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Researchers find population of bird thought nearly extinct
Washington, June 20: Scientists have discovered a previously unknown population of Red Siskins, a bird feared to be nearing extinction in the wild.
Washington, June 20: Scientists have discovered a previously unknown population of Red Siskins, a bird feared to be nearing extinction in the wild.
"It was totally a surprise to us, a great shock," said Michael J Braun, a research scientist at the Smithsonian`s National Museum of Natural History.
Once widespread in the coastal mountains of Venezuela and Colombia, the bird was nearly wiped out by trapping after it became popular both in that region and in Europe in the 1800s.
The bird was particularly valued for its bright red feathers and in Latin America it is known as el Cardinalito, or little cardinal.
Breeders discovered that the Red Siskin could mate with the canary, Braun said yesterday, providing a bright colour to the formerly drab songbird. Any canary today that has some red feathers has some Siskin genes, Braun said.
Braun said that the research team was conducting a survey of birds in little-studied Guyana - which neighbours Venezuela -when they came across a population of several thousand Red Siskins.
That, he said, is several times the known population of the birds elsewhere in the wild.
The discovery was made in April of 2000 but was kept under wraps until a conservation plan could be developed providing legal protection for the birds in Guyana. It was just a matter of time before they were discovered, he said, because the region where they were found is increasingly being developed.
Bureau Report
Once widespread in the coastal mountains of Venezuela and Colombia, the bird was nearly wiped out by trapping after it became popular both in that region and in Europe in the 1800s.
The bird was particularly valued for its bright red feathers and in Latin America it is known as el Cardinalito, or little cardinal.
Breeders discovered that the Red Siskin could mate with the canary, Braun said yesterday, providing a bright colour to the formerly drab songbird. Any canary today that has some red feathers has some Siskin genes, Braun said.
Braun said that the research team was conducting a survey of birds in little-studied Guyana - which neighbours Venezuela -when they came across a population of several thousand Red Siskins.
That, he said, is several times the known population of the birds elsewhere in the wild.
The discovery was made in April of 2000 but was kept under wraps until a conservation plan could be developed providing legal protection for the birds in Guyana. It was just a matter of time before they were discovered, he said, because the region where they were found is increasingly being developed.
Bureau Report