significant food left were brine flies, which, though abundant, would also be utilized by the other land birds and the Laysan Duck, all of which were more aggessive than the millerbird. In conclusion, it seems more than likely that the Laysan Millerbird was the first of the three avian taxa to have gone extinct on Laysan, the last individuals of the ʻApapane disappearing in a sandstorm around April 24, 1923 and the rail also disappearing around that time.

References

  • Butler, G. D., Jr. & Usinger, R. L. (1963): Insects and other invertebrates from Laysan Island. Atoll Res. Bull. 98: 1-30. PDF fulltext
  • Clapp, R. B.; Udvardy, Miklos D. F. & Kepler, A. K. (1996): An annotated bibliography of Laysan Island, Northwestern Hawaiian Islands. Atoll Res. Bull. 434: 1-92. PDF fulltext
  • Dill, H.R. & Bryan, W.A. (1912): Report of an Expedition to Laysan Island in 1911. U.S. Department of Agriculture, Biological Survey Bulletin 42.
  • Olson, Storrs L. (1996): History and ornithological journals of the Tanager expedition of 1923 to the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands, Johnston and Wake Islands. Atoll Res. Bull. 433: 1-210. PDF fulltext
  • Rothschild, Walter (1892): Descriptions of seven new species of birds from the Sandwich Islands. Ann. Mag. Nat. Hist. (ser. 6) 10: 108–112.
  • Udvardy, Miklos D. F. (1996): Three Months on a Coral Island (Laysan) by Hugo H. Schauinsland [1899]. Atoll Res. Bull. 432: 1-53. PDF fulltext
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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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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Centuries: 19th century - 20th century - 21st century

1880s 1890s 1900s - 1910s - 1920s 1930s 1940s
1910 1911 1912 1913 1914
1915 1916 1917 1918 1919

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Events and trends


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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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Passeriformes
Linnaeus, 1758

Suborders
  • Acanthisitti
  • Tyranni
  • Passeri


A passerine is a bird of the giant order Passeriformes. More than half of all species of bird are passerines.
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Sylviidae
Vigors, 1825

Genera

See text
Synonyms

Paradoxornithidae

The "Old World Warblers", family Sylviidae - although sylviid warblers or true warblers
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Acrocephalus
J. A. Naumann & J. F. Naumann, 1811

Species

About 35, see text

The Acrocephalus warblers are small, insectivorous passerine birds belonging to the genus Acrocephalus.
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Acrocephalus familiaris
(Rothschild, 1892)

The Millerbird (Acrocephalus familiaris) has two subspecies, A. f. kingi and A f. familiaris.
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In biology, trinomial nomenclature refers to names for taxa below the rank of species. This is different for animals and plants:
  • for animals see trinomen. There is only one rank allowed below the rank of species: subspecies.
  • for plants see ternary name.

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Lionel Walter Rothschild, 2nd Baron Rothschild (February 8, 1868 – August 27 1937) was a British banker and zoologist from the international Rothschild financial dynasty.
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18th century - 19th century - 20th century
1860s  1870s  1880s  - 1890s -  1900s  1910s  1920s
1889 1890 1891 - 1892 - 1893 1894 1895

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In scientific nomenclature, synonyms are different scientific names used for a single taxon. Usage and terminology are different for zoology and botany.

Zoology

In zoological nomenclature, synonyms are different scientific names that pertain to the same taxon, for example
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Lionel Walter Rothschild, 2nd Baron Rothschild (February 8, 1868 – August 27 1937) was a British banker and zoologist from the international Rothschild financial dynasty.
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18th century - 19th century - 20th century
1860s  1870s  1880s  - 1890s -  1900s  1910s  1920s
1889 1890 1891 - 1892 - 1893 1894 1895

:
Subjects:     Archaeology - Architecture -
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Acrocephalus familiaris
(Rothschild, 1892)

The Millerbird (Acrocephalus familiaris) has two subspecies, A. f. kingi and A f. familiaris.
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A. f. kingi

Trinomial name
Acrocephalus familiaris kingi
(Wetmore, 1923)

The Nihoa Millerbird (Acrocephalus familiaris kingi) is a subspecies of the Millerbird.
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In anatomy, the dorsum is the upper side of animals that typically run, fly or swim in a horizontal position, and the back side of animals (like humans) that walk upright. In vertebrates the dorsum contains the backbone.
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A. laysanensis

Binomial name
Agrotis laysanensis

The Laysan Noctuid Moth (Agrotis laysanensis) was a species of butterfly in the Noctuidae family. It was endemic to the United States.
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Laysan (Hawaiian: Kauō), located 930 miles northwest of Honolulu at N25° 42' 14" W171° 44' 04", is one of the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands. It comprises one land mass of 1,016.481 acres (4.114 km²), about 1 by 1.5 miles in size (1.6 by 2.4 km).
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endemic, it is unique to its own place or region; it is found only there, and not found naturally anywhere else. The place must be a discrete geographical unit, often an island or island group, but sometimes a country, habitat type, or other defined area or zone.
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Centuries: 18th century - 19th century - 20th century

1860s 1870s 1880s - 1890s - 1900s 1910s 1920s
1890 1891 1892 1893 1894
1895 1896 1897 1898 1899

- -
- The 1890s
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19th century - 20th century - 21st century
1870s  1880s  1890s  - 1900s -  1910s  1920s  1930s
1900 1901 1902 - 1903 - 1904 1905 1906

Year 1903 (MCMIII
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19th century - 20th century - 21st century
1880s  1890s  1900s  - 1910s -  1920s  1930s  1940s
1912 1913 1914 - 1915 - 1916 1917 1918

Year 1915 (MCMXV
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20th century - 21st century
1880s  1890s  1900s  - 1910s -  1920s  1930s  1940s
1908 1909 1910 - 1911 - 1912 1913 1914

Year 1911 (MCMXI
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Iowa State University of Science and Technology (ISU) is a public land-grant and space-grant university located in Ames, Iowa, USA. Until 1959 it was known as Iowa State College of Agriculture and Mechanic Arts.
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19th century - 20th century - 21st century
1880s  1890s  1900s  - 1910s -  1920s  1930s  1940s
1913 1914 1915 - 1916 - 1917 1918 1919

Year 1916 (MCMXVI
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